Thats a disturbing amount of play in a shock link!

I think the play is normal
Opened up today and took apart
I think it was too dry, no grease
So greased it up and replaced
Seems there is a bit of damage on the one shaft

The length of the shaft determines where nut and bolt stops when fastened
So, according to me, there will be play, if not, I must look for another option

https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5329/3...bc381a6e_b.jpg

https://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5684/3...32df350c_b.jpg

https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5811/3...f35c7020_b.jpg

https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5718/3...bd13895f_b.jpg

Note to self: Time to open all bearings and grease

That could well be the cause of rattling? - dry worn out bearings, or will the bearings be OK? greased them well

Are the bearings bone dry?...they look it. When you spin them by hand are they rattling away?..

For the relative cheapness of them id be inclined to replace as they may have been running dry for unknown miles and have flat spots etc.

Or you could just pack them full of a quality grease and see...

Any other links etc in a similar condition?

Chain Monkey, takes the guess work out of chain tensioning

Only use this

https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5334/3...b1547da0_b.jpg

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...psobullcw1.jpg Hi Dual, the bearings on my (then) 18 months old Tenere were really dry and beginning to squeak. ..there is a great thread on this forum that talks you through it. I repacked mine with some marine grease 'donated' by Jo75 of this forum! . Well worth doing...especially considering the terrain you ride on. Steve

Thanks for info, but mine seems to bee too long as there is play?
Or am I doing something wrong?

Note: There is a notable difference between the two spaces between the links, let's call them front and back, but the shafts are the same length

These two shafts are equal in length

https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5350/3...dcd1ea90_b.jpg

I'm not with my bike so can't tell you. ...try and find that thread on the forum. ..it even listed how many needles in the bearings. ..just in case!. Hopefully Pleiades will answer later....Steve

There will be some side-to-side movement of the linkage plates because the collar to which they are clamped are longer than the width of the relay arm/swing arm mounting. It is designed like this to allow a certain amount of self-centring. However, it should not move as freely as yours does. It should be quite difficult to move by hand (but still possible) if the bearings are in good condition and the journals on the collars are not worn.

Straight from the factory all the bearings are very ‘dry’ and need almost immediate attention. The biggest problems are the MPL full complement bearings (two in the swingarm pivots and two in the end of the relay arm). The MPL is a solid lubricant designed to gradually bleed oil onto the needles, but the catch is it very quickly bleeds out all its oil and becomes next to useless. Once the oil has been given up, the bearing runs dry and it is impossible to repack as the remaining redundant MPL takes up all the available space within the bearing. There is no alternative but to remove the MPL and replace with proper grease, or replace with a new part (which is expensive and will only last five minutes and you’ll be back to square one).

I stripped all my bearings down in when the bike was 2 years old at about 10K miles and they were already desperately dry and corrosion was evident. The MPL was removed from the full complement bearings and waterproof grease packed in, and all the other caged needle rollers were treated to the same. Back end was pulled apart in 2013 and everything was perfect, just as I had left it 2 years before and were the same earlier this year when I had another look.

I honestly wouldn’t bother just doing the relay/linkage bearings. If they are that bad, then I can guarantee the swingarm pivots will be worse! Strip the whole lot down, remove the dreaded MPL and re-pack the whole lot with waterproof grease. Caught early, everything can be salvaged. Leave it too late then you’ll be buying bearings, and collars (which aren’t cheap). Also the swingarm pivot bolt has a habit of seizing in place if not removed early on in the bike’s life, and that is a problem you don’t want to have; it’s a proper PITA to deal with.

Ohlins wrote an excellent ‘walk-through’ with photos on the whole process a few years back. It is in four parts and the links to them are here.

Just to add that the steering head bearings can run dry fairly quickly too. I greased mine shortly after its first service the top bearing was OK but the bottom one was almost dry.

Took the bike to Yamaha dealer yesterday
Seems steering head bearings might be a tad loose, which can lead to "rattle"

I think the noise I'm hearing might be a pinging sound on the engine, round about 3 000 refs

Apparently some fuel mod device can sort this out

Will have to source this then and try

Have a K&N filter and de-catted exhaust which makes the bike running leaner that can cause the pinging sound

Going over bumps, it's the chain hitting the swingarm, so it seems not much to worry about

Maybe I must get a decent pair of earplugs

It would be well worth considering Kev's O2 controller & Fuel mod to richen the air/fuel mix with your set up Dual.

I must now source that in South Africa, seems the way to go

Send Kev a PM & he should be able to accommodate you. Just bare in mind the time difference as I think messages set his phone off & can wake him up in the middle of the night in Australia!!!

Here it is on ebay, can be slightly cheaper if you buy from him direct.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Yamaha-XT...UAAOSwHnFVw0N-

Thanks

I'm fed up with the rattles, when I go over corrugated road or any bump in the road, it feels like the whole bike rattles away from underneath me
I took the swingarm off this morning and greased all bearings
Still no fix
I'm slowly starting to think to sell the damn bike

They're rubbish. Someone in SA used to make ones of stiffer rubber which got good reports

I'm referring to the Cush rubbers offcourse

It's not them, been replaced

I've had rattles in mine when the rear aftermarket bashplate mounts broke, and when the centrestand bolts came loose. Also if the you have one, the centrestand buffer rubber can break off, also causing rattles.

Going over bumps could be a giveaway. Just something loose, one would think.

The last thing I can imagine to be a problem, is where the shock is bolted onto the frame
It feels OK and I can wiggle it with slight movement

https://c3.staticflickr.com/1/392/31...a69d73dd18.jpg

Everything else has been taken apart and greased properly

I think I'm going slightly mad - think there is a Queen song about it :D

It's just a rubber metalastic type bush at the top, so movement is perfectly normal here. They can squeak though if they get dry. Silicone lube or grease helps in this respect.

I think I found the noise
After a lot of money spent, a lot of pulling hair, etc, etc, etc
I hammered with my hand on the exhaust cover shield end there was my noise, or so I hope
Took it off and went for a ride over bad road, no more noise, almost can't believe my ears, hope this was it

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/533/31...648dbe85_b.jpg

https://youtu.be/sOUgk8UaS5s

That's a fairly common issue, caused by the upper of the two screws that hold the cover on being too long from the factory and making contact with the pipe. However, the symptoms are normally a buzzing sound at certain rpms, rather than a rattle.

See this thread: http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=18033

Anyhow, if it's fixed your rattle, then the job's a good'un!

That jub-jub clip looks a bit skiwif?

Damn, forgot to mention that issue. I did mine ages ago because I just happened to read the thread. Made a difference, for sure.

What is the jub-jub clip?

I still sometimes have that rattling, getting quite fed up with it
Look everyday for the problem and solution
Saw today that the chain have a lot of play sideways on the sprocket, tough though to pull it back from the teeth, sprocket look good to me, no shark teeth

https://youtu.be/1NTIJYeA7d0

Looks normal to me? Try a healthy application of a good chain lube & see what happens. I find the wax one's work really well here in dry dusty conditions.

Took half the bike apart yesterday, removed the exhaust to take out the shock, no obvious problem looking at it

The rattle is driving me crazy, greased the bolt that connects the shock to the frame, will test today

I'm at the point of selling the bike, so much it irritates me

How can the shock be the culprit?

I can take it apart and put it back under two hours, one plus point to it

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/600/32...a3cd5f25_b.jpg

I've tightened the special nut - part number 1 - it turned so little I can't believe it can make a difference, but so far seems if it did

Hope this was it

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/488/32...6a0172fe_b.jpg

Fingers crossed for you Duel. If it doesn't maybe a loud exhaust might drown it out.

Almost there, about 60 % less rattles, but still there over corrugated road surface
Made this special tool

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/390/32...ba44b09b_b.jpg

Took the swingarm off again today, greased everything again, and reset swingarm

Will test it later and report, we have a nice expression in Afrikaans, I'm getting gatvol blowup