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telelever A-Arm play

Hi group, I have a 1996 R1100rt with 102,000 km. Runs and handles great.
Yesterday while I was poking around the telelever arm greasing the front lower shock connection, I noticed that I had a little side to side play at the A- arm where it connects to the engine. (Approx. 1 mm) The front ball bearing is solid, I replaced it last year.
I don't feel anything negative on the road as related to noise or handling, going straight or in corners or over bumps but I suspect that there should not be any play in the system.
My local dealer has the parts but can't do the work for a month or so. my questions; is any play acceptable? does the arm have to be removed to remove the bearings? do the new bearings have to be pressed in?
Thank you
 
When you say "side to side" do you mean you can move the the arm perpendicular to the bike 1mm? Or do you mean you get motion at the arm pivots in a twisting displacement?

My 94RS has more than twice the miles as your RT, yet I have no motion at the arm. I did replace the upper and lower ball joints at about 125,000 miles.
 
Yes, in a twisting motion. If you place your fingers between the motor and the A arm and move the front wheel side to side, you feel a little movement at the connection between the arm and the motor. I think it might be the bearings wearing.
There is no play at the ball joint.
 
Play in a twisting motion should be non-existant, none. Because play at the pivots is amplified by more displacement at the lower ball jont and front axle. Here is the page from the factory manual for the 1100:
 

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  • A-arm R1100.doc
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Thank you, That's what I thought as well. I will remove it and change the bearings. Hopefully it comes out easily once the fairing is removed.
Good chance to clean it all up under there and synch the TBs. Funny how it still feels solid as a rock...
 
Hi group,
I finaly got around to taking the telelever apart to check the bearings, very busy summer. I removed the body work and the covers and clips at the engine where the telelever arm is attached. When I tried to take the bolts off to remove the shaft, I noticed that they were not very tight.
I took out the torque wrench and set it to 73 NM and tightened the bolt. When properly torqued to spec there is no movement at all in the system.:D
Either the previous owner did some work on it and did not tighten it enough or it worked a bit loose over time. ( does that happen ? ) I reinstalled it using some medium strength thread locker.
I have the new bearings but I'm wondering if that's all it needed.
I'll take it for a ride and see how it feels...
How easily should the "A" arm move up and down? Should I grease it where it touches the motor?
Should I replace the bearings anyway?

Thanks for your input
 
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Interesting report. Makes me wonder why anyone would have taken it apart to begin with. Good to find no displacement when properlt torqued.

When you ask about vertical motion of the a-arm, I take it to mean just the arm on the pivots, no shock, fork, wheel, nothing but the arm. For the torque/preload on the arm I'd expect there to be some drag, but the arm should drop under its own weight if held to its highest arc and released. Even slowly, but it should drop on its own.

Maybe some grease where the pivots touch the engine case, but I'd expect the inner race of the bearing to bottom out on the engine case. As far as replacing the bearings now, if the original ones are good, I'd leave them alone and just torque it up.
 
The arm was a bit stiff. It would not move up and down freely but I took it for a ride anyway, to see the effect on the handling and steering. The steering was a bit stiff and it needed a lot of countersteering to follow a line. I took it apart again, greased it well and tightened it up to 69 NM instead of 73 NM. At this point it has no movement side to side but still moves up and down smoothly and allows the forks to compress. I took it for another ride and it tracks well and leans into the corners without falling in or resisting.:thumb
I cleaned everything up really well, since I had the bodywork off, and adjusted the throttle bodies with my new twinmax. Sounds nice!! No vibration.
cheeers
 
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