FZRSupport: the FZROnline Archive

so im painting my swingarm and first have to take care of some surface rust. its no big not that bad. the only thing is how to protect the bearings. so far every thing ive painted ive stripped, scrapped, washed with worm soapy water and steel wool and then lite sand. with the rust i want to wash then sand or grind strip, scrap, wash...
i just dont see how i can do that with out getting the bearngs drity or wet. even if i tape them im sure something will make its way in. so if i can take them out that be great. does anybody know?

thanks for the info. i got a manual that just said i would have to take it to a yamaha dealer so i didnt want to mess with it. but got 3 out the 4th didnt quite make it out whole.
but thanks again

As long as you aren't powdercoating it i dont see a problem with the bearing getting anything in there any more than it would from regular riding conditions as long as you tape it up

zero9243 wrote:As long as you aren't powdercoating it i dont see a problem with the bearing getting anything in there any more than it would from regular riding conditions as long as you tape it up

+1 LOL2
if you are just painting i think i would have just taped over them as to not get any over spray or paint in there .. if you powdercoat then yea you'd have to pull them // basically what he said ^^^^^^^

Hi,
as you say if you are dealing with fine particles (ie rust / paint) the washing will eventually get past the taping.

Popping the bearings out is the safest course of action (you have no idea if they are the same ones from the factory suffering from neglect or have been well looked after (unlikely))

Be aware that once the OLD bearings are out, they cannot be put back as they will be distorted by your removal !! & the fact you may put them back in the wrong location ie Rh for Lh as they are worn.


you will have to put in new ones. Also YAMAHA are not the only source of bearings there are industrial supply houses that are FAR cheaper.

When you go to put them in put them in the FREEZER for 24 hours and warm the swing arm (in boiling water is good enough) then the bearings should almost drop in.

Have a socket that is the same size as the bearing outer handy and a wooden mallet NOT a hammer OR a piece of 2 by 4 between hammer & socket .

When I repainted my swingarm, I simply removed the bearing dustcaps and wrapped the ends in black electrical tape - waterproof, and easily removed afterwards. That said, for what it costs George is right in saying that removal and replacement is a cheap and safe option.

hey thanks for the info and the bike was taken care of but then went to AZ. for a year and came back a mess. im not realy doing that much to it but cleaning and getting rid of the surface rust right now and the only way i can think of doing a good job it using chems. i figured that if i dont take them out then ill get water in them and they'll rust out anyway or mess with the lube and wear so.
but thanks again