Rolling refresh, gear change lever strip/clean lubricate the rose joints?

[yellowfever]

TL/DR - what - if anything - to lubricate gear change lever rose joints with?

So as part of my ongoing rolling refresh, I removed the gear change pedal and stripped and cleaned it. Having never been done since it was new it certainly needed it. The only time the lever had been off was when I had to replace it with a new one at WDW 2012 having bent the original after a comedy ‘forgot my disc lock was on’ tumble. I meant to take it off, grease it and torque it correctly when I got home but never got around to it…

The pivot operates in a bush pressed into the pedal and the pivot has a little well in it to act as a reservoir for lubrication. There are O rings either side as weather seals/to hold lube in which I’ve replaced with new. According to the workshop manual on re-assembly “in particular, grease the O rings”. Grease A (multipurpose medium fibre lithium grease) is to be used.

Greasing the O rings and pivot left things fairly stiff, so I tried again with gear oil on the pivot which was better, but in the end went back to a (very thin this time) smear of lithium grease rather than the generous approach I first took. Probably I’m just not used to having a properly greased pivot! Anyway we’ll see how it feels when I take it for a ride.

The rose joints were also filthy. There’s nothing in the manual on what, if anything, they should be lubricated with. They are of course in the line of fire of road crud with no protective boots on them. I see there is a long history of looking at fitting boots from Suzuki or Honda models, but it appears they don’t really fit. (A certain Mr Gazza features prominently in these discussions!)

So I guess it’s the usual debate of whether it’s better to leave unlubricated to avoid creating a sticky grinding paste, to lubricate with a thinner oil (eg ACF 50, WD40 or gear oil) that hopefully won’t make a paste albeit won’t stick around so well, or whether to use thicker waterproof grease. They certainly move more freely having been well cleaned including of the various greases/oil put on over the years, so I’m tempted to not grease them or just give them a spray of ACF 50.

Anyone got any thoughts?

[Mr Gazza]

Ah! yes I vaguely remember fighting with those rubber boots on the rear brake torque arm rose joints. I just couldn't make them work nor see how they ever could.
I've had a lot of wear in those rose joints over the years and have now abandoned the whole floating rear brake for the standard rigid setup in favour of fitting a centre stand, which I feel will be of far greater benefit.

My lube of choice would be Moly grease for the rose joints. You can get some into the joint by rolling the ball part round and pushing the grease in with a finger. Always wiping the outside clean afterwards to stop grit sticking in it.
Some rose joints have a lubrication nipple. I think the original ones on the hoop had them but it wasn't clear what sort of lube to use nor how to get it through the nipple.

Never had any problems with the gear linkage though and would agree with your modest application of grease to the pivot and O-rings. I would use moly on the pivot and probably rubber grease on the O-rings, but any grease is better than none. Best to re-grease annually, preferably before the onset of winter.

I'm not a fan of WD-40 myself. I think it's bigged up beyond it's capabilities and design parameters and often used inappropriately. Never used ACF-50 either for much the same reason, people seem to think it's some kind of holy grail! Make your own decision!

[yellowfever]

Thanks Gazza, appreciate the insights. I think I’ll go for (modest) greasing then…