Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:52:56 EST
From: stork@best.com
To: gts-1000@MBnet.MB.CA
Subject: Disintegrator beam hits front end

Speaking of wobbly stuff, I decided to get those squeeks out on the front
suspension. Folks, listen up.

   When I got the upper control arm out, the collars were kind of frozen
to the 'bearings'. I am quoting here because the truth of the matter is,
when I removed the collar on the right side, all that was left was a
bunch of needles and powder! The race had completely disintegrated.

   I have definitely found a spot that was under-built for the front end.

   Look carefully at how the bearings are protected on the upper control
arm. Looking at the front of the bike, the left hand side is protected
by a rubber thing that has a flap in the front (not water tight), and it
is held in place by a zip tie.

   It is my suspicion that during rain, the water gets in there and is
held in place by the rubber piece. It's only a matter of time before that
whole thing disintegrates.

   The other side has no protection at all. It was in better shape, but
still needed replacement. This is the camber adjustment side.

   My _serious_ advice to anyone who has had their bike for a while is to
give this area serious attention. These spots need lubrication, and they
are not easy to get to. You must most of the front body work to get at
the pivot points. Clean them well and grease or replace them. If you're
bike's squeeking, go ahead and order the parts before you get in there
because it will be two weeks before the order comes in and I have a bike
again.

   I am going to try and remedy the situation by removing the rubber
thing or taping over the front so that rain can't enter from there. I
don't know what I am going to be doing about the camber adjustment side.

   By the way, the "joint ring" that holds the accordian thingie to the
steering bars and also to the front wheel kind of fell apart around the
rubber. It is not a critical area, for handling, but if you don't take
care of it, the joint ring is $156 suggested retail, and there are two of
them.

   The good news: I was able to go to a car machine shop and get the
front rotor turned (cut). It looks good as new, but who knows if it's
past the tolerance since Yamaha refused to put a run-out stamp on it.
I'll take my chances though, since it's a very thick rotor and the new
one costs more than the front wheel.

-Greg

----------------------------------------------------

>Speaking of wobbly stuff, I decided to get those squeeks out 
>on the front suspension. Folks, listen up.

Aha! This is good stuff! I've had the squeeks in my front end for
sometime now and haven't been able to find them. Your talking about the
upper A-arm aren't you?When I adjusted the camber on mine, it was
difficult....now I know why. Can you get us the part numbers that we'll
need to order? 

Kevin Hawkins // Greensboro, NC