Curious how much play (slop) there is in the rear suspension of everyone's EVO? Mine's a 2011, about as close to new as it gets, and when I pulled everything apart all the bearings and bushings look factory new with plenty of grease......with that there seems to be a goodly bit of play. When laying on the floor under the bike and moving the swingarm by hand, I'd say I have about 5mm of up/down wheel movement with nothing in particular seeming to be the issue. It just looks like the cumulation of all the small amounts of clearance at each pivot.

Is this about normal for this design/these parts?

Thanks

Joe

Edited June 26, 201115 yr by joekarter

If everything looks good the play must be ok. Its not much. Im pretty sure my 09 has a little movement.

If everything looks good the play must be ok. Its not much. Im pretty sure my 09 has a little movement.

Thanks for the reply, those are my thoughts as well but I just wanted to check with someone else. This feels about normal for an MX bike of 10-15 years ago, but the newer ones are tight with no play at all and my only other modern trials bike experiance has been with a Rev3.

Has anybody fitted the dog bones on an evo with grease nipples or even the swing arm ?

Phil

I had mine apart for the first time last night checking as above. Start to finish it was about 45 minutes and I'd bet it'd only take about 1/2 hour next time......not really a lengthy process As to your question, everything is so small I'd be hesitant to drill holes for the fittings.

I had 2009 2010 and 2011 and none of them had any play at all, just got a factory 300 rep and its had play from brand new.

My 09 does have play in the rear suspension. More than i would like to see there but the linkage does appear to be tight. I have lubed the bike three times in the two years that i have owned it and aside from the first lube there is always lube in the bearings. I understand its a bit of trouble to do the lube job but i have noticed that alot of dirt builds up around the seals and the seals seem to be vunerable to damage should too much dirt buildup there. I think its a good idea to take the linkage apart once at least once per year and as joekarter mentioned the links are very small.

I'm servicing my bike for a trial next weekend and i had a look at the linkage and noticed that the play is in the shock mounts. The shock bushings are still tight. The bolts are too small for the holes. This play has been there since day one. My bike is in like new condition and has been cared for very well.

My 2011 has had play since day one, also. Greased and everything looked OK. 4RT had no play even after over 4 years. Difference in tolerances, I guess.