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Supermoto Rebuild

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#1 ·
Bare with me for a bit. This is a compilation of what Ive done this winter. It might take a few tries and posts to get it working here.

KTM Breakdown - YouTube


 
#2 ·
I apologize for some of the poor quality but I only have a cellphone to take shots with and Ive been banned from buying anything before Christmas.

Today was shock and swingarm day.

Quick overview of a shock service

So here it is. WP Shock out of my SMR



Before any work is done to the shock all its current settings are documented.





I did the compression as well but its a bit of a pain to take photos and work on the shock at the same time.

The spring is the first thing to come off





Next before any actual shock disassembly happens the nitrogen pressure is released.



Now the shock is ready to get opened up







Shock shaft comes out





Now the oil in the shock body can be dumped.

Loosen the nitrogen chamber but dont take it off unless youre over a oil sink or youll get oil on the floor.



Tip the shock so the open end of the shock body is facing down and then remove the nitrogen chamber.

Youll end up with something like this

Shock body



Nitrogen chamber with the dividing piston



Wash cycle time



Rinse and drying cycle



Now its time to reassemble

Lay out the parts to make sure you have everything and inspect the pieces to make sure nothing is broken or needs replacement.



A little grease on the oring of the diving piston to help it move inside the nitrogen chamber





Push the piston to the other end of the chamber and fill with oil



A little grease on the threads of the shock body where the nitrogen chamber goes.



Tip the shock so the nitrogen body can be threaded on without spilling oil out of it



WP shocks require a special tool to pressurize them.



Pressurize the shock to force the oil out of the nitrogen chamber and into the shock body.



Bleed out the valving. A note about WP. Thread on the spring perch before inserting the shock shaft or youll have to bleed it over. The perch doesnt fit over the the mount at the clevis. Dont ask me how I know:)



Slowly release the pressure while pushing the seal down and into the shock body. Insert the snap ring that holds the seal in place and re-pressurize. Make sure the shock is functioning properly and then put the cap on.



A little never seize where the perch will end up when the spring is set to the right preload.



Return the shock spring and clickers to their settings and youre all done :)



 
#3 ·
Swingarm time

This is pretty straight forward. Pretty much just pulling everything off the swingarm, cleaning it, greasing the bearings and putting it back together.

Here it is in all its glory



Everything off with the link



It didnt show well but luckily KTM used captured need bearings in most spots. The smaller of the three was not a captured bearing so it required special attention so the needles were not lost in the cleaning process.



In the sink and ready to get cleaned



Getting greased







A little never seize on the chain adjustment bolts



Reinstalling the link and plastic parts



Swingarm complete

 
#4 ·
Did the front end this weekend. Took as many photos as I could but its a bit of a pain considering some of the steps come close to requiring three hands.

Here we go

Front end off the bike from the previous break down





You should have taken a ride height measurement before this point but if you didnt this is your last chance to get the reference measurement so you can return the bike back to the geometry it had.





Forks on the bench and ready for a service



Document the settings





These forks have a pressurized bladder similar to a shock



These are twin chamber forks so loosen the inner chamber but dont completely back it out before taking the cartridge out



Now for the outer chamber.



You should now be able to slide the outer tube down


Now back out the the lower bolt



Now youll have to compress the spring so the metering rod sticks through the lower end of the fork and use the cartridge holding tool to hold it in place.





Now compress the spring and pull out the tool. Be careful here because if you slip it could fire the cartridge out of the top of the fork.

One free cartridge



Now remove the dust seal and snap ring for the oil seal.



You should now be able to slide hammer the forks apart



On to the cartridge.

If you loosened the inner chamber before removing the cartridge from the fork then this come apart easy.

Remove the compression valving



Time to go to the wash tank



Clean and ready for inspection



Reassembly time

Lay everything out to be sure you have it all. Forks generally have pairs of everything



Cartridge assembly.

Put the rebound valving back into the chamber




Fill with oil and bleed



Install the compression valving and pressurize





When done your cartridge should look like this



On to the outer tubes



Some seal grease



Inner tube ready for new seals



O-ring for a travel indicator



Time for seals and bushings





A little grease in the outer tube to help the bushings and seals slide into place



Drive the seals in using a seal driver and a soft faced hammer



Ready to go



Assembly is pretty much the opposite what was done to disassemble









Now put a specified amount of oil in the outer chamber



Close the tube and set the clickers

 
#5 ·
Today was one of my least favorite things to work on.

Brakes.

The caliper didnt need a rebuild but I wanted to change over the fluid.

Sounds easy enough but look closely at the caliper



There is no bleeder. I cant do a banjo bleeder either because of clearance issues.

So the hose comes off.



Time to push the pucks back in to get as much fluid out as you can.



Cycle it through a few times and then let any left over drain out



Time to clean up the caliper



No photo but you can also blow all the remaining fluid out of the master and brake line.

Now for the bitch of the system. Refilling the caliper.

With the brake pads installed blow air into the caliper to extend the pucks.



I dont have a vacuum bleeder or any other fancy brake tools so this takes a bit of time a patients. I do have an idea for next time that should make it easier



Now with the caliper full or close to full of new fluid reattach the brake hose and master.



Push the pucks in to force the fluid back up through the line and into the master cylinder.



If all has gone right then all that should be needed is a final bleed when the system is back on the bike. For me this will happen some time in March.
 
#6 ·
Not a lot to show but the motor has been dropped off to the builder today.



The plan is a high compression piston and a lightened and balanced crank. The head was in the plan as well but I dont have the money for it this year so its going to have to wait until next time. Ive asked my guy to take photos of the progress so hopefully Ill have some good stuff to share.

My engine builder sent me some photos of the progress.









Anyway here is the redone crank.





A couple more engine shots were sent to me today. Should be picking it up this weekend.





More engine. Im putting these up as I get them.

Nice slipper shot



Cylinder



New high compression piston



Engine is finished. Here is the final round of photos.







 
#7 ·
So here I am. Busted up ankle and the beginning of the season in jeopardy depending on what the Dr says between today and tomorrow. I figure theres something I can do. When I ordered my brake pads they sent along a sanding block to scuff up the rotors. Its not something Ive done in the past and didnt consider it until they sent the block with the pads. So today I go at it.

With the help of Brady this time






Its a bit unsettling when you realize what really stops these bikes. Most people think its the giant rotor but that is just a heat sink. its the six little 6mm bolts with a dab of loctite that are the stopping power.

Picked up my secret weapon yesterday :D

Its amazing well probably not but how difficult it is to launch a bike at my staggering height of 5'6. Its only made more difficult in motocross style boots since they restrict freedom of movement a lot more then standard road race boots. Currently I have to find the lowest point on the seat just to get a toe to scrape the ground. Im sure its pretty pathetic looking, even mroe so that a lot of the guys I race against can flatfoot at the grid.

New lower seat:) Its about 1/2 inch lower then the stock seat. Hopefully it makes launching the bike a bit easier



Comparison of both.



My next options if this doesnt do the trick is to ride on the seat pan or as suggested by my friend take the seat off and wrap a blanket around the subframe :)
 
#8 ·
Picked up the motor this morning and got to work when I got back to the shop.

]



DIdnt finish it because I didnt have my bar risers. They were with my machinist. Luckily he sent them to me and they were waiting for me when I got home. Bars on tomorrow and hopefully Ill have some fuel for it by the end of the week and Ill be able to fire it up.
 
#11 ·
Hot damn SMR porn.

Buddy just built a sick 2013 SMR. Had the suspension lowered an inch when he had it built as well.


Now what offset are you running on the triples and what are they costing you to get cut?

I had 12mm triples on my 560 and the swingarm notched to shorten it an inch Thing turned on a dime.
 
#12 ·
Factory SMRs come with the suspension already lowered a bit. Not interested in lowering it anymore. It affects the geometry too much and with an already flat swingarm angle getting flatter the rear grip would only get worse.

The clamps this year will be adjustable between 4 and 6mm. I also have a set from last year that are 5-7mm and the stock clamps are 14-16mm. I'll have options depending on where I go.

Last year in the original build we put the swingarm in the bridgeport and slotted out the axle guide by about 10mm.





 
#16 ·
Its a really good price. A lot of people don't realize the work put into the clamp before it gets cut. We used to have our own line of clamps and the price break would be around 5 sets and then again at 10 sets. 1 set at a time isn't really worth it for the machinist.

I found out about 1/2hour ago that they were delivered to the shop. I'll get a few photos and toss it up when I get home tonight.
 
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