Dumb Question, but why does the 400ex not have zirc fittings?

Are they self lubrication somehow?

Honda's been putting pressed bearing in there bikes for ever,,don't really know why. Now if ya get some aftermarket A-arms they should come with them,,at least houser racing does,,and I believe most aftermarket axle carriers come with zirks also....Why Honda doesn't have them I don't know..

[JabberJaw]

There is a reasonable explanation. You see, the Zirc's all had to leave Zirconia, stop all interplanetary custom design of ATV vehicles, and travel to a distant planet. During thier absence, the 400ex was finalized for production without Zirc fittings. (That's why you never see a Zirc riding one).

Complaints were spilling in.. that a new model of Yamaha's, called the Raptor, kept on creeping up on Uranis, and so all Zirc's were sent there to investigate. After a lengthy session of peace talks, Yamaha agreed to fix all of the problems, and the Zirc's headed home. By that time the 400ex was all over the galaxy and the poor Zirc's were left out.


Woohoo this is an old post!!!!!!

[trx400ex]

lol

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[trueblue450]

Honda just wants to make some more $$$ off of everyone. Since you can't grease them, then they wear down faster, forcing you to buy new ones. They just hope you buy some more from them then going and acually buying good ones.

[4punksdad]

I suspect they don't use them because most folks don't know how to apply grease to a bearing properly.........too much grease is not good either. There is another thread floating around where I explained this better..........

[Leo]

they use bearings instead of bushings (like many other quads)...

With a sealed bearing your apt to do more harm than good (blow out the seal)..

Most automakers have stopped using grease fittings because many of the quick-lube places use power grease guns, and if not used carefully they blow out the boots.. which leads to a rapid joint wear.

Leo

one question must be answered though...what good are the greese fitings on aftermarket carriers if you can't get to them with out dissasembly...do you think the end of the swing arm could be notched to allow easy acess to it..i know to greese them without it it would mean rmoving the berrings and spacer to get greese behind them but i think there should be some way to mod the swingarm to greese the carrier..also i wish the swing arm berrings had greese fittings cause mine are freezing up again i think..maybe i'll have to add my own

[Guy400]

This is one area that I'm extremely happy with on my bike. Every pivot point has a zirc in it. I'd much rather take my chances with overlubing and blowing seals than having bearings seize. It is a good point about disassembling the bearing carrier in order to grease. You'd think that they could put just a small channel (much like on a main bearing in car engines) around the bearing area. Anyone have an old bearing carrier that's still good? It would be interesting to see if a local machine shop could machine such a channel and see what effects it might have.

[86atc250r]

As Leo said,

Honda uses Spherical (Heim) bearings in their control arms, Yamaha and others use cheezy bushings.

As you might imagine, a sealed spherical bearing requires MUCH less lubrication maintenance than a urethane or brass bushing.

As far as an aftermarket bearing carrier, you can drill an access hole in your swingarm. Out in the center of the round portion of the swingarm, you don't really need to worry about strength... Just drill a hole and plug it with a rubber gromme - instant access for the grease gun.

[Leo]

Don't sing the praises of your Raptors a-arm bushings quite yet guy....

Even with a grease fitting the older Yamahas a-arm bushings always wore out fast... Not sure if they updated the design any, but it doesn't appear so...

I never had a Yamaha that they lasted more than a year on, and I greased them after every ride. That was one of the things that always drove me nuts... $10 each for the bushings x 12, plus $8 for the caps x 12, plus the spacers, it adds up VERY quickly...

For what it costs to rebuild the a-arm bushings on a Blaster you can buy 4 brand new 400EX A-arms, complete....

I think I can live without the grease fittings ;)

Leo

[Guy400]

Originally posted by Leo
[B]Don't sing the praises of your Raptors a-arm bushings quite yet guy....[B]

I'm not singing the praises, I just happen to like the zirks. LSR and Roll Design both use zirks/bushings so it can't be all that bad of a system. Admittedly, the previous probably use better bushings than stock Yammy's.

[kat400ex]

when my bearings go i am going with a RAD CARRIER but main thing is tapered bearings i had one in my 250r not another problem after installing......and it does have a zerk fitting.!!!!! i think they go for around 229.00 and you might as well get the RAD lock too 49 once you break loose the stock one its never the same.....good luck

Problem with Zirc's is that usually people don't pay attention to them. It is better to have a sealed bearing that never requires grease than to have a greasable bearing that will be neglected. Aftermarket company's feel that if your are laying the cash down for the modifications' you will be smart enough to grease them.