PRE-FIRST RIDE maintenance & body care

So this here lil' R² is my first new vehicle, ever. Yeah, I know it's a dirtbike and believe me, it will be thrashed as such! But I was curious about a few things I might undertake before it's first beat-down to keep it running and looking good.

I know swingarm bearings are usually pretty dry on any new bike, what other lube points usually need addressed on a brand new R²? Anything else need attention before I rip and tear?

re: the body: I've heard of folks spraying their bikes down w/ Pam or WD-40 (especially in the underneath/hard to get/subjected to a lotta mud areas). In the NC clay I get into, this could save me a lotta grief, any other products to prevent caked-on mud (this stuff dries like concrete sometimes!)

Also, how about a decent, tough wax - not to make the bike look shiny, but to help prevent scratches and mostly for keeping too much crap from sticking?

Trust me, the bike will be abused - my idea of fun is turning the idle up and following ridiculously tight deer paths while I push branches to the side I'm just trying to keep it looking and functioning good for years to come (plus, I tend to do more frequent/better maintenance on a clean bike)

I won't make any specific recommendations on wax, because like motor oils everyone seems to have a personal favorite. Consumer Reports has done some good reviews in the past. One thing that it is important to note is whether or not a product is just wax, or contains abrasive. Continued use of abrasive content will take off clear coat on car and cycle finishes that use paint - I don't know the effect on plastic like the WR.

One friend of mine with a 1968 Triumph always uses "Pledge" furniture spray wax on his paint after washing because it applies quickly and has no abrasive. Seems to work well.

Honda puts out a really nice cleaner/wax that doesn't scratch. I use it on my R² and it's pretty nice stuff. Makes washing easy and it seems to give it a bit of a tough coating considering the branches I've smacked with it already. Ypu might want to consider greasing your axles too...those suckers are a bit on the dry side stock.

thanks, I'll try the Honda spray and the Pledge, see what works best for me!

Now about the "rest of the bike", any merit to the Pam cooking spray idea to keep the underside easy to wash (thinking of dried, caked-on mud)? Or will this eventually burn and make a nasty residue?

Any other ideas for keeping the underside "mud-proof" (or at least easier to hose down in preparation for maintenance)?

BluePill wrote:

One friend of mine with a 1968 Triumph always uses "Pledge" furniture spray wax on his paint after washing because it applies quickly and has no abrasive. Seems to work well.

I've used the Pledge trick on my plastics and was amazed how great it looks afterwards. And you can't beat that lemony fresh scent!

So Pledge keeps Mark's bike sparkling clean?

Pam stinks bad and leaves crusties all over. I just use a good spray like Gunk Orange, and it washes off nice and clean.

BPG wrote:

I know swingarm bearings are usually pretty dry on any new bike, what other lube points usually need addressed on a brand new R²? Anything else need attention before I rip and tear?

Check the steering head bearings too, mine were pretty dry, and others have said the same about their's.

I just now disconnected the rear shock of my WR250R. The linkages are DRY. I'm talking NO grease -- NONE. My guess is that the same is true for the swing arm and head bearings. If the wheels have sealed bearings, then they might be OK, but I won't know until I pull this bike apart and rebuild it.

The point is this: Assume that whoever is supposed to grease your brand new WR250R/X before you buy it went and took a shit while your bike passed by on the assembly line. Words can't describe how f**king ridiculous it is that buyers of these bikes have an immediate obligation to tear them down to the frame and grease them up and put them back together again before they can ride without causing damage to the bike.

wahilde wrote:

I just now disconnected the rear shock of my WR250R. The linkages are DRY. I'm talking NO grease -- NONE. My guess is that the same is true for the swing arm and head bearings. If the wheels have sealed bearings, then they might be OK, but I won't know until I pull this bike apart and rebuild it.

The point is this: Assume that whoever is supposed to grease your brand new WR250R/X before you buy it went and took a shit while your bike passed by on the assembly line. Words can't describe how f**king ridiculous it is that buyers of these bikes have an immediate obligation to tear them down to the frame and grease them up and put them back together again before they can ride without causing damage to the bike.

Define NONE...cause i hope that all stock bikes are like that cause if so i am thinging about ripping my bike apart tonight and re greaseing everything. Even though i should not have a problem if i am just sicking to the road as of now. Once i HIT the dirt you better beleave i am going to be checking my bearings.

King Wolf wrote:

wahilde wrote:

I just now disconnected the rear shock of my WR250R. The linkages are DRY. I'm talking NO grease -- NONE. My guess is that the same is true for the swing arm and head bearings. If the wheels have sealed bearings, then they might be OK, but I won't know until I pull this bike apart and rebuild it.

The point is this: Assume that whoever is supposed to grease your brand new WR250R/X before you buy it went and took a shit while your bike passed by on the assembly line. Words can't describe how f**king ridiculous it is that buyers of these bikes have an immediate obligation to tear them down to the frame and grease them up and put them back together again before they can ride without causing damage to the bike.

Define NONE...cause i hope that all stock bikes are like that cause if so i am thinging about ripping my bike apart tonight and re greaseing everything. Even though i should not have a problem if i am just sicking to the road as of now. Once i HIT the dirt you better beleave i am going to be checking my bearings.

King Wolf, I'm glad you asked and I'm glad I got an automated email to point me back to where I posted my bitching about the grease situation, else I might not have found it. Folks, as much as I hate to admit what an idiot I am, I'd rather look the fool than to totally freak everyone out about their new WRRs. I really did over-react about what I saw and what I expected to see. "Expected" is the key word here. I'm so used to seeing grease ON the seals that I really jumped the gun when I saw nothing on my rear shock linkages -- kind of put me in the mind set of "where's the grease?". Then I pulled the bolts out of the connecting rods and expected to see "excess" grease, but saw nothing. When I pulled the first sleeve out it really did look and feel bone dry -- compared to what I was used to and that's when I kind of freaked because I knew then that I'd have the bike in pieces on the garage floor and a gallon bucket of grease to attack the whole bike with.

After posting my freak-out, and a day had gone by, I finally got back out in the garage and removed the needle bearings to see if they were scarred. Bottom line is that they WERE greased, just not what I was used to seeing. So I owe a huge appology to all for being such a panic case. I will say that I'm glad I slapped a shit load of grease on the works though. The amount that was on there was enough to do the job, just not enough to make me feel like the bearings were being protected from wash-out and anything else that might get past the seals. Now that I mention it, those seals seemed pretty tight, so maybe they are better protected than, again, what I'm used to seeing.

Maybe I should change my handle to something more appropriate for a half blind psychotic guy who worries too much.

Oh its all cool... Arent most all the bearings sealed bearings anyway? If so then they dont need grease all sealed inside where ever. Am i right?

King Wolf wrote:

Oh its all cool... Arent most all the bearings sealed bearings anyway? If so then they dont need grease all sealed inside where ever. Am i right?

Well, from what I can tell, there is at least some kind of rubber seal on all the bearings to keep water and dust out (not sure about the steering head -- I didn't take that apart). However, I would totally avoid using a high-pressure washer to clean your bike. I have a feeling that a close-up squirt from one of those things could easily force water and/or soap past the seals.

Gotcha...And i totally agree with you on the pressure washer. I dont own one so i wont have to worry about it.
I have to stick with the good old hoes and bucket.

If you use a hoe on your bearing you will definitely screw them up


I broke my foot on the bike the first time I took it in the dirt. Just a gentle trail ride and as such I was an idiot and had hikers on instead of my mx boots; front end just completely washed out and tossed me. So now I have 8 weeks worth of time to work on the bike. I'll add bearings to the list...

All the bearings and pivot bolts on mine were pretty well greased from the factory. The only place I'd say was lacking on mine was the shock dogbone, but that could have easily been caused by the sheer amount of mud, deep water, rain/road spray, and other shit the bike had been through up to that point.

I do need to do the steering head bearings sometime soon, I'm well past due mileage wise. I also need to go back and redo the rear suspension (which I'll do when I replace the chain again).

When i put on the knobbies on my x, i also was a bit surprised at the conservative application of grease from the factory. Then when i put in the yamalink, i noticed the dog bones were pretty lightly lubed as well. There was grease in there, just not as much as i'm used to seeing.

Another nice thing about the yamalink.. strategically placed zerk fitting to grease up.

I guess i better check some of the other moving parts on this bike. i'm sure they're not dry, just not wallowing in grease like i think they should be.

I am looking at putting a soft bag on the tail of my bike. Thinking to myself i noticed that the WRR and the X have the exhaust pipe exposed. I was just wondering if it would be possible to use the body panel of another yamaha that would cover the pipe like the old school DS. Melting is my concern along with burnt legs.

colorado.warhorse wrote:

.........I am looking at putting a soft bag on the tail of my bike......Melting is my concern along with burnt legs.

I just put ~400 miles on my bike with Ortlieb bags this past weekend.....no melting concerns with the stock heat shield in place between saddlebag and pipe.....the bag did did mar up the heat shield a bit.....but that may also have been due to a few wipeouts like the cartwheel ride the bike took off the single track below.......whoops....... .........a bit scratched up but still runs like a Swiss clock

Basically, the bearings used on the swingarm and suspension linkage pivot points don't have the ability to hold a lot of grease.
There's not a lot of free space in there between the rolling needles, and you'll simply have to take the bike apart to periodically apply new grease since the grease in there won't last forever, and was never intended to.
Having to take the bike apart from time-to-time was basically part of the design plan back when the bike was on the drawing board.
The sales brochure just didn't tell us that.

Back in the olden daze, it was common to use a needle bearing that had a cage in there holding the needles apart at a uniform distance from one another.
This cage also prevented the needles from falling out upon disassembly.
It also gave more room for a little bit more grease.

The ones used on the WR-250R (and lots of other modern Yamaha motorcycles) no longer use the cage to space the needles apart - they simply sit shoulder-to-shoulder with each other and roll around rubbing against each other, keeping each other nice and straight.
This also means that when disassembling the bike for lubrication of these bearings, the needles will fall out and end up on the floor if you're not careful.

Don't forget to apply grease to the swingarm pivot bolt (and all of the other bolts and oil seals involved) to prevent it from corroding in place, which can take less time than you may think.

Myself, I relube these parts one every three months with steady use of the bike.
This is a mix of normal off-road riding, with anything from easy dirt roads to some mud and swamps up to just above the footrests.
Once home, the bike gets a thorough washing and spraying with a WD-40-type product onto these pivoting points.
If you ride under water and in mega-mud 24/7, well, don't kid yourself - grease these parts more often than once in a blue moon. :)

I've found that my steering head bearings can hold more grease and can go a full year between greasings.
Being a couple of big bearings way up high away from the dirt helps, too.

Wheel axles and oil seals get new grease at every tire change, which is typically about once evey six weeks when the bike is steadily used.

Another biggie:
Don't neglect your air filter.
If you're riding off-road regularly, you should know how to properly service your air filter with your eyes closed. :)

Buy a cable lube tool and use it (with a WD-40-type spray lube) on the clutch cable once a week.
You may be surprised just how dry your cable actually was all that time. :)

Polishing the plastic bodywork is the easy part.
I use Honda Spray Polish and an old T-shirt.
Not a shiny as Armor-All, but not as slippery, either, which is good for your seat cover.