Author Topic: tearing into both ends of my suspension  (Read 2043 times)

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Offline turtle22

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  • '89 & '01 kx500 '87 fxr HD '80 xr500
tearing into both ends of my suspension
« on: April 02, 2009, 12:58:11 AM »
so i went to but on my paddle tire(on the 89) to take the bike to pismo beach this weekend and fix a couple things from my hare &hound race this past weekend. man oh man, when istarted to  pulled off the back tire i noticed my swing arm had about 1inch of up and down movement with out the shock moving(anyone got a guess to what im going to find?). so after a quick look,i find that the bushing in the linkage that the shock mounts to is gone and has started to ware throught the linkage(could have been all bad if that broke on the landing of a big jump). so now there my boy sits. i have a new(at less to this bike)kayaba front end that im completely rebuilding. so i guess the 89 is having to sit the next ride or two out. i will take some pics and post as it comes along
lets ride

Offline DoldGuy

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Re: tearing into both ends of my suspension
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2009, 09:33:00 AM »
Turtle,

The lower shock bearing is a very common problem on the KX. This is a sign of the linkage being neglected. On any KX I look at, I put on a stand & lift the rear wheel to check for ANY play which tells me of the owners maint or lack of. Make sure you check out the rest of the linkage & grease well. I had the linkage welded & rebored by a friend (yes I have one) that saved a good deal of $$$ and just replaced the collar gushing & bearing.
Its Never too Late to Have a Happy Childhood!

Offline turtle22

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Re: tearing into both ends of my suspension
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2009, 01:40:07 AM »
yes we r going thou the whole thing. it needs it. the linkage is only $70 or so new. so i will probley go that way(unless some one on this rocking forum has one for cheaper :-D )its a good bike and i want to ride it for years to come,so im going to do it right.(glad to here u got a friend :-) i would be in a world of hurt with out mine). im off to pismo beach. i'll post pics when im back
lets ride

Offline turtle22

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Re: tearing into both ends of my suspension
« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2009, 06:20:02 AM »
ok, so a little up date on the bebuilding of the monster. we got the new front end on the '89. looks sic. we had to remil thr tripple trees to except the step from the old forks(thankfully i have some friends that are very handy,or i would have NEVER got it back together). i will post pics when the bike is finished.
so the rear linkage,man oh man. i bought a "suspention linkage bearing"(thats what the add said) fot $70. when i get it,its just the bearings ,no linkage. will i was not every happy about this. the dude on e-bay showed a pic of the linkage &bearings(i feel mislead). i taked with my sponser and she can get me just the piece i need for $88, with a 2 week wait(i have 2races coming up in the next 2 weeks). so now we wait. but did i tell u that the new frontend  looks awesame :-D polished tripple trees,new everything inside the kayaba fork tubes,can bearly wait to ride it.
i will keep everone posted as it comes along
lets ride