Swing Arm

[RIVA]

Has anybody noticed lateral play in their swing arm and if you did, were you able to correct it. I am talking of about .5 to 1 mm.

 

[Mark R.]

Yes, I had it. I could put the bike on the center stand and grab the swingarm up at the front and push it side to side about the amount you describe. It clunked when I did that. I looked for looseness of that sort because my bike was very clattery and loud over washboard road surfaces.

I ended up putting a large-holed washer between the swingarm and the right side dust seal, and when I clamped down on the swingarm pivot, the slop went away. I figured that would be easier than trying to get another swingarm from Yamaha. I got the washer at Lowes.

 

[~TABASCO~]

Has anybody noticed lateral play in their swing arm and if you did, were you able to correct it. I am talking of about .5 to 1 mm.

Just from what I've noticed from working on a ton of Tenere's. I've seen several with a bit of movement, check to make sure the swing arm axle its at the correct torque spec. Also, I've noticed that about 50% of the bearings are dry when I remove the swing arm. I know the bearings are 'self lubricating', with that being said I've seen rust on the dry bolts. I take them apart and just add grease to all the surfaces and torque everything back to spec. Most of the time this does wonders for the whole rear swing arm. I've seen one or two customers bikes that the bolt was darn near 'glued' or rusted in the down in the suspension linkage and the swing arm pivot bolt wasn't much better. If you ride off road, cross streams, and generally beat on your bike off road like I do, I would suggest pulling the swing arm once a year.
You also can inspect the drive shaft. I recently found this, there is a drain hole on the bottom of the drive shaft side. A customer had a rock, mud, leaf, or something blocking that hole. When I pulled the swing arm about 3/4 of a cup of mud, oil, crap poured out on the floor.. The drive shaft had rust and the rear diff seals at the bottom were nasty from holding all that liquid garbage. If you don't get around to pulling your swing arm to inspect all this stuff make sure to poke a Q-Tip or something up that drain hole and make sure its not blocked.....
Last note, because I see many Tenere's its a very good idea to go over the bolts on your bike at least once a year. I think I have a syndrome, when I have a bike come in I eye-ball it over and find loose bolts, missing bolts, parts about to fall off, right in front of the customer. They are always, "im glad you found that before it fell off on the highway"... look over your bike for safety !

 

[Mark R.]

Jaxon, it's a given for me that when I get a new-to-me bike, whether it is brand new or used, the swingarm and head bearings get a maximum load of grease right away. My Tenere had just a little bit of grease when I took it apart at 200 miles, and I also lube all the bolts that hold the shock and the linkage down there to keep them from rusting. It's really hard to put too much grease down there.

 

[~TABASCO~]

No joke, I didn't want to get WAY off topic but (for others) the steer tube is another issue that needs to be lubed, inspected, and TQ with lock tight to proper specs.. I've found many with little or NO grease in the steer tube. I've even found one with a cracked lower race, I cant remember now but probably due to a loose triple tree nut.

 

[regulator]

No joke, I didn't want to get WAY off topic but (for others) the steer tube is another issue that needs to be lubed, inspected, and TQ with lock tight to proper specs.. I've found many with little or NO grease in the steer tube. I've even found one with a cracked lower race, I cant remember now but probably due to a loose triple tree nut.

Sounds like it's time for a "How to inspect and lube your steer tube" thread with pictures ...

 

[greg the pole]

there you go
https://thetenerist.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/fork-rebuild-v2-0-steering-head-grease-up-and-front-rim-grease-spoke-tigtening/