Remove engine.

If you are cannabalising rubbers off another bike, get behind them and PUSH them out - if you grab them from the front and pull, chances are you will just break them in half.

Smear vaseline around the groove. Thin side goes to inner.

If doing LHS rear of K100, remove tool box. Get the grommet and bend, and try and get the start of the groove into metal frame hole. Then try and get more in (a bit like getting a tyre on a rim.) Reach around to back and gently grab the back part of the grommet and work it through.

With RHS you can just lift the seat because there is plenty of space behind the hole.

If you are not putting in NEW grommets, the old ones need to be handled carefully. Rubber ages 

Replace engine

um dave ...Vaseline is a petroleum based product .....it deteriorates rubber over time

perhaps something simple like dishwashing fluid ...that rinses off after the application would do as a slippery agent ?

good to hear you got some in, none the less ...cheers mate

You're right. bad move.
I'll pull them off and wash them , then use d w l
 
so will edit above

Silicon grease - the stuff you put brake seals in with. It dries out over time and doesn't affect the rubber. Expensive but oh-so-useful, especially when rewiring a bike and stiction is preventing the wires from going through a long piece of pvc tube.

Or perhaps the industrial version of vasoline - White Petroleum Jelly.

Same stuff. Vaseline is just a proprietary name.

Kaptain Holister wrote:Same stuff. Vaseline is just a proprietary name.

Doesn't taste the same though. 

Tongue in cheek but apparently KY is water based and does an excellent job too.

Olaf isn't that product in the "every home should have some" category???  Therefore it's probably the best suggestion yet. 

Cheers

There is a "personal" lubricant product sold under the name Astroglide which was originally developed specifically for the lubrication of seals in the assembly of rocket engines for the space program.  It supposedly does not leave the sticky residue that results when KY jelly dries out.   In any event, for our purposes, dishwashing liquid(or any liquid soap) is fine.

If the wife / girlfriend finds one of you guys using your KY on your motorcycle, you likly wont need it for its intended use any longer.