Motorcycles BS Thread 2.0

If I can get some stuff handled this morning, then I'd like to take the bike on another run out of town. We'll see how it goes.

 

Proof I rode to work.....

 

This day is completely unfair to those of us that do service work from a 1 ton van. I work from home, so no commute. Can't carry what I need or may possibly need on a bike to run even the simplest job. If I had a walk thru on a job, that would be the day for this. But sadly, not today.
Enjoy your ride to work gentleman.

 

You are good, thats just some excess grease from the bearings. At some point id recommend at the very least to pull the top triple clamp and do the proper torque sequence on the steering stem bearing preload (preferably add some grease to upper and lower stem bearings as well... but thats a bit more difficult without pulling the front tire/forks etc). There is a rubber washer of sorts between the two lock washers under the top triple that over time gets smooshed and lets the steering stem bearing preload get a little loose which is not good for bearing life or safe handling.

I have the fancy finger socket for this job and would be happy to lend it out. (Its actually worked on all of my Yamaha motorcycles!)

 

is yamaha just not good with neck bearings then? my bolt is starting to get that shimmy so its neck bearing will need to be replaced soon which is a common issue with them for some dumb reason! but i did know that going into getting this bike so oh well lol

 

Don't be so quick to replace the neck bearings. Recheck them for proper torque and it will very likely clear that up. I do think for some reason this pops up more on Yamaha than other brands. The FJR1300 has this issue as well but I've now had 3 of those and have yet to replace neck bearings on any of them. Torque per the manual and just ride it.

 

No, I have never had any issues with the yamaha stem/neck bearings in any of my bikes, just need to be re-torqued after many many miles. If im not mistaken the bolt being a budget bike uses for whatever reason uses standard ball bearings for the stem vs much preferred tapered roller bearings. There are definitely kits to replace them with tapered bearings which are much better.

 

so its a common issue with the bolts that the neck bearings are just junk and they will start to wobble if you are not careful. atm mine will wobble if you let go of the bars fully but i can only do it for a few seconds before it gets bad. now its starting to wobble a little bit under slow speeds i notice it more.

 

ah i gotcha i just know my buddy had issues with his t7 and another yamaha he had so was wondering if it was just something common with the brand in itself. you are correct about the bolts bearing ive been looking into the kits to replace it. atm its not bad but its getting there so instead of like i was wanting to replace it in winter it looks like i might have to do it sometime this summer but we will see. i know someone on here said they had a kit they would sell me but cant remember who it was?

 

Rode to work, thanks for the reminder @BkerChuck. Today was day 73 of riding for me. And that is with me not riding at all during March when I was at home with my newborn.

 

I feel like there was a certain speed it was prone to wobble - maybe around 30-40 mph. And seemed like it was worse with the stock tires. I read that some people switched to tapered bearings, but it never bothered me enough to look into that. No major issues in the 8k miles I put on that bike... I ride with one hand a lot and it never felt unstable.

 

My thread’s pretty boring. Mostly just good mornings at this point

 

Nice! Today makes 85 days so far this year for me.

 

Just for the hell of it I went down and tried on my helmet. Ya that’s a no go. Super tight lol. I knew it would be with the swelling. On another note I am down to 183lbs!! Not being able to chew is a great weight loss tactic. So far I have had to eat each day is my AG1 in the morning for vitamins. Then coffee, after that around 10:30-11 I have had 4 scrambled eggs, then a protein shake around 5pm. Lots of water throughout the day. I really don’t feel too hungry so that’s good.

 

overall its fine for me as well i can just tell it will need it eventually so ill get the kit and have it sitting for once it goes bad. mine also had more weight then the poor bike is suppose to have on the bike so that could be a factor haha

haha so is mine tbh! let me guess @MarX is saying good morning in there isnt he hahaha. i swear he is everywhere!

 

Yeah doesn't hurt to have the kit on hand, think it was @Fulton246 that had one.

Also I should have rode to work today, weather is nice out there. Went for a walk at lunch and think it's the most bikes I've seen parked out front so others got the memo too.

 

That definitely makes me feel better about it, I'm sure we've all got dumb stories to share with our ego bearing the weight of the story lol. I unfortunately had 2 of my regular riding buddies as witnesses so I'm sure i'll be catching flak for it for a while haha

Dude yes please let me know! I should have the BMW back from the shop this week, fingers crossed, but if not I still have the R3 to ride around. That actually reminds me...I'm hosting a ride on Saturday for a group I'm a part of down here (members in SD, OC, LA, Riverside) starting at the San Clemente Cars and Coffee, 1st stop at Julian, then final stop for a late lunch/early dinner at my mom's restaurant in Oceanside..but of a commitment but would love to have you, @nd4spdbh and maybe @gnarthirty2 join? or anyone else in the socal area. No pressure if not, it's only a group of I think 10 people total? give or take.

Otherwise, shoot me a PM when you're around and we'll see if we can figure something out!

Thanks man! Yeah definitely playing it back over and over to learn from it. Think I'll spend a bit more time on dirt this summer so I can get the muscle memory of holding throttle when the rear end slides.


Hope we're all having a good day today friends. No ride to work because it was sprinkling this morning but now it's already cleared up...typical lol

 

i think it was? i remember the yellow dirtbike. agreed on having it around. i still have bearings for my dirt wheels and my sm wheels for the klx just incase they get bad. now that bike does need a neck bearing soon its starting to jam up and get crusty so its just worn out!

man such a nice day and you didnt! i rode a bit like an ass today since i was running late and had 20mins to get to my job before late and i was 30mins out... lets just say i made it in 5mins before i was late..

 

thought you would find it funny at least lol

more dirt always sounds like a great time! i really wanna spend more time on my dirbike but man i just havent had the time and my buddy that has a dirtbike is always out of town on some dirtbike trip!

speaking of dirtbikes there is a little pawnshop next to me with a crf150 or 250 sitting out front is it bad i want to ask how much

 

lol i feel like if we were local to each other we would spur so many of each others purchases.

Yeah dirt is always a blast. I just have no one to ride with and solo riding skeeves me out a bit. less so on track, but then it can be way more risky too lol.