Cush drive already......
 

I thought as much.... with not even 2000 mile on the clock, the cush drive and sprocket carrier bearing is shot.
This has been a bugbear of mine and I have expected this from day one.
In Capt Motos poll I mentioned in 'my wants' an 18" wheel with no cush drive for this reason.
Now I have the catalyst in my head to source this mod............
I'd like to keep the rim but have a fixed type sprocket/hub arrangement. If you have experience of such a mod, please contact me with some info, thanks.

Timpo.

Thats crap, what have Yamaha said they will do about it ?

I like the 18 rear idea opens up a better choice of tyres.

2000 miles thats a bit bad:017:! The XTX/R isnt even that bad. I wonder could it be to do with the fact the Tenere is carrying more weight, therefore more force going through the crush drive rubbers??

I dont think yamaha will do much apart from say its a part that is suppose to wear out and should be replaced as and when needed.

How do you tell ? without taking the thing to bits I mean, how do you know from a riders perspective, what are the signs, tell tails etc??

I only ask as with over 10,000 miles on the bike, 90% of those fully loaded I'm not seeing anything un-toward....

The sprocket carrier can move radially without the wheel hub moving. There is also play in the SC bearing.
I don't think Yamaha will give me any joy, as rubbers are sacraficial/wearing parts so it is expected, so I'll not even ask. I don't like rocking the boat....:evil7:

At the last tyre change I had noticed a 'flaking' of the rubbers, it maybe worth you guys keeping tabs on yours.:grouphug[1]:

I'll do a change on them next week and let you know. It will have new bearing fitted also whilst I'm there.

Right, I'm off to Liverpool for a pint or two......:bbeer:

Timpo.

Timpo.

I had a look after about 1000miles and was surprised the rubbers did look a bit tatty, with some rubber 'dust' in the hub.

It all bolted back together nice and tight so not a problem at the moment, something to keep any eye on though.

Once the sprocket rubbers have been compress after a few thousand miles, you will find because of only using a single ball bearing in the carrier there would be small sideways movement in the carrier.

Remove the sprocket carrier, place the rear axle shaft through the carrier bearing, then see how much free play there is, then compare it to a new bearing. If it has worn out at that milage then this would be classed as premuture failure.

Is it an idea to lube the rubber with WD40 or such , would this stop the rubbers tearing ?

No not at all, they must be kept away from oil & contaminants.

The rubber part that usually tears is only the support strap that holds the rubbers in place to make it easy to insert the sprocket holder. There will be a small amount of rubber dust or small partiticals in the hub, this is normal after a few thousand miles.

Timpo, you did a lot of offroad ridin', maybe that's the cause? I guess with normal street ridin', it won't go that fast? But on the other hand, 2000miles is way too fast! I'll keep an eye on them, thanx. Let us know what your dealer had to say in this matter. Greetz, Hans.

mine went after 2300 miles on XTX once rubber flakes and you have a few mm movement cut some strips of rubber and place at sides,i used lithographic printing blanket ive now done 16000 miles and no wear,the rubber cush drive is ----

Hello,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the cush drive is there to take out some of the force when the drive of the engine hits the back wheel, right?

So if you replace the back wheel with a non-cush alternative will there be any detrimatal effects?

Would it be worthwhile replacing the rubber with a hard plastic to see how it would be with a non-cush back wheel?



Nick.

nice one you need your rubber,its simple to sort

One of the main thing that trashes bearings is water ....And you have certainly been doing pleanty of wading with it :smilies0330:

just bought a new C and S set and a set of cush rubbers, ready to fit inthe next few week's

Bike as just done 13.000 ,with a mix of off road...and a two up fully loaded touring holiday.

so I don't think that is bad for a 660 single.

I think if you did not have a cush drive on a bike of this size it would knacker the chain in no time .

My Tenere just had its 10.000km service and they replaced the rear wheel transmission dampers under guarantee, although they weren't completely worn, but just to be safe. So thanx for the info on this matter. The bearings were fine. Greetz, Hans.

I just happened to have my rear wheel out today to fit a 48T rear sprocket..........................it doesn't even with a 14Tfront and worn chain :sign12:.

Anyway took a look at the rubbers while I was there after 2500 miles of use.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3101/...0d43d30435.jpg

Some wear on the rubbers and a very loose fit with the carrier in place but good for a while yet.Bolts together nice and tight with the axle fitted,

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/...c3c79025b7.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/...acc9f7bb5f.jpg

I have checked mine and they were falling apart. If you look closely at the rubbers it is my opinion that they stick to the side of the sprocket carrier and wheel and so small tears appear, this then causes more movement and so the break up happens faster.

We checked another Ten Z and it was exactly the same

It is recommended by Yamaha that these rubbers are lubricated with Lithium based grease. So this is what I have done. I don't think they apply enough grease to stop them sticking when they assemble.

I would be interested to know if the rubbers that were replaced under warranty if they lubed them , and if so with what.

When I changed tires at 9700km (~6000 miles) the rubbers looked like new. Does this mean I drive like an old lady or that Swedish dealers are more generous with the lube?

I don't think its anything to do with the way you drive, but I would be interested if the rubbers looked well greased ?

The rubbers are a very loose fit for from day 1.

From past experience the assembly should be a snug fit whan you put it all together.

Often I've had to employ Mr Rubber Mallet to knock the carrier back into the hub on other bikes.

Rubbers are too small= lots of movement=rapid wear.

Sorry, didn't pay much attention to it so don't remember. :smoke:
Noticed that too, when I removed the rear wheel first time the carrier and rubbers just fell off. Gonna talk to the techs about it when I'm in for the 20kkm service.

hi has anyone got a number to ring so i can get some of these cush drives. im on the wirral so anywere local to that would help.
and i have to agree it is pritty naf that they need replacing so quickly!!

thanks Tompe

Maybe a polyurethane replacement would help? for those who don't know polyurethane is hellish tough and available in a range of different grades of hardness. that way it would retain the cush, could be manufactured to be a more snug fit and last longer. :)

I had the rear end jacked up today to oil the chain and noticed a lot of play in the direction of rotation between hub and carrier while spinning the wheel. Also side to side play is very noticeable on the carrier...........this is more serious than I thought and hope the carrier bearing isn't knackered like Timpo's,that amount of play ain't healthy :(

I'll take a closer look tomorrow at the bearing and I will speak to the dealer afterwards.

Aaahh just done a search and found this

http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?...ght=cush+drive

Now where's that old inner tube :toothy9:

Thompe, get yourself to Marriot Motorcycles in Birkenhead, here:-

http://www.marriottmotorcycles.com/

Marriot Motorcycle location.

Timpo.

Bleh, cush drive was fine when I stored it for winter, now I've driven the bike 500km this season and noticed a lot of yank in the drive train. Feels like all the cushions fell out all of a sudden hehe. Anyway, is it dangerous driving around like this? The tech said it could be fixed on the guarantee but he didn't have time until 5th of May.

Not an expert, but did notice on my old Tenere that a small amount of grease had squeezed through onto one corner of one of the cush rubbers after greasing the axial shaft. The rubber had turned to cheese in that one spot. IMO, its not a good idea to lube the cush drives, they need to be clean and dry. I have done over 10,000km on my current cush drives and they seem to have a lot of life left.
Just wondering if the salt on the roads in the UK over the winter has had any affect on them? (If in fact they do salt the roads)
What is the white stuff on the rubbers in the photo?

Tyre wear mainly... I have a non cush-drive hub on my XR650R, and it certainly wears it's tyres more quickly (also has a touch more power of course x). Basically every power pulse, together with the take up and engine braking is directly transmitted to the tyre, and on soft knobblies particularly, will wear more quickly. You might also see a little more wear on the sprocket teeth for similar reasons.

That said, I got 4000 miles out of a Dunlop 908RR on the XR last summer, which is about what you can expect from a TKC on the Tenere, and with no cush drive to wear out and knacker your chain/sprockets, you might actually end up saving money?!

An 18" non-cush rear wheel conversion is something I'm going to look into now I'm back in the UK Timpo - watch this space as they say...

xxx

Silly question perhaps but what would the benefit of a larger rear wheel be over the stock 17". I understand what happens with the front but not the rear (and presumably you'd need a speedo healer as well?)

Primarily more choice of tyres (as someone else said) - particularly knobblies...

I still don't have my maths head on, but a larger wheel will turn slower, so I imagine the (standard) over-reading speedo will actually be more accurate with the larger rear wheel?

xxx

Bigger wheel also give bigger contact area to the ground, and it also evens out small bumps more. (grammar alert)

Unfortunatly not. The wheel will still be spun at the same speed by the engine, but being larger in diameter you will move forwards faster which will throw the speedo out even more.

Think I'll be keeping to the 17" myself as it looks like I'm going to be keeping to more road going tyres :sunny: