[Cheezyryder]

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Took a little ride yesterday with the wife about 100 miles. A little way into the ride I would hear a brapp brapppp noise from the drive trian occaisionally when going over a bump or settleing into a dip.



I stopped and air up the rear shocks and the noise stopped. The next morning hopped on the bike and a half mile from the house something let go. The bike now makes a grinding sound and will not move in any gear.



The sound increases in tempo as the gears are shifted up. The bike will roll in all five gears with the clutch released.



Skimming the forum I seems to me it is most likely a u-joint, final drive, or spline issue. Can someone give me a path forward for properly diagnosing, repair costs, etcetera for the possibilities?



The good news is I just bought a home with a three car garage and have a comfy place to work.



A little history- The bike is a 1986 GL1200A with 38,000 miles on it. It really didn't give me much problems since I purchased it a few years ago. I had the rear tire changed during the summer and had to bring the bike back. They broke a caliper pin and replaced it free.



I really feel like they are the root cause here!



Sigh, I really wanted to ride to Shiner next week on my vacation.

 

[Rudy]

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Pull the rear tire and the final drive and take a look at the splines on the drive shaft. At 38,000 miles it sounds like it was not lubed properly over it's life with Moly 60 Paste or it got some rust in there.

 

[GregForesi]

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It sounds like the problem you had when riding 2-up was the shocks bottoming out. It's a stretch to jump from that to a drivetrain failure. I think it needs a little further diagnosis.
Before you tear into it - how does it sound when running and in gear (rear wheel spinning) on the centerstand? If it won't spin or if there is clinking and clanking going on then the driveshaft is suspect. On the 1000 (and maybe 1100) I think the driveshaft can be removed without pulling the swingarm. Not sure on the 1200.

 

[rgbeard]

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Get that back tire off yet???

Look at my photos in this thread:

http://www.goldwingfacts.com/forums/forum1/125941.html

 

[Cheezyryder]

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Well it is definately a drive train issue. I suppose I didn't make that too clear. The bike won't move at all under it's own power. I grinds loudly when the clutch is let out and doesn't go. The speed of the grinding increases as the bike is shifted up through the gears.

I suppose my question is (and my knowledge/vocabulary is limited); is the repair replacement of the drive shaft (splines) or final drive or flange.

I realize I will have to disassemble (next week) and inspect to get the true answer. I was just hoping to get a feel for complexity and cost on a best guess basis from the gurus here.

Thanks

 

[wingsam41]

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I'd start by having a helper pinpoint where the noise is coming from.

 

[rgbeard]

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Cheezyryder wrote:

Well it is definately a drive train issue. I suppose I didn't make that too clear. The bike won't move at all under it's own power. I grinds loudly when the clutch is let out and doesn't go. The speed of the grinding increases as the bike is shifted up through the gears.

I suppose my question is (and my knowledge/vocabulary is limited); is the repair replacement of the drive shaft (splines) or final drive or flange.

I realize I will have to disassemble (next week) and inspect to get the true answer. I was just hoping to get a feel for complexity and cost on a best guess basis from the gurus here.

Thanks

Easy-peasy.

I bet a lot that it's the final drive output and the driven flange. Driveshaft? Not so.

Get that rear wheel off, refer to the photos I posted, and let's see what you have. Not a difficult job.