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Old October 4th, 2018, 08:17 AM   #1
ajax_ayxh
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rear suspension question

Hi All,

So a few weeks ago, my ninja started making creaky noises when the rear suspension rebounded, and there were even a few times where it seized up (but magically fixed itself).

I started taking the bike apart thinking I would find a mess of rusty/worn linkages and swingarm needle bearings, but they all seemed...fine. Lubed them all up and the creaking still remained. There was one thing I saw that I wasn't sure of though, and would appreciate some knowledge/wisdom.

The top hole of the rear shock absorber - is there a bushing in there that is supposed to swivel and be able to be removed/cleaned? The parts diagram seems to suggest yes but looks to be a rubber bushing (part no. 92075, noted as 'damper') mine is in there *TIGHT* with a bit of gunk around the edge.
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Old October 4th, 2018, 09:45 AM   #2
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Yes, the EX250 suspension can "creak".

And, yes, you should give the rear suspension (both the swinging arm and the Uni-Trak linkage) some love and attention. That's just an example of good "ongoing maintenance".

However, you may want to read this old thread over on Ninja250.org

https://forums.ninja250.org/viewtopi...light=creaking

It's known that over time the EX250's Engine Mounting Bolts will loosen up (probably due to the constant high-frequency vibrations produced by engine's high-revving nature).

There are 3 Engine Mounting Bolts (1 front and 2 rear) and the rear 2 bolts are the ones that are more often found to be loose (sometimes the retaining nut will even be missing off the other end of the bolt).

Check these and let us know what you find.
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Old October 4th, 2018, 09:50 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greg737 View Post
It's known that over time the EX250's Engine Mounting Bolts will loosen up (probably due to the constant high-frequency vibrations produced by engine's high-revving nature).

There are 3 Engine Mounting Bolts (1 front and 2 rear) and the rear 2 bolts are the ones that are found to be loose more often (sometimes the nut will even be missing off the other end of the bolt).

I've found this to be the creaking noise on a couple of my Ninjas, I can usually make the creaking noises by holding the front brake and lightly rocking the bike back and forth. Tightened the bolts and creaking was gone.
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Old October 4th, 2018, 02:37 PM   #4
ajax_ayxh
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Oh wow I had no idea, thanks both. Definitely will look into this as the likely culprit as a few other bolts have loosened in the last few thousand kms - my side stand was hanging at one point.
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Old October 5th, 2018, 10:12 AM   #5
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You might want to mark a few of the more important bolts with a paint marker so you can easily see if they're loosening up.
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Old October 5th, 2018, 10:14 PM   #6
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Old November 14th, 2018, 05:30 AM   #7
ajax_ayxh
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Sorry to revive this old thread, but I finally got time to fix the problem and hopefully explaining the symptoms in more detail might help someone else later on.

In my case, swapping out the shock for a replacement (ninja 300) got rid of my creaking/suspension problems. What i was experiencing was:

-creaking/dirt on metal grinding noise in the latter half of compressing the bike down (spring fully compressed) , and similarly when releasing it and the tail springing back up.

-shock was a bit slower on rebound than usual, which was noticeable especially when going over bumpy roads

I'm guessing the issue was the oil in the shock, which is probably sludge at this point. Well another lesson learnt for me!
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Old November 14th, 2018, 06:12 AM   #8
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Thanks for the update Andrew. I'm glad things are working better now.
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Old November 15th, 2018, 09:47 AM   #9
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Dissect that old shock! Would be interesting to see what its insides look like!
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