[cory1848]

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Hi,
First post here after lurking quite a while and learning a lot. I needed a new rear tire so while changing it out I decided to do the maintenance on the drive as well. I just bought the bike a few months ago with 62k miles on it and since have put another 2500 miles on it.

So I pulled the drive and cleaned it up. From the first photo, Is this wear on the inside end? Seems to taper down towards the shaft and it worries me a bit. Other than that, it appears to be in great shape. No wear at all on the u joint end either.

On the second photo, there appears to be water intrusion due to the brown rust greasy substance. There is a liquid on some sort in there as well and almost smells like gear oil. Is there a seal that connects this to the final drive housing?

I have parts coming tomorrow so I can put this all back together, pending that this isn't a new problem.

Thanks so much
Cory
1997 GL1500 SE

 

[moonhead]

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Those splines look ok.clean the mating surfaces and apply moly 60 paste to them, also replace all of the o-rings.Dont forget the flange aswell.

 

[englishted]

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Those splines are in decent condition. Clean and grease and you will get many more miles from them.

 

[cory1848]

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moonhead wrote:

Those splines look ok.clean the mating surfaces and apply moly 60 paste to them, also replace all of the o-rings.Dont forget the flange aswell.

You say all of the orings.. I only see one oil seal. Are there more that I haven't seen that need to be replaced?

 

[moonhead]

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Where your flange inserts into the final drive you should find the o-rings that seal out dust and water.

 

[agnogel]

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[cory1848]

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moonhead wrote:

Where your flange inserts into the final drive you should find the o-rings that seal out dust and water.

Ok, think I found the flange oring part in the fiche. Would have I have disassemble the entire final drive to clean it out? Would bearings be affected if water got in there?

Thanks

 

[cory1848]

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agnogel wrote:

Not sure what part you are referring to in your sample.

For the flange, I see two o-rings, part 22, 23. Are these the ones I need?

 

[moonhead]

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To see if you have water in your final drain the fluid, if there is none there is no reason to disassemble it.There are also o-rings on your flange that you should change while your there.

 

[cory1848]

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moonhead wrote:

To see if you have water in your final drain the fluid, if there is none there is no reason to disassemble it.There are also o-rings on your flange that you should change while your there.

I guess thats the question I am asking. From the second pic I posted, does that look like I have water there? I would rather not disassemble all this, but If I need to, I will.

Thanks

 

[WINGING]

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The drive shaft only has an oil seal. The gear case will have oil seal and O-ring, but i don't think you disassemblied it.

 

[moonhead]

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I dont think so.Drain the final fluid and it will tell the story.

 

[cory1848]

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Ok will do. Thanks so much for the help. Back to work...

 

[OnaWingAndaPrayer]

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Yes , 22&23 are orings . One fits on the wheel hub the other fits the drive flange .

BTW , Welcome to the forums . Perhaps catch you down the road on some of our rides .

 

[ALEX BERECZKY]

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> It is a little-known fact that there is a Pair of Small Holes on either side of that nut, through which Gear Oil is supposed to enter from the final drive. So then, what you have is Normal and no problem. Those hole do not really work worth a darn, hence you do of course need to lube the splines with Moly-60 and carry on.
> Your splines look perfect, both on the shaft and on the final drive.
> I can't quite tell on your first picture, but on the rear end of the drive shaft you can Dispose of the "wire ring" if it's still present... It's used by Honda for initial assembly, but serves no purpose thereafter.

 

[agnogel]

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sorry Cory it was very late when i posted last night and i thought i answered your question i dont see any thing wrong with your pics the brown is not water its a lack of moly 60 paste and what you end up with is friction burns as the metal heats up when the shaft keeps sliding in and out when ridingso apply plenty of Moly and reassemble your good to go

You have to use Moly60 as normal grease wont do

 

[cory1848]

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Alex - Thanks a bunch! That helps lot. Already have the moly paste so all is good there.

agnogel - Great info as well. I always associated brown mud color to rust on parts so it concerned me a bit. Never had a shaft driven bike before so its all new to me.

I will still drain the FD fluid and clean everything up. What does everyone use to clean up the crud? Just a degreaser? I don't want to damage and rubber parts as I know some of the harsh chemicals can eat through the rubber o-rings.

Thanks!!

 

[moonhead]

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Iflushed my final with solvent,let it dry then refilled it.

 

[ALEX BERECZKY]

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I used WD-40 to flush out my final drive, and it seemed to work pretty well. I also did the subsequent oil change a bit earlier than called for, in case any remaining solvent in the WD-40 acted to degrade the oil prematurely.

For cleaning the splines, I find that this method works great:
1) A box of Q-Tip cotten swabs, to remove the majority of the old grease, then
2) Spray the splines with either WD-40 or Simple Green, then;
3) Use a high-pressure air hose, with spray nozzle (eg 3" long needle) to blow out all the remaining grease and cleaner.

 

[cory1848]

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Ok so I cleaned up everything, applied the moly paste to all the splines and put everything back together. No issues reassembling it. The wheel is back on and torqued to specs.

So I think my only lingering question is... I have read to tighten the final drive bolts (4 of them) AFTER putting the wheel back on. That is where I am at now. Is there any type of alignment that needs to be done on the rear wheel? Or do I just torque those bolts and its good to go?

Thanks