FITTING THE REAR WHEEL AND CHAIN

Today consisted of fitting the rear wheel. First of all I painted the swingarm end caps and the chain adjuster plates. Whilst they were drying, I have the rear wheel a quick wash. The wheel is in a right state and needs painted or powder coated. I'll get that done when I replace the tyres. As you can see on the picture, plenty of oil and brake dust has baked into the wheel.

After the paint had dried, I went onto intaglio g the rear wheel ensuring to line everything up correctly and apply plenty of grease to the axle. Even with that, it required a light dunt with the hammer to slide in correctly. The chain slid over the sprocket easily as it was loose anyway. When the axel was installed I made sure the chain wa sitting correctly then I adjusted the slack checking that the free play was between 35mm and 40mm. After that I tightened up the nut on the axle to 98Nm of torque then tightened up the chain adjuster bolts at the rear. Once completed I reinstalled the pin and bent it into place. 

I then checked the free play of the chain again to make sure that it remained within tollerence and measured the distance of the axle to the rear of the swingarm to ensure that the wheel is running straight. 

After that I cleaned up the chain guard as best as possible and applied some "back to black" to give it a fresher and cleaner look. 

PAINTING AND INSTALLING REAR SHOCKS

As you seen from previous posts, the rear shocks are in a right state appearance wise. They are in full working order but horrible to look at with all the corrosion and the rubbers being perished.

I ordered new rubbers from Kawasaki Original Parts and they turned up after a couple of days so I removed the old rubber bushes. They just popped right out. 

In the mean time, I sanded down the shocks to remove the loose corrosion on the springs and gave the whole set up a few coats of satin black Hammerite spray paint. They look pretty awesome. 

When the paint dried I inserted the new bushes. They are very tight compared to the old worn out ones, so I applied a little grease to the outside of the bushes and little bit if grease to the inside appetite of the shocks. The bushes slid right in after that without using any tools. Push fit. 

I attached the shocks back into the bike. The near side shock went on with no bother at all, but the offside was a real pain In the ass. It requires a lot of persuasion to get onto the bolt, but got there in the end. After that it is just a case of applying and tightening the nut. 

The lower mounts slid in really easily. You have to remember that there are little sleeves that go in the bushes so the threaded bolt doesn't tear up the bushes. I salvage the sleeves from my old rubbers as I didn't want to spend another £10 on tiny plastic sleeves. When they are in place, life the bolt through and tighten them up against the nut.