[Stephen Ringlee]

On my new/used TSR 22, a careless shop had snapped the rusted grease fitting off the mounting tube for the rear suspension pivots. This can easily happen if you use the cheap Chinese grease guns with grease couplers that are very difficult to remove, virtually guaranteeing that you end up breaking the zerk fitting. In addition, the stock fitting is zinc-plated steel which rusts and can seize in the hole, making it difficult to remove if the fitting breaks off. Steps to repair:
1. Supplies: 3mm and 5mm cobalt drill bits, 6mm tap, stainless steel zerk grease fittings. Try Amazon for the latter.
2. Turn the bike upside down in the workstand.
3. Starting with the 3mm cobalt bit, drill out the existing fitting hole. Grease the drill bit tip and clean it off periodically to remove chips and keep them from falling inside. Increase the drill bit size to 5mm and repeat. Using a magnetized nail, get any remaining chips out of the hole and the surrounding area. Use care that you drill a straight hole.
4. Using a 6mmx1.0 tap, re-tap the hole threads.
5. Clean the threads with alcohol degreaser.
6. Install the new zerk fitting with threadlock.
7. When re-greasing the suspension pivot, consider obtaining one of the releasable grease couplers for the end of the grease gun that have a lever to open up the zerk fitting lock. This prevents the inevitable tugging and pulling required to get the coupler off. More expensive grease guns have better couplers but the small 6mm fitting is still fairly fragile thanks to the thin tube in which it is screwed. Use care when removing the grease coupler. Pump grease until it emerges from the bronze bushings on each side. You may need to loosen the pivot fixing bolt.
8. Place a rubber cap on the zerk fitting to keep dirt out. Brake bleeder caps will work if small enough.

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