Topic: Zerk replacement

[stereosilence]

I was told that the swingarm zerks are a strange fitment and that they can be replaced with something more standard. Is this true? Does anyone know what size they can be replaced with?

[Elan]

i just picked up one from autozone and it screwed right in. ive got a 750

[K5 Keith]

These may help... was just looking at them yesterday.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=103522.0

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=18857.0

[RSchaefer]

I had to drill mine out and re-tap for US version.  The zerks from Japan require a special fitting on the gun and you can't get any grease in with US standard grease gun, thus the need to upgrade.

[KC_Northstar]

Are the original zirks threaded or just pushed in?

[RSchaefer]

I never saw any push-in, but I'm not an authority, all I ever saw was threaded.  I have a '75, CB750F and the zerk in the middle of the swingarm was screw-in stock from factory.  I purchased a '72 swingarm bolt with zerks on both ends and converted them to US and both of them were screw-in.

If you really need to know for sure do a search for Hondaman in forum members and send him a PM with your question, year and model, he would know for sure!

[stereosilence]

So, they are threaded, but not the thread that is sold for metric sizes these days? Is that M5?

The solution is then to drill and tap it to M6 and buy a new metric zerk is what it sounds like.

[SohRon]

The original Honda zerks are, indeed, pressed in and can be removed fairly easily with pliers, if it comes to that. These zerks have a slimmer profile than we're used to (don't have the little shoulder our grease gun nozzles clip on to), but they can be used with a standard grease gun if you use a rigid pipe on the gun - such as this one, which is what I use




There ain't no magic to it; I have no problem greasing the swingarm using this gun and the original zerks, but I understand (as already mentioned) that they can be removed and the bolt threaded to take SAE or Metric zerks, if you feel you must. Whatever.   

[chickenman_26]

These zerks are used with a needle attached to your grease gun. Here's one at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Plews-05-025-Needle-Grease-Adapter/dp/B000CCIM1A/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top




Stu

[SohRon]

These zerks are used with a needle attached to your grease gun. Here's one at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Plews-05-025-Needle-Grease-Adapter/dp/B000CCIM1A/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top




Stu

If you're refering to the original Honda zerks then, no, this special adaptor is not needed; frankly, I'm not sure just how the above mentioned needle would work. Just a rigid pipe on a standard grease gun; in fact, most new grease guns come with a pipe and hose in the kit.

As I said, no magic necessary!

[SKTP]

My 1978 CB750K zerk screwed in and I got a new one at my local hardware store. I used a normal grease gun (make sure it snaps on. Push hard). It was pretty easy once I figured out I was not pushing the gun on to the zerk hard enough...you really have to pull to remove the gun from the zerk as well...it was the same fitting as on the ends of the swingarm pivot (from a 76) rebuilt by HondaMan...

Get ready to get messy

[KC_Northstar]

What did Honda intend people to use with the original Zerks??  I mean there must be a matching grease gun
fitting that works with the original Zerks.  Anyone ever see one??

[Xnavylfr]

That NEEDLE fitting is for HIGH PRESSURE grease fittings , they look like the oil orifices in the head. The HP ftgs are mostly used in AIRCRAFT. Some of these HP ftgs use a special gun that sprays grease out the needle at 2500PSI when you pull the trigger!!

Worked AIRCRAFT for 45 years!! and have greased many airplanes..


Xnavylfr(CHUCK)

[RSchaefer]

There probably is a japanese specific grease gun.  I remember back in the day trying to get the grease to squeeze out of the swingarm pivot point on my '69, CB750 and was just not able to build up pressure because my standard grease gun just would not stay on the fitting.  When I removed the original factory zerk from the middle of the swingarm on my '75 and matched it up to my US replacement you could see a different profile, the US zerk had a longer profile and notch to allow the grease gun to snap on while the factory japanese one had a shorter profile.

Maybe another reason why these swingarm's got sloppy back in the day, not enough grease.  I too had Hondaman update my swingarm with the bronze oilite bushings and sourced an older swingarm bolt with the two zerks on the ends and Mark replaced the zerks w/US versions.

[crazypj]

The only swing arm grease nipples I've seen on Honda are 6x1mm thread.

Yamaha use a screw in on end of swing arm bolt although I think some may be push in?
The only 'odd' ones I've seen were on CB250/360 clutch operating mechanism or the arm pivots on C50/70/90

[tlbranth]

I could never get any grease through the original fittings.After reading a thread put forth by Hondaman, bought a couple of US Zerks from NAPA, tapped in some pipe threads and can squirt in grease like nobody's business.