Axles greased, or dry?

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

Wirelessly posted

When pressing in new bearings, the recesses are different. One is deep and one is shallow. The bearing in the shallow side sits all the way in. Then you drop in your spacer and press in the other bearing until it barely touches the spacer, but the spacer can still move. The spacer OD is slightly bigger than the axle, so the axle will fit if the spacer is slightly off center and is tight, but this will lead to jammed axles as the spacer touches the axle at one point and there is no grease space between axle and spacer at that point. :-).

Good to know!
I did see many AMA teams using a silicone spray then wipe excess off when prepping tire changes but that is road racing so not relevant i guess.

Yeah. Does the axle need to stay in for 10,000 miles, or 30 miles? Silicone spray sounds like a good idea for racing.

[R7]

All my past bikes, exept for the KTM's, I have greased the axle before installing it. Just a thin coat put on by finger. IMHO on a dirty bike, I'd rather the grease catch a little dirt and grime, than corroding and getting stuck forcing you to smash it out.
KTM is the exception, or at least for a while. KTM axles have a teflon coating that works great for the first couple years. Once you grease them though (owners manual says not to grease them because of the coating), the teflon coating swells up and the axle gets tight.

[Pigman]

Use BellRay shit......only stuff I wll ever use

[rbrais]

I've always used a little grease with no issues. Just a light coat. Keeps the axle from rusting and from seizing.

[gregp]

I also keep my axles lightly greased, just because I have had to pound out some that have been extremely rusted in on other peoples machines. Once the bearing inner races, and/or the bearing spacer seizes on the axle, they can be extremely difficult to remove. I am careful however, not to get grease on the pinch portion of the front axles, if there is one.
More importantly, swing arm pivot bolts are *incredibly difficult* to remove once the needle bearing inner races seize to them, so I always try to grease that bolt immediately upon purchase of a new or used machine. I now have a pneumatic hammer, but I have had to cut some swing arm bolts out in the past.

[breakdirt916]

the kicker here is the sand - aside from o-rings or those posted before, I can't think of a good way of keeping that grinding sand out

so I also just clean and lightly grease the axle before re-insertion...nothing crazy.

and for the record - I feel absolutely retarded for not buying your bike (was it a sx125?) when I was in MA - you and R7 are the some of the meticulous maintainers I've seen!

[Paul_E_D]

My bike was cherry. But it was a handful...

[rbrais]

the kicker here is the sand - aside from o-rings or those posted before, I can't think of a good way of keeping that grinding sand out

so I also just clean and lightly grease the axle before re-insertion...nothing crazy.

Never really had a problem with sand getting in the axle area; even at southwick. At least nothing that caused an issue.

Looks like it might be a little messy this weekend. Saturday could be a washout. Guess I picked a good year to stay home. I remember one year when my tent almost washed away....and my neighbor's tent DID wash away!

[Kurlon]

Looks like it might be a little messy this weekend. Saturday could be a washout. Guess I picked a good year to stay home. I remember one year when my tent almost washed away....and my neighbor's tent DID wash away!

If the forecast doesn't improve, I'm staying home, pre-entered or not.

[rbrais]

It sucks riding in the rain, but with a motor home it's not too bad. At least you can shower and dry off. But roughing it sucks. I'm done with that stuff. LOL No points here.

[Paul_E_D]

Holy pussy train!? lol! Are we not MXers? This ain't NASCAR...

[Kurlon]

Holy pussy train!? lol! Are we not MXers? This ain't NASCAR...

Driving 4 hours one way to be outside in a sandy mud hole for two days without a shower and just a 2 man tent? Yup, I am a fair weather rider!

I'm also fighting off the effects of a couple months of serious work stress, I'm not at 100% and those conditions have the very real possibility of making me seriously ill.

Hand me my skirt damn it!

[Paul_E_D]

Driving 4 hours one way to be outside in a sandy mud hole for two days without a shower and just a 2 man tent? Yup, I am a fair weather rider!

I'm also fighting off the effects of a couple months of serious work stress, I'm not at 100% and those conditions have the very real possibility of making me seriously ill.

Hand me my skirt damn it!

As your lawyer, I advise you to take two dayquil and a qualude and come to Stimilon!!!

[typeone]

i would listen to your lawyers advice, just look how rested you'll be!

[ZX-12R]

I have to update my answer. I just had the rear wheel off for the first time on my new KTM to change the tire and found that the axle was ever so lightly greased from the factory. When I put it back together, I cleaned it and put a light coating of high temperature lithium grease on it which is what I have in my grease gun. All my previous dirt bikes were dry.

[wheelieman14]

I also keep my axles lightly greased, just because I have had to pound out some that have been extremely rusted in on other peoples machines. Once the bearing inner races, and/or the bearing spacer seizes on the axle, they can be extremely difficult to remove. I am careful however, not to get grease on the pinch portion of the front axles, if there is one.
More importantly, swing arm pivot bolts are *incredibly difficult* to remove once the needle bearing inner races seize to them, so I always try to grease that bolt immediately upon purchase of a new or used machine. I now have a pneumatic hammer, but I have had to cut some swing arm bolts out in the past.

Greg, I'd love to get my hands on a pneumatic hammer to get the swingarm pivot bolt (rear engine mount) out of my '89 KDX 200 so I can rebuild the motor with a new top & bottom end. I tried hitting it out with a sledge hammer, but had no luck... the bike has been sitting down in my basement for over 15 years, so I ended up buying your old '04 KDX200

[gregp]

They don't cost much. I think that I paid $39.00 for it at NAPA. I had to replace a U-Joint on a 4x4 ATV, and there was no way to get a swing at the cups. The pneumatic hammer drove the cups out in 5 seconds. No kidding.
I have fought with some swing arm bolts for way too long. Once those inner races seize to the axle, they can be almost impossible to budge. I have seen people weld up "presses" to force them out, but in the absolute worst cases, I have just cut them out. It is not a good way to go, but it does get the job done. Usually, by the time I reach that point, the bolt has been mushroomed over beyond repair, the nut is destroyed, and there is really no reason not to cut it anymore.
Swing arm bolts are one of those jobs where, if you had just the right set-up, you could press it out with a porta-power or a hydraulic jack, but that set-up is incredibly difficult to obtain, as you are working with the entire bike. I have seen people lay the bike over, and use a 2-person approach - 1 to hold a punch, and another to swing a large sledge. *Trust* :-)

Edit: I now have a KTM 350 EXC-F, but I miss my old KDX dearly. I hope that it treats you well!

[Stromper]

How about dryslide or graphite

Lubie surface no sticky