Great video as alway, thanks! I just went and did mine, so here is a top tip for the lazy and the one with a center stand: 1) You can do this job with the wheel on, plenty of space, however, more space easier the job, so consider taking it of. I did mine with the wheel on. 2) If you have the center stand (at least the one from SW Motech), the stand will initially be in the way of the bolt closest to the engine. This is solved by taking out the other two bolts first. Then strap/lift the wheel/swingarms all the way up, as high as it goes with the wheel on. Then you can push the damper unit towards the rear and pivot the link out of the way of the centre stand. Or you can just take the damper unit off all together. A 15 min job with minimum hazzle.

I’ve said it before, your workshop videos are excellent. Very clear and well explained. This is still relevant even if you don’t own a Tenere. Thank you ✌️

Lubrication is your best friend, assists action and reduces unwanted heat build up 😜

Thanks for this Video. I will do this tomorrow at my T7 after 3 years and 52K KM😬

This just reiterates one of life's great truths. Never go in dry.. 😆 Thanks Robert!

I believe I would use marine wheelbearing grease that is used on boat trailers. It is waterproof and lubricates well.

Very wise recommendation and how to do it, great vid.

did mine today, 6000km on the clock, but it really had wear on it, i ws a good idea to do this. Thanks for informing us. and to the other happy T7 owner, just get down on it and do it, othewise it will cost some more money to replace parts

Thanks a lot. Now I have something to do during the next lockdown.

Really nicely explained and shown, thank you. T700 will be my next if my V-Strom will ever die, so collecting as much info as possible already

I bought new tenere, drove it only 300km yet, but I will grease them up first thing after 1000 km service, thnx for bringing this up, great video.

Luv the squirrel 😂. Good advice. Tks for taking the time to help others with that

Excellent demonstration of the components of the rear suspension. I was considering the T7 but felt it was a bit too tall. I see that they offer a "lowering kit". But was surprised to see that the kit is simply two linkage arms. You have clearly shown how the linkage arms work in the suspension and how easy it is to remove or change them. That provides me much more confidence that I can lower the bike and the return it to normal configuration with very little effort - so I should not be afraid to give it a try. Thanks!

Hey I know this is “old” as far as it’s post date but still wanted to say Thank You for the info and the heads up on a known QC issue from Yamaha. Keep up the good work and ride safe!

Thanks Robert! 🙂👌 I finally got my own Teneré a few days ago, here in British Columbia Canada, after more than a year of waiting and living vicariously through your videos.. 😄 I thoroughly greased my Teneré's suspension linkage today after seeing your video. You are 100% right about how it's totally dry, except for the little bit of grease in the needle bearings. Pretty shocking and most owners would not even be aware of it Keep up the great work, love your channel and your videos! Skål! 🍻 🇸🇪 🇨🇦

Haha, now i know what you did at Biltema! Beefed up the garage capability ☝️😁. Grease seems expensive for manufacturers, they all seems to lack it on their shelf... Great work as allways.

Ok, good, but you missed one of the bearings on the linkage, and the swing arm bearings themselves, all of which will be similarly devoid of grease.

you can also just leave the rear wheel on. lift with the lift to the wheel just resting on the floor. then all the bolts are loose at the same time and the whole thing can be removed and lubricated. 🙂

Really helpful indeed. Greets from France.

million trillion thanks for your amazing videos, i enjoyed your trips, i felt i visited those countries with you, wish me luck being able soon affording a tenere 2023 and visit many beautiful places.... thanks again for sharing your experience with us, wish you wonderful life ...

This is a very useful tip, thank you. You're right, the maintenance booklet only says check. It says nothing about greasing. I have to check it out soon. Mine now has 12000 km on it.

Based on what I'm seeing, maybe a good idea to pull the swingarm off and do the bearings on it too, while you have all that stuff off.

Put an old rag between sprocket and chain at 11 oclock position and turn wheel backwards . It will pull the wheel towards the bike, makes life easier.

Good video !. Molybdenum based grease is much better in my opinion , lasts a lot longer.

I heard storys that there is no greace inside the suspension. But what see in this (your) video looks horrible. Now I know what I have to do this winter. Thanks for 😉👍

Great informational video, thank you! With only 1600 miles on mine, this is a 'service' that I'd like done before I start the next riding season! Cheers!

With those open needle bearings, I think I'll do mine after every long ride! Good vid.

Did mine earlier this evening. As Skr found the centre stand is in the way of the front link bolt (I have the Yamaha one). I didn;t get around it his way as I had a scissor lift handy. Another great video Mr Nomad!

Nice job, now I dont need to make that video ;-) Those is the most exposed bearings. There is one left towards the front I would like to lubricate as well. The nut is close to the catalyzer and then not easy to access with a standard torque wrench when reinstalling the nut. Will have to use an extension arm (and recalculate torque) or remove the exhaust. I hope to find out how that nut could be torqued. (60Nm) The swing arm pivot bolt is part of the maintenance and should be lubricated every 50.000 km according to the service manual.

Greasing everything isn’t always necessary. If you have acetal bushings for instance the grease will trap dirt and accelerate damage and wear.

As a dirt bike rider, having been on Yamaha wr's for a while now, this is a job i am very familiar with.

thank you from Sydney. I'll do this at the same time as I fit the 85N/mm rear spring

Thanks for that video. Something that I looked at with apprehension but you have nicely shown how it is done. Cheers

Nice job. Giving mine the grease today. Love the squirrel!

The color scheme on this bike is fantastic

I grease everything up with Kroon ball-bearing grease. My wheel axles, rear bolt nuts, threads. It's heat resistant, doesnt attract much moisture and is way thicker and sits longer than silicone based stuff.

Very helpful. I’m putting on some 20mm lowering links and your video will help greatly.

I like your sense of humor. Good video.

Just so you know,there is a bushing and needle bearings in the bottom of the shock too.

Same problem with Yamaha FJR 1300 and Honda. Kawasakis have an "Alemite" greaser, easy to maintain without disambling.

yamaha is famous for not greasing anything since years, mine xt tenere was stock bone dry...

All that greasing procedure brought me mixed feelings lol. Great job 😁

Thank you for the detailed explanation 👍

Thanks for explanations, this work must be done after the buy...

Nice Video, I must Inspect and grease mine also... thanks for sharing!

Always great Nomad!👏🏼👏🏼 Thanks for the video👍🏼

Anonther Grate video!,You Turn the things so easy! Thanks.

Thanks for recommendations. Merry Christmas

Have done the same on my T7

Oh nomad I forgot to ask! Have you seen the new swingarm protector piece for the tenere? I think t7rally just did an advert for it but it just sort of fits between the exhaust and the swingarm because people have been falling on the right side and the exhaust takes a chunk out of the swingarm itself! which is a little scary. I thought I might mention it. I'm definitely getting a tenere this year and i was just thinking about changing the linkage to maybe the slightly longer one because I have a 29~30inch inseam so I'm a little short for the bike haha! So this video is perfect for me, you're basically doing everything I plan on doing so any maintenance you do on this is such a big help and I can't thank you enough.

P.S. dont forget to do the top shock mount bearing/bush.

My old Tenere '84 has greasing valves on linkage. This is example where factory should not save their costs :-( . I was thinking about it, would not be dificult to drill holes into bolts, when I checked it on my new Tenere. Hope some aftermarket tunining will be soon available :-)

Good tip robert...I will do the same thing next weekend too...Thank you und merry x-mas for you and your family !!! Kind regards and cheers sascha from germany 👍🏻😉

Danke für den Tip.. 👍👍👍

Thanks. Great video.

I would have cleaned that area with diesel or kerosene and a brush and air gun. Then rinsed with water and dried with air gun. Just to have that area complete clean before dismounting and exposing the needle bearings. Without cleaning, there is a risk dirt would already enter the bearing when you pull out the bolt-bushing. Cleaning also ensure nothing dirt enters the bearings when new grease is applied. Even though you used that rag before, but using the rag when bearing already is exposed is a bad idea, chances are too big, some dirt enters the bearing. Other wise a good and interesting video. I like your channel and informative videos.

Awesome guide! Mot Biltema för lyftköp!

Good Video, I suggest using Bel Ray waterproof bearing grease it will hold up a lot longer than lithium grease.

very important video , thanks for sharing

Many thanx!

OK, I'll be "that guy": The Yamaha T7 service manual does not call for greasing the linkage bolts and sleeves. Only the oil seals outside of the bearings are shown to require lithium soap-based grease. Grease elsewhere is likely useful to prevent corrosion but Yamaha doesn't seem to think it's needed for lubrication.

Nice how to video Robert....it maybe psychological but the bike seems to ride better after the linkage is lubed!. Cheers, Steve

Thanks for the video 👍

Great video ! Thanks.

Big thanks top tip 😁👍👍👍

You should of removed grease from the threads and faces when you retightened! It is dangerous practice what you did. The grease on the threads and face reduces the friction coefficient. So this means when you tighten the nut with the torque wrench you are getting more bolt stretch than required for the same torque reading. This can overstress the bolt leading to premature failure of the connection.

thx! will do too after 22k km... :( Not T7 here but my bike has seen a lot of dirt :)

I wonder if Moly Grease might not be better in the long term? Just a thought... much thanks for all you do!

You will find that the steering heads bearings will be just as poorly greased.

well done thanks. I saw a happy beast

So Yamaha skimped on 3 grease gun nipples which would cost them 3 dollars and make this a 30 second job instead of a 10 min job.

Great video! Don't suppose you fancy doing another when you have a sec on front and rear tyre removal 🙏

You are awesome!!! Thanks!!

Thank you fore the video -)

Hello, there's the same job to do for the crf 300 L and Rally.

Thank you for the video! I am not sure if it is a problem lifting the T7 with a lift like you got it, what should be damaged? Plus I also dont know a different way to do this work than maybe lifting it with a hoist, e.g. on the pillion footrests. Removing the skidplate and lifting the T7 on the oil sump wont work because it is not located in the center and has a rather small surface, which may lead to dropping the T7 in your garage.. :D

Great video Robert. When do you suggest this be done? My bike has about 2,400KM on it now.

I wonder why Yamaha or any other manufacturer doesn't grease whatever needs to be greased from the factory. I'm almost certain no difference is noticed while riding but maybe less wear on the parts greased over time?

Nice

I've always heard that new bikes (dirt bikes especially) don't come with enough grease in the joints and should be lubed to begin with.

Did I really see a dancing squirrel ? Wow I must cut down on the daytime drinking during lockdown ! #covidsucks . Great VLOG thank you so much !

You don’t need to grease the bolts! just the bearings...

you should have changed the oil seals also

Another great video, Robert! Did you have to take the rear wheel of for the linkage greasing? I have my rear shock out right now for spring swap, didnt take the rear wheel off. Thanks!

Thnx, I'll defenitely grease them next time I have to do some maintanance. Dont you need to grease the linking bolt in the frame where the trianglulare peace pivvots in the frame? If you know what I mean, you didi2 out of 3 bolts/bearings on it. Thnx for your reply.

Excellent video. As I try to make friends with my brand new Tenéré (never driven) I dismantled lot of things. It is much easier then with my Africa Twin (and much cheaper) But I wonder how you got all the values for the torques?

Wouldn't a waterproof grease be better than the lithium grease especially for linkages?

Good video, great info and well done. Loved the superimposed torque values info. What video software did you use for that? Ciao, Marco.

You forgot to grease the upper bolt of the rocker arm.... Just sayin' ;-) Brilliant vid though :-)

Vaselin nippor är din bästa vän, fixar alltid det på hojjar och snöskoter boggies :) Drill and thread 3 maybe 4 holes, and install greaze zerks. I assume it's a needle bearing at the frame mount for the link aswell, that u didn't lube ?

Oh well. Back to wanting Vstrom. I'll come back in 5 years...

Great video, I have my suspension out to change the spring so will take the opportunity to grease up. Do you put the grease only in the hole before inserting the pipe or do you also grease the inside of the pipe before inserting the bolts?

That suspension linkage, not my favorite construction detail of the T700

Can grease attract dirt and sand in this piece and make it worsez that might be the reason why Yamaha doesn't grease it, I doubt Yamaha engineers would have forget about this...

Nice 👍💪👊

Good one Nomad :) just greesed my bearing top end bolt was showing some rust other were fine. A question though - on the top bolt clossest to the swing arm the inner casing for the bolt is loneger the bearing housing - correct? Making the link on top bolt always a bit offset to one side or anorher? Thx

Hi. Very instructive video, thanks. Which lift are you using? What is its spec? Cheers

where can I get manual for all bolt torques for t7?

Does anyone know what kind of grease Yamaha uses (lack of grease, I guess) in the linkage at the factory?

Du vann min like 👍när du sa att man var tvungen att gå in i ljuddämparn 😅🤣😂