Leveling Links Question

[Double D]

:feedback:I just received the Diamond R leveling links and will be putting them on tomorrow since it it supposed rain and I try not to ride in the rain. My question is this, I have read the write up in the tech section and it seems pretty straight forward. I am not a wrench turner by any means so is there anything I need to watch out for before starting this project? I have a lift and the lift adapter From Carbon One. Is there anything other than the EIS Reed Valve that needs to be removed to do this job, like removing the wheel, saddlebags will I need to have my wife standing by with a first aid kit? These are just a few of the questions I have.

[Boomer]

Hey David, I put 'em on my '05 Midnite and did it in about 15 mins. You can use your Carbon One stand and all you do is loosen and remove 2 bolts, take the OEM's off and put these on. I think mine came with new bolts too. There is a torque spec and it should be with your paperwork.

 

When you do remove the bolts, the rear wheel will drop on you, so watch that part.

 

Good luck, and let me know if you need any help!

 

OH YEAH, I never romved the wheel or saddlebags. You will have to move the reed valve and that's not a big issue...

[Double D]

Thanks Boomer, BTY are you going to the Meet and Greet at Lake Barkley? SCRC memeber from around the area are meeting there on Saturday for lunch. I plan to make the ride--see you there if you go.

[V7Goose]

On my 05 QuickSilver, I did not need to remove ANYTHING except the two bolts to which the links attach.

 

I simply raised the bike on a fixed maintenance stand that put the rear tire 1" off the ground and pushed a 1" thick piece of wood under the tire. This took the weight off the suspension and allowed me to remove the bolts without effort. I then attached the new links to the top bolt, pulled out the wood and slipped in the bottom bolt. Done. Good luck,

Goose

[Boomer]

Thanks Boomer, BTY are you going to the Meet and Greet at Lake Barkley? SCRC memeber from around the area are meeting there on Saturday for lunch. I plan to make the ride--see you there if you go.

 

Dave, whose meet and greet is it?? I have an SCRC Chapter 6 ride on Sunday.

[Double D]

It is a SCRC meet and greet. It is posted on the Middle TN Chapter #6 forum. Here is the posting.

6113.1 Members of SCRC from Tennessee and Kentucky are heading for Barkley State Park next weekend. Are you?

Subject: Meet and Greet

 

 

Cruisers in the western part of the state are invited to a meet and greet at Lake Barkley State Park (Lodge Restaurant) on Saturday, April 21. Lets see how many SCRC members we can get to attend this meet and greet from the western part of KY or nearby TN chapters. The plan will be to arrive at Lake Barkley State Park for lunch around 11:30 am.

The Borderline Chapter will leave Springfield, TN meeting point at 9:30 am and ride to Lake Barkley State Park.

Please reply to me through this email or the following delphi post on the KY State Forum (230.1) whether any of your chapters will attend (with estimate of numbers) so I can advise the state park to have enough food available.

[RedRider]

David,

 

You will want some grease handy to grease the bearings in the suspension link (it will be obvious what this is). Also, a 2x4 with your wife to lift the rear wheel and make it easier to align the bolts for reinstallation.

 

Takes about 20 minutes and is an easy job. Good call in getting the CarbonOne lift adapter.

 

RR

[SaltyDawg]

Either you folks have really small hands or mine are abnormally large. There is no way I could get my hands in to change those without taking the tire off. Then again maybe I'm just abnormal. LOL

[RedRider]

Dawg,

 

You may be abnormal, but I couldn't have gotten in there without removing the reed valves.

 

RR

[Bummer]

Either you folks have really small hands or mine are abnormally large. There is no way I could get my hands in to change those without taking the tire off. Then again maybe I'm just abnormal. LOL

I'm with you. I removed the tire for the space. I suppose I didn't absolutely need to, but I'm glad I did. It also gave me a chance to grease the rear wheel splines. I'm glad I did that too.

[Black Ice]

When I put the stock links back on after using the Barons lowering kit links I didn't remove the wheel either and used the lift up/down to position the wheel so the links lined up with the bolt holes rather than using the 2x4 method. Found that worked well when working alone.

[Bartley]

Make absolutely sure you take the weight off the suspension by keeping the back wheel propped up. Just did mine last week. I stood the bike on the centerstand on top of a 1" piece of plywood. Layed down on a piece of carpet and used my back to push on a crowbar which held the wheel up and the same time I wrenched out the bolts and installed the new ones. Piece of cake. Not taking the weight off the suspension makes it almost impossible to pull the bolts out.

[Double D]

OK guys, with all this talk of grease and splines, are you sure that I can do this by myself? And what splines, will I see them when I take the old links off? What type of grease do I use? Is there anybody close to my location that may want to SHOW me how to do this? I may wait until Saturday night to do it since I want to ride with the SCRC on Saturday,knowing my luck I will get it apart and not be able to get it all back together again. I may jsut want until June 3 and have you guys show me at maintenance day.

[Boomer]

Boomer to the rescue Dave. Since I will be riding with you on Saturday and I have already done it, I'll just follow you back to Clarksvegas and we can do it Saturday evening. Deal??

[Double D]

Boomer to the rescue Dave. Since I will be riding with you on Saturday and I have already done it, I'll just follow you back to Clarksvegas and we can do it Saturday evening. Deal??

 

I could not ask for anything better. Sounds like a plan. I have plenty of tools but no skills.

[Boomer]

Well, like my personal quote says, "You're only as good as your ability to use the tools."

 

Yeah.......you better let me help you!! :rotf:

 

See you Saturday!

[Double D]

Well, like my personal quote says, "You're only as good as your ability to use the tools."

 

Yeah.......you better let me help you!! :rotf:

 

See you Saturday!

I am not too good with mechanical tools but I am do pretty good with woodworking tools. I built myself a nice 16x16 workshop and packed it with all kinds of woodworking stuff not to mention cable TV. My next project is to build a custom bed for my grandson with a special hiding place just for him. See you on Saturday.

[Bummer]

OK guys, with all this talk of grease and splines, are you sure that I can do this by myself?

First off you don't HAVE to take the wheel off. It just gives you more room to work. IF you take the wheel off you should take that opportunity to grease the splines in the center of the wheel.

 

I had an '05 Midnight and now have an '06 Black Cherry. Both had nearly dry wheel splines from the start. At 4k miles or so the '05 began making a tick tick tick noise as I backed it up. I've heard it'll make quite a racket if you wait. The dealer offered to do it under warranty. "Just drop it off Tuesday and we'll call you in a couple of days..." I did it myself. I didn't wait for the '06 to make noise, I did it while I was changing links.

 

It's pretty easy. You'll need a pair of circlip pliers. The wheel has a circlip in the middle. Take it off then pull. Clean the parts and grease well. I used some fancy Moly stuff I had. Others have used lithium based grease. When you put it together you might find that a rubber mallet comes in handy to help seat the assembly.

 

It probably added an hour to the job and I was gimping around on a badly bent leg at that time.

 

Bear in mind not everyone has to grease the splines right off, so if it's not making noise you can always wait. I just figured while I had it in the air...

[Jethroish]

:feedback:I just received the Diamond R leveling links and will be putting them on tomorrow since it it supposed rain and I try not to ride in the rain. My question is this, I have read the write up in the tech section and it seems pretty straight forward. I am not a wrench turner by any means so is there anything I need to watch out for before starting this project? I have a lift and the lift adapter From Carbon One. Is there anything other than the EIS Reed Valve that needs to be removed to do this job, like removing the wheel, saddlebags will I need to have my wife standing by with a first aid kit? These are just a few of the questions I have.

 

 

As said, you do not have to take the wheel off. This is a quick 15 minute job. And you really should not have to take the Reed Valve off either. I did not need to on mine.

[SaltyDawg]

Bear in mind not everyone has to grease the splines right off, so if it's not making noise you can always wait. I just figured while I had it in the air...

 

I would have to disagree with the first part of this statement. If the splines were not greased properly and you wait for the tell tale click click click then your splines just might be rusted by that time. This happened with my first 99 and I almost didn't get the splines out. Then it is longer and more difficult to clean and sand the splines plus the holes in the hub. If I were going to go through the process of putting my RSV on a lift to change the links knowing the splines had NOT been done by me personally I would take the time to remove the tire and grease them. I don't trust any shop to do things I can't verify for myself visually. Removing the tire will also make changing the links a lot easier. Just my opinion though.

 

Bottom line is the splines should be checked and greased "Every Time" you pull the rear wheel.

 

There are good tech articles that explain removing the tire and greasing the splines. It's not hard or time consuming and anybody can do it providing your fit enough to lift the tire into place. The hardest part of the process is getting the tire back up and in place.

[Bummer]

I would have to disagree with the first part of this statement.

For the most part so do I. If I ever have another Second Gen I'll grease those splines right away too. The splines on the '05 were rusted enough at 4k to require scotch brite to clean up. The '06 at less than 3k only had a slight rusty film that rubbed off with a rag.

 

Still, there seem to be folks getting away with it. Maybe they got all the grease. I know I sure didn't get much.

[Double D]

What splines are you all talking about? I have looked in the service manual and can not find (or maybe I don't know what I am looking for) what you all are referring to. Someone please enlighten me.

[Venturing Sole]

Dang. I've got the tick tick tick sound when I back up. Wondered what it was. I've got an 06 black cherry with about 5,000 miles on it. Guess I'll have to figure out how to prop the bike up without a lift. Couple of jack stands maybe and my floor jack?

[Rocket]

What splines are you all talking about? I have looked in the service manual and can not find (or maybe I don't know what I am looking for) what you all are referring to. Someone please enlighten me.

Seeing that the previous poster, had mentioned only pulling the rear wheel. He is refering to the hub splines, that mesh with the ones in the diff.

 

If you are pulling the rear wheel to lube splines, might as well do the fingers too. The hub will need to come off the wheel to lube these, 1 snap ring retains the hub assy.

[Stoutman]

What splines are you all talking about? I have looked in the service manual and can not find (or maybe I don't know what I am looking for) what you all are referring to. Someone please enlighten me.

 

I believe they are talking about parts 10, and 11 in the attached picture off Yamaha's web site. These are the parts that transfer the torque to the rear wheel from the rear drive gear. Parts 10 and 11 need to be cleaned and greased everytime you replace the rear wheel (there are six of each).