Zerks for rear linkage?

[mike989]

Has anyone installed zerk fittings in there rear suspension linkage?
Euros don't believe in Zerks?

[jeffd]

Not having that zerk saves the manufacturer 39 cents. And they make alot of money selling bearings. It is not just a euro thing - even later model XRs no longer have zerks...

Adding zerks later is sometimes not a good idea. Drilling for the zerk can create a spot where a fracture can start in the casting.

jeff

[GMP]

Jeff is right. Just service the bearings with moly paste, use new o-rings, and keep the pressure washer away. The o-rings on the newer bikes provide a very tight seal. As an experiment, I weant a complete season(March through November) on my '03 with no regreasing. No problems, but I usually do a mid season service anyway.

BTW, Huskys come with Zerks. They also come with a real crappy system for keeping crud out (needle bearings with tiny built in seals). When you grease a Husky through a zerk, its eaisly purged past the seals. I doubt that would happen in the GG with those o-rings, without blowing them out.

[mike989]

Thanks guys. I'll just regrease them every year or so. Southern Nevada is not the water crossing capital of the nation, and I don't race or power wash.

[Brian VT]

Originally Posted by mike989

I'll just regrease them every year or so.

Must be nice ! If I don't go through mine twice a year I'm buying new bearings. There's mud in every race/ride here. The Jet Lube moly that GMP recommends is good stuff.

[widebear]

I dont have grease nipples on my suspension but I do on the kickstarter, brake lever and foot pegs. Keeping the kicker well greased sure helps with its longjevity. I know that if you want to put a grease nipple into the dogbone it might be a crap shoot . I saw it once on a Yamaha and it developed a stress riser and blew the dogbone apart!

[Eric K]

The new o-rings are much better than the old style seals. I ran an entire season of slop on my '06 and the bearings looked very good.

I use a #2 moly grease with the GC/LB spec on everything - motorcycle truck, tractor... The GC/LB spec means it is extreme pressure rated and high temp rated.

[skid jackson]

My drz has grease zerks in the linkage. When servicing it I noticed that they have a groove machined inside the bore so when you hit it with a grease gun the grease will move along the groove and distribute itself all the way around the bore. I don't think There are any grooves machined inside the bores on the gg linkage. In such a situation the grease may not even distribute around the way it should.