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Lubrication for 2013 D675?

5K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  MacBandit 
#1 ·
I'm looking to do some maintenance work this week after work, and one of the things I was looking into was lubricating/greasing points of my bike that need it/get to it before it's too late. I am worried about seizing and corrosion.

A few questions:

1. Do I need to buy different types of lubricant for different parts of the bike (i.e. cables, chain, screws, engine components, etc.)? If so, what brands do you recommend?

2. Where are points that I should lubricate? I know I should lubricate the clutch & brake cables, the pegs, screws, etc... basically anything that hinges, slides, or twists needs to be lubricated. I only have 3,500 miles on it, but I want to do the preventative maintenance before I have a mess on my hands later down the road.

Thanks!
 
#2 · (Edited)
No you should not lubricate the clutch cable and there is no brake cable. The clutch cable is teflon lined and most lubricants will cause the teflon to soften and deteriorate and any lubricant will simply collect dirt in an a environment that is normally clean and smooth because of the teflon liner. You do want to grease the clutch pivot ball though.

There are a number of places that occasional lubrication and greasing are helpful.

Every couple oil changes or at least once a year.
Clutch pivot (red grease)
Clutch cable ball end (red grease)
Footpeg pivots (tri-flow or other general purpose light lubricant)
Shift linkage pivots and joint sockets (red grease)
Rear brake lever pivot and joints. (red grease)
Front bake lever pivot (red grease)

Every year or two.
Steering head bearings (red grease or a good bearing grease)
Rear shock linkage (red grease or a good bearing grease)
All locks (lock lubricant)
Filler cap pivot and lock cover (tri-flow or other general purpose light lubricant)

Every tire change.
Clean and grease axle. (red grease or a good bearing grease)

I'm sure I'm forgetting something but that's most of it. Pretty much anything that moves and is exposed to the elements and is also cleanable should be greased or lubed at some point. The difference in the type of lube has to do with the amount of load and if it's enclosed or not. Light lubes are for pivoting parts that don't really have much load and are also fully exposed to the elements. Grease is reserved to parts that are under more load and are at least somewhat enclosed. Then there are specific types of lubes like lock lubes that are don't attract or stick to dirt so much but are also good at dispersing moisture and washing away existing dirt and preventing corrosion. Most service manuals have chapters explaining a lot of this stuff.
 
#3 ·
No you should not lubricate the clutch cable and there is no brake cable. The clutch cable is teflon lined and most lubricants will cause the teflon to soften and deteriorate and any lubricant will simply collect dirt in an a environment that is normally clean and smooth because of the teflon liner. You do want to grease the clutch pivot ball though.

There are a number of places that occasional lubrication and greasing are helpful.

Every couple oil changes or at least once a year.
Clutch pivot (red grease)
Clutch cable ball end (red grease)
Footpeg pivots (tri-flow or other general purpose light lubricant)
Shift linkage pivots and joint sockets (red grease)
Rear brake lever pivot and joints. (red grease)
Front bake lever pivot (red grease)

Every year or two.
Steering head bearings (red grease or a good bearing grease)
Rear shock linkage (red grease or a good bearing grease)
All locks (lock lubricant)
Filler cap pivot and lock cover (tri-flow or other general purpose light lubricant)

I'm sure I'm forgetting something but that's most of it. Pretty much anything that moves and is exposed to the elements and is also cleanable should be greased or lubed at some point. The difference in the type of lube has to do with the amount of load and if it's enclosed or not. Light lubes are for pivoting parts that don't really have much load and are also fully exposed to the elements. Grease is reserved to parts that are under more load and are at least somewhat enclosed. Then there are specific types of lubes like lock lubes that are don't attract or stick to dirt so much but are also good at dispersing moisture and washing away existing dirt and preventing corrosion. Most service manuals have chapters explaining a lot of this stuff.
Thanks! That's super informative!
 
#6 ·
Picked up a Dave Moss Tuning brochure at a track day yesterday and I was surprised to read some of his recommendations:
Street: Fork oil changed every 5k; Track bikes - every 8 days
"Frequent" fork seal grease to minimize stiction (not heard this one seems like it would be grabbing dust and dirt and what to use??)
Street: Shock oil changed every 10k, Track bikes - every 16 days
Clean/Lube chain every 400 mi. Street and Track (I've been doing about 250)
Street: Brake fluid changed every 4 months; Track - every 4 days.

Race bikes:
fork oil - 2 race weekends
Shock oil - 4 race weekends
Chain - every day
Brake fluid - every event

I'm clearly not doing my bike justice. Can Ohlins be DIY oil service? Time to research....
 
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#7 ·
MB


Great info above for when and where! Question about the grease options though. Any concerns with using marine grease? I have some in the garage that I picked up on sale a while ago. Would it be an issue to use it? It's blue and I noticed you specified red grease.
 
#8 ·
Marine grease tends to be a bit thinner. It's great for steering head bearings though and axles. I'll add that to the list.

Dave Moss has been working on perfecting his list for years and while it's a good one his recommendations are extreme but they are for extreme conditions. The only one I disagree with is the shock. In my opinion it needs to be serviced more often then the forks. However for normal street riding you can go years without needing to change either. Street use is very mild compared to track use. Also a slight degradation in damping quality on the street is typical not even noticeable.
 
#11 ·
I've done forks before but never the rear shock. Since the R models are equipped with Ohlins, is that something I should leave to the experts or can a DIYer handle it.
 
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