This Can't Be Right?

[razorboy]

Hey Fellas,

Long story short:
Boy blew the motor on his KX85 which resulted in complete teardown of bike to powdercoat, repair, etc....

I have the lower linkage off of the rear shock and every needle bearing tossed its cookies! I basically stood there with the linkage as it puked out every needle out of every bearing in there? What the hell!! :yikes:

So the first question is - Do they just fall apart like that? No, that can't be it. They must have all been fubar'd and by disassembling the linkage, I let all the messed up bearings fall to pieces.

Once I get a new linkage bearing kit (holy crap this bike is starting to financially hurt now) Is it safe to chill the bearings, heat the aluminum linkage and tap them in or are they too fragile for that sort of exercise? I do not own a press and I really don't want to incur yet another expense to get this bike back up and running.

And finally, who makes these bearing kits? I found one on fleabay but they don't have one for a 2003 KX85.

TIA Folks,
Cheers
Bernie

 

[CRazy250]

www.goallballs.com

 

[razorboy]

Cheers

Thanx for the tip!

Bernie

 

[IndyMX]

Were the needles rusted? Did you ever take the linkage apart and lube them?

 

[razorboy]

I haven't had the bike for very long.
Maybe put 20 hours on it tops.

The needles had no rust on them that I can see. They just simply started falling out in my hands.
End result is the same of course. I need to order a bearing kit and replace them all.

Cheers
Bernie

 

[IndyMX]

Is it the 2003? Did you get the bike used?

Have you ever lubed the bearings? If they don't get lubed, they will dry out from riding & washing. This is a normal maintenance item. If you don't look at your bearings & lube them from time to time, they'll do this.

If you got the bike used, chances are the previous owner didn't do a very good job maintaining the bike either.

 

[razorboy]

Is it the 2003? Did you get the bike used?

Have you ever lubed the bearings? If they don't get lubed, they will dry out from riding & washing. This is a normal maintenance item. If you don't look at your bearings & lube them from time to time, they'll do this.

If you got the bike used, chances are the previous owner didn't do a very good job maintaining the bike either.

Yes, Yes and No.

Its the 03 and I bought it used.
This would have been the first time for me to lube the bearings although I had maintained the KX65 for a year. No rust in the bearings though.
I am chaulking it up to poor maintenance by the PO.

B2

 

[CaptainObvious]

What's not "right" here is not inspecting a new-to-you bike and not taking the responsibility to lube the suspension components. If the bearings aren't lubed, they don't last.

 

[mkelly04]

I'm not sure on the 85, but on every bike I have owned there is no retainer for the needle bearings.

That means they will fall out when you take the linkage apart. The bearings rely on grease to hold them in. If you havent lost any of the bearings and they arent rusted then you can grease them and put them back in. The grease will hold the bearings in place.

 

[razorboy]

I'm not sure on the 85, but on every bike I have owned there is no retainer for the needle bearings.

That means they will fall out when you take the linkage apart. The bearings rely on grease to hold them in. If you havent lost any of the bearings and they arent rusted then you can grease them and put them back in. The grease will hold the bearings in place.

Thanx for the reply.

If that is the case, then the mystery is solved!
The bearings were greased when I took the linkage apart. The trouble started when I attempted to remove the old grease in preparation for new grease in my parts washer. As soon as the old grease was cleaned out, the bearings started falling. I doubt I will find them all though but you never know?

Thanx for the positive piece of info.

Cheers
Bernie

 

[IndyMX]

Hmmm.. nothing quite like telling the WHOLE STORY from the beginning.. Is there?

 

[razorboy]

Hmmm.. nothing quite like telling the WHOLE STORY from the beginning.. Is there?

I have just never run into bearings that rely on grease to hold them together? Surely wasn't trying to hold back info as I can't see anything "Newb" about wanting to clean out old grease and put in fresh stuff.

Live 'n' Learn I guess?

Cheers
Bernie

 

[IndyMX]

Yea, future reference, all needle bearings on bike suspension is held together with grease.

 

[Patman]

I freeze the bearings and press them on with a large C-clamp and socket. Never had any issue. On a pit bike triple clamp I did need to freeze and heat to install the stem in the lower clamp but that wasn't a big deal. Just a heat gun and some gloves.

 

[FruDaddy]

Last time I did a rear suspension, I used a bench vice and some appropriately sized sockets to press the bearings in.

Pivot Works makes a ton of bearing kits, and you can buy them almost anywhere that bike parts are sold. Motosport.com tends to have good prices on them, especially if you need enough for the entire rear end.

 

[Someone]

I've had new bearings, WITH grease, fall out from pressing them into my linkage.

 

[mkelly04]

when you press the bearings in make sure you keep the inner bearing race in so the bearings dont fall out.

 

[razorboy]

Thanx for the followups guys.
I managed to save all but one lost soul of a needle bearing. I greased everything up and they all slipped back into place. There was no rust or damage to either the bearings or their respective races.

I had a spare KX65 lower linkage arm and got all the needle bearings I will ever need out of that unit. They were all in great shape as well.

The one bearing that is used for the lower end of the shock was rusted and shot. I have removed it and have a new one on order from a local shop. Everything appears to be back to normal and I will take the advice when pressing in the new bearing for the shock.

Thanx
Bernie

 

[MXer666]

try putting like 50 needle bearing into a rack and pinion for a car, you cant have any grease in there but there is power steering fluid but thats not sticky enough to hold needle bearings.

 

[razorboy]

Just don't seem right does it?

Cheers
Bernie