Suspension Bush and bearings checking guide

Check her rear! - Rear suspension linkage check

This article is a guide to help you check your rear suspension linkage bushes, which can fail a MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT check / MOT.

Once worn to excess, can also seriously upset your handling which bothers us more.

Don't be intimidated by your bikes weight. Gone are the days of the bike being the boss.

Stand on the left handside of your bike, turn your handlebars all the way to the left lock, that way, when lifting if it moves it'll roll towards you, (but it won't roll more than an inch!).

Put your left hand under the right hand side of your sub-frame or tailpiece, and lift the back of the bike off the floor.

With your right hand, grab the top of your back wheel on the rim side, then lift / pull the back wheel up and down towards the sub-frame / tailpiece to feel the amount of play! You are looking for a feeling of movement, it can be very slight or very large depending on the age / mileage of your motorcycle.


If you don't notice any play then that is great, but if you're past 7-8000 miles, then you're likely to have some - which you shouldn't worry about, but it is when you can feel a lot of free play that you should worry as your bike can fail it's MOT due to this.

When u get used to the feel of the play,in the future on this or other bikes, you can try just using your grab rail,without lifting the arse end off the ground. Just pull it towards you, you'll feel the play as it is taken up, and when you put the bike back down.

Often if u kneel down on the right handside of your bike, looking at the linakages, push up on the subframe gently and you may get a peek at which bush has the play!

Often, these bushes / linkages can seize very easily, so after each wash,or session in the rain, rinse each bush and linkage point with WD40 or similar, this gets rid of any dirt or grit that may have built up, then lubricate with a light oil or spray grease. Now go ride it again and I'm sure you'll notice the difference. It pays to remove each bush bolt every so often, and clean and regrease too, and they'll last longer. Do it at least once a year. If your a fanatic then you could buy some nice titanium bush bolts that will not corrode, and they are also a lot lighter than the steel ones on your bike.
We always recommend to our customers that they thoroughly check their rear bushes / bearings prior to a rear shock change as it would be false economy to spend hundereds of pounds on a fancy new rear shock and neglect the rear linkage bushes.
You wouldn't change engine oils without a new filter, so if you are installing a new rear shock check out your linkage properly!

It's can be a real pain to have to spend lots of time maintaining your bike, but regular / preventative maintenance, helps maintain your pocket, and your quality of ride!