HW's Inaugural Maintenance

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

The shock is loose. I rotated it 90°, 180°...Geometric puzzles are a horrible curse to me. Will it go through the swing arm? I have read of people pulling it out of the top of the swing arm. I can wheelie the bike but do not want to lift it in different ways without an understanding of my above questions. It seems some have removed the shock with the bike flat as I have it...?

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

[Bumblebee]

View attachment 1711857

I've always removed the rear tire when I take off the shock.....although it's been years since I've done so...

I generally pivoted the bottom of the shock to the rear then slid it out that way...

It's easier to explain in person than on this box.....

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

I've always removed the rear tire when I take off the shock.....although it's been years since I've done so...

I generally pivoted the bottom of the shock to the rear then slid it out that way...

Thank you very much for the input. That tells me that the tail does not need to be supported, is that right? Its frame support is adequate?

I think that you described pulling the shock out above the swing arm whereas I am trying to get it through the hole in the swing arm. How high do I have to get the bike, or merely removing the tire and dropping the swing arm generates enough space?

[Bumblebee]

Thank you very much for the input. That tells me that the tail does not need to be supported, is that right? Its frame support is adequate?

I think that you described pulling the shock out above the swing arm whereas I am trying to get it through the hole in the swing arm. How high do I have to get the bike, or merely removing the tire and dropping the swing arm generates enough space?

I put a metal rod through my engine bolt and used jack stands to hold the frame solid...dropping the swing arm gave me lots of room to take the shock out...

When I put it back in, I used my floor jack and put a wood dowel through the rear axle holes and jacked the swing arm up so it acted as a third hand....you can do the same in the opposite so you can control the swing arm drop as well....

My apologies for taking so long to get back to you as I've been outside doing yard work all day....then entertaining the neighbor kids who are like grand kids to us....

[LC4CARL]

The shock is loose. I rotated it 90°, 180°...Geometric puzzles are a horrible curse to me. Will it go through the swing arm? I have read of people pulling it out of the top of the swing arm. I can wheelie the bike but do not want to lift it in different ways without an understanding of my above questions. It seems some have removed the shock with the bike flat as I have it...?

Mine dropped out the bottom. But took some wiggling to get it back in.

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

My apologies for taking so long to get back to you

No one is on call here, do not apologize.

Mine dropped out the bottom.

Gen 1? That may be different.

[Bumblebee]

No one is on call here, do not apologize.

I just know that sometimes when questions are asked they can be time sensitive......as the person asking could be awaiting a response before proceeding......

I know my son is like that, if I don't quickly respond to questions he texts me, I get a series of "?" until I respond.....

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

I just know that sometimes when questions are asked they can be time sensitive......as the person asking could be awaiting a response before proceeding......

I start out thinking that each procedure I am performing is time sensitive but I have had to pause an infinite number of times because the restrictions are absolute physical barriers. I am not going to muscle something that I am unfamiliar with and I remind myself that being cautious and taking time is okay.

When the busa is done I would ostensibly put the VFR on the stand and begin similarly. The tires are from 2014 and there is air in the hydraulics. I have so had enough of this. I would prefer to hand it off to someone but that has never gone well. I shall be learning that bike I suppose which I hear from all the tech types here is a more "knuckle-scratching" nightmare than Suzuki.

I should be able to go 2/3/4 years on the refreshed busa while barely touching it and that will be a welcome reprieve. Also there would be no hurry for the VFR as long as I have something to ride.

[Bumblebee]

I start out thinking that each procedure I am performing is time sensitive but I have had to pause an infinite number of times because the restrictions are absolute physical barriers. I am not going to muscle something that I am unfamiliar with and I remind myself that being cautious and taking time is okay.

When the busa is done I would ostensibly put the VFR on the stand and begin similarly. The tires are from 2014 and there is air in the hydraulics. I have so had enough of this. I would prefer to hand it off to someone but that has never gone well. I shall be learning that bike I suppose which I hear from all the tech types here is a more "knuckle-scratching" nightmare than Suzuki.

I should be able to go 2/3/4 years on the refreshed busa while barely touching it and that will be a welcome reprieve. Also there would be no hurry for the VFR as long as I have something to ride.

Sadly, the neighbor down the street sold his yellow VFR....it was a really nice bike but he started pursuing other ventures so he let it go....and it went cheap and fast......

I was sad to see it go, it sounded so good going by....and we never got the chance to ride together....

[c10]

I use any good bearing grease , just clean out all the old stuff . Been using Red and Tacky for decades .

[Mythos]

Thank you very much for the input. That tells me that the tail does not need to be supported, is that right? Its frame support is adequate?

I've changed the shock on my ZX-14. The tail, meaning just the tail thing with the hump isn't effected by shock removal at all. The tail subframe supports the tail as always. The whole rest of the bike definitely needs to be supported without the shock in there. The shock supports everything except the swing arm. No shock, undertail mudflap lays on rear tire. When I took my ZX-14 shock off, I used a swing arm pivot stand. That will lift the whole rear of the bike without actually needing to lift under the rear of the bike. The swingarm pivot is close to the balance point between front and rear. When I removed my shock with the bike lifted on the swing arm pivot stand, I placed a few planks under the rear tire to support it while I removed the shock. If letting the swing arm drop an inch or so allows the shock to fit out of the bottom of the swing arm, taking a couple or all planks out while you lower the rear tire to the floor in a controlled manner should help. As someone else mentioned, removing the rear wheel might be necessary to let the swing arm drop as far as it needs to go in order to get the shock out of the bottom. I didn't remove the rear wheel to remove the shock on my ZX-14 and the swing arm "shock hole" seems a lot smaller on that bike...at least from what I remember.

I start out thinking that each procedure I am performing is time sensitive but I have had to pause an infinite number of times because the restrictions are absolute physical barriers. I am not going to muscle something that I am unfamiliar with and I remind myself that being cautious and taking time is okay.

That's the way to do it. I always take a huge amount of time on these things. Heck, I spent the last two months taking my fairings off. ...of course a lot of that was from taking breaks from it for several days or weeks. I would rather it take way too much time than try to rush it and damage the bike. I always take my time and enjoy it although I understand the desire to have the bike running for the best riding days of summer. Not even that pressures me to go faster than I know how. There will be plenty of other summers. It helps a lot to have a second bike in this situation too.

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

Good feedback @Mythos, thanks. That is the detail I need to understand.

No shock, undertail mudflap lays on rear tire

That detail sounds different. The shock is unbolted but nothing drops on the tire so I presume all of the tail is connected in the busa unlike the Kawi.

rs. It helps a lot to have a second bike in this situation too.

The second bike was at a mechanic’s for two years, promising me all the while he was working on it. I limped it home with air in the clutch and brakes, and the tires are from 2014. My planning was good for me but inadequate when relying on others.

That's the way to do it. I always take a huge amount of time on these things. Heck, I spent the last two months taking my fairings off. ...

Refreshing to hear. That is how it has gone unwittingly, for various reasons.