Pay attention boys and girls, we are about to learn something very important..

[cowpuc]

Here I am sitting in the back of the class with all my buddies.. We like it back here cause we can make all of our after school plans without the fear of having our teacher rudely interrupt our our activities.. People outside of our sphere of life may find this strange but most of the conversations within our group involve motorcycles. More specifically, the maintenance of them..

My buddy Eck just finished telling our small group that he had finally figured out how his Honda was sucking air into its braking system without pushing brake fluid out in the process - a very interesting topic.. In our little group of misfits, its topics like that that get us thru the school year with low absenteeism and very few visits to the Principals office.. We spend hours thinking thru and deciphering such mystical mayhem.

Over the course of the winter months, my mind has wondered in and out of an anomoly concerning my own motorcycle, a 1983 Yamaha Venture. Many winters ago I was preparing for our daily school time discussion's by looking for area's of maintenance needs on my bike. I discovered a grease zerk on the housing of the drive shaft just in front of the rear end. I found that same zerk in my official Yamaha shop manual but no indication of exactly what it was for and no advice of how much grease I was suppose to push into it.

Every year at about this time, my mind wonders back to that same grease zerk. Knowing that Yamaha engineers dont usually just randomly place grease zerks on motorcycles (I have yet to see one protruding from the middle of a headlight bulb) and that a grease zerk normally indicates a need for maintenance, I have always been to proud to ask my group exactly what this zerk is for, what does it do, how much grease does it need.. That is until today..

Hopefully someone within our group knows the answer to this because if they dont, I will slowly raise my hand in hopes of catching the eye of our teacher!!

[bongobobny]

Who you callin' a zerk???

[cowpuc]

Who you callin' a zerk???

= Not you Bongo,, I know from experience how much trouble I would get into if I called a

Shift Fork a Zerk!!

 

You people on the outside of our group of lop eared varmints have just been exposed to the type of lingual attributes and attitudinal controversy that our tight nit group deals with on a daily basis.. Arent cha glad ya clicked on this thread,, look at what you have learned already..

[ricksbike]

I found one on each caliper--LOL--:happy65::happy65:

[ragtop69gs]

I do believe that "zerk" is for greasing the rear brake pad lining so they don't squeek,,,, Don't worry about putting too much in there, any excess will fall on the rear tire and lubricitize the rubber alloy's thereby giving a lower rolling resistance, with a 7 MPG increase. I hope this helps to clear up your long standing mystery

[oldgoat]

I found one on each caliper--LOL--:happy65::happy65:

 

them are not grease zerks.

 

they are air valves you put air in there for the air brakes

[Peder_y2k]

The zerk is a genetic holdover from a previous motorcycle incarnation, like nipples on men.

Pete, in Tacoma WA USA

[cowpuc]

The zerk is a genetic holdover from a previous motorcycle incarnation, like nipples on men.

Pete, in Tacoma WA USA

 

Sooo,, the Venture swingarm/shaft housing was used on a previous model? I wonder what the zerk to lubed in the previous model..

[Daveand Barbie]

That's where you lube the muffler bearings.

[Venturous Randy]

Even if you pumped a quart of grease into that zerk fitting, I doubt any of it would go to where it is supposed to go. It is really there more for decorative purposes.

Randy

[Brenner]

Cowpuc, I have just gone through my owners manual and dealership service manual for my xvz and cannot find any spec or purpose for this fitting. The shaft splines are supposed to be coated in molybdenum disulfide grease but nothing mentioning the exterior of the coupling gear at which the fitting sits above. When I tore my project down to literally nothing and started the rebuild I too was wondering about this fittings purpose. It is shown in many exploded diagrams but not given any reference to. I see it serving no real purpose and chassis grease is not the same as molybdenum so I would not want to mix the two. On another note one of my parts bike had the rear swing arm full of chassis grease that honestly served no purpose and I believe was the result of the use of this fitting.

[pbjman]

Maybe it's like the old "do not remove, ever" screw on some old OMC Cobra outdrives... If you did, the nut on the inside fell into the guts of the drive and you would have to tear it down. It was a hole used in the manufacturing process and then capped with the screw and covered with a cobra decal which years later would fall off.

[cowpuc]

Maybe it's like the old "do not remove, ever" screw on some old OMC Cobra outdrives... If you did, the nut on the inside fell into the guts of the drive and you would have to tear it down. It was a hole used in the manufacturing process and then capped with the screw and covered with a cobra decal which years later would fall off.

 

A REAL AHHH OHHH MOMENT!!

[cowpuc]

Even if you pumped a quart of grease into that zerk fitting, I doubt any of it would go to where it is supposed to go. It is really there more for decorative purposes.

Randy

 

Cowpuc, I have just gone through my owners manual and dealership service manual for my xvz and cannot find any spec or purpose for this fitting. The shaft splines are supposed to be coated in molybdenum disulfide grease but nothing mentioning the exterior of the coupling gear at which the fitting sits above. When I tore my project down to literally nothing and started the rebuild I too was wondering about this fittings purpose. It is shown in many exploded diagrams but not given any reference to. I see it serving no real purpose and chassis grease is not the same as molybdenum so I would not want to mix the two. On another note one of my parts bike had the rear swing arm full of chassis grease that honestly served no purpose and I believe was the result of the use of this fitting.

 

I am probably one of those one quart plus types who have provided the world with at least 5 1st Gens with swingarms full of grease.. I have always pumped grease into that zerk and always given her an extra shot or two or 10.. KNOCK ON WOOD, this may sound crazy but I have also never had that system apart on any of my bikes either.. I wonder if running that swing arm FULL of grease has actually helped preserve the units.... I have never noticed grease coming out of the rubber boot that covers the front joint on any of my bikes,, hmmmmm,,, :lightbulb:maybe the idea is to just keep filling it till you see grease inside the boot - Tweeks may already be to that point cause I aint shy with the grease gun:big-grin-emoticon:

[saddlebum]

them are not grease zerks.

 

they are air valves you put air in there for the air brakes

Hey not to loud there Oldgoat. I don't know about your driving laws down there but up here you have to have a Z endorsement for air brakes on your drivers license. If the ministry were to learn motorcycles have air air brakes the government cash cow would come up out of the pasture looking to have every biker up here pay to be retrained on air brakes and pay again every 5 years to be retested.

[Yammer Dan]

Are we learning yet??? I need some new knowledge:backinmyday:

[WildBill1]

It's not a grease zerk, it's a vent. I also have one on my Harley transmission. No lube required.

[Brenner]

It's not a grease zerk, it's a vent. I also have one on my Harley transmission. No lube required.

 

 

Nope, according to Yamaha service manual swingarm diagram page 8-43 item #12 is listed as "grease fitting"

[oldgoat]

I think that is where the lightning goes after all them first gens go like greased lightning

[Yammer Dan]

I think that is where the lightning goes after all them first gens go like greased lightning

 

 

Quiet oldgoat ya ain't supposed to tell that!!

[cowpuc]

I think that is where the lightning goes after all them first gens go like greased lightning

 

FINALLY someone in our group of gangsters is making sense!! ITS A FLIPPIN LIGHTENING ROD!! YEEEEEHAAAAAWWWWW OLDGOAT - YOU DA MAN BRO!!!! :clap2::dancefool::thumbsup::thumbsup: :bikersmilie::bikersmilie::bikersmilie:

[WildBill1]

Take a small dia. wire I insert it in the hole and see if it goes into the swing arm.

[saddlebum]

Are we learning yet??? I need some new knowledge:backinmyday:

But you still haven't yet got a handle on the old knowledge:confused07:

[Yammer Dan]

Some of that you couldn't put a handle on....

[Pegasus1300]

Okay so assuming that your original post was not you playing straight man for this boatload of jokers we have here,that zerk was for greasing the splines on the rear of the driveshaft.It didn't work and if you depended on that then you soon found yourself on the side of the road going nowhere because your splines were rounded off.In the old Bench Wrench from the old VTS we were advised to remove the final drive and lube those splines by hand about every tire change along with the wheel splines and the fingers. Removing that zerk and putting the splines where thy got lubed by the final drive oil was one of the changes for 1986.