GL1500 Drive shaft failure

7003 Views 14 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Bike...and Dennis, Nov 23, 2009

Jsalpha2

Discussion Starter · Aug 22, 2009

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So I'm riding to work and as I shift I hear a bad clanging sound. Pull into a parking lot and start checking. Bike starts fine, clutch good shift to first and let out clutch, clang clang -no go.
So I call my buddy, he brings his pick-up and a trailer and we take the bike back to his house. Upon tearing the bike down he finds the back of the drive shaft and the cup on the rear end that the shaft fits into looks like it has never seen grease since 1989.
The splines? are worn off the end of the shaft.
Now the good news. My friend has a 1500 too, and takes me out to his shed and pulls out a drive shaft and rear end out of his parts box. He has parts from at least three 1500s back there. In less than two days from being broke down, he has my bike back on the road.

Point 1. When you have the back wheel off for a new tire, pull your drive shaft out and grease it.

Point 2. Make sure you have a friend like mine. (Thanks Gordon) The worse you are at fixing things, the better you need to take care of him.

This bike is still fairly new to me. The PO had a huge stack of paperwork showing how the bike had been serviced from the Honda dealer on a regular basis. So you never know:?

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DBohrer

· #2 · Aug 22, 2009

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You mean the drive shaft splines looked like this............????

This has happened to quite a few GL1500 Wing's. Those rear drive shaft splines need to be lubed with Honda Moly 60 lube.

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Rudy

· #3 · Aug 22, 2009

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Yet another good story about why you should not rely on others to do your maintenance. Particularly dealer shops.

They are concerned with the issue at hand, per the book rate and nothing else.

This was one of those 'nothing else' problems.

They aren't interested in whole bike maintenance, they are interested in making money and not being sued.

Their incentives are not the same as yours.

FitzAl

· #4 · Aug 22, 2009

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Dealers usually just service by the book and won't spend time doing preventive maintainance because it doesn't pay.

exavid

· #5 · Aug 22, 2009

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It's very important to use Moly Paste, not moly grease on the splines including the splines on the driven flange in the rear wheel. Regular grease will eventually be thrown out and dry up allowing the splines to fail. Moly Paste will leave molybdenum embedded in the metal surfaces of the splines and provide protection even once the grease base is gone. Honda Moly 60 or Loctite Moly Paste are the only way to go.

Rudy

· #6 · Aug 22, 2009

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exavid wrote:

It's very important to use Moly Paste, not moly grease on the splines including the splines on the driven flange in the rear wheel. Regular grease will eventually be thrown out and dry up allowing the splines to fail. Moly Paste will leave molybdenum embedded in the metal surfaces of the splines and provide protection even once the grease base is gone. Honda Moly 60 or Loctite Moly Paste are the only way to go.

That's another problem with the dealers. About half of them that will lube the splines will use simple bearing grease or white lithium grease and want to argue about it if you bring it up because they are too cheap to use Moly paste in the shop.

I have seen dealers that sell the Honda Moly Paste on the shelves and still don't use it in the shop.

William_86

· #7 · Aug 22, 2009

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the honda dealer here on tampico had never heard of moly paste.

Lil Pete

· #8 · Aug 22, 2009

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First off, no offense intended..... When I started reading this I was thinking that you should have read the shop manual as it would indicate that lube was required.

Interestingly enough, the shop manual for my '80 shows lube at 8,000 miles thru a fitting. The manual for my '08 does not show any lube intervals for the joint shaft assembly or pinion joint/gear. I wonder when Honda removed that information?

DBohrer

· #9 · Aug 23, 2009

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Lil Pete wrote:

Interestingly enough, the shop manual for my '80 shows lube at 8,000 miles thru a fitting. The manual for my '08 does not show any lube intervals for the joint shaft assembly or pinion joint/gear. I wonder when Honda removed that information?

The shop manual for my '90, 96 and '99 does not show any lube intervals for the rear splines of the drive shaft. What typically happens is the oil seal on the drive shaft fails, then the splines run dry, get hot and grind down the teeth on the drive shaft and the pinion coupler. To my knowledge, it was never in the GL1500 or GL1800 Honda service manuals.

BARTON

· #10 · Nov 22, 2009

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Two remarks! Ford motors used to make cars that would self destruct after a certain mileage. Example Cougar engines had head bolts that would back out at about 110k to 125k and blow a head gasket, leaving the cost of repairs to run more than the car was worth. I went to the local Honda dealer and was sold just plain old grease. I was told that was what they used in the shop. I smell a Ford trick of if it does last forever there would be less of a market for new cars. Perhaps some dealers have learned it cuts out future business if there are no breakdowns. When I got my 1500 there were 2 things I considered important to know. The most important was safety and I learned a lot from the safety class thru the local votech, and the second was preventative maintenance, and this form is the best to figure out what is most important.
And one question! Which is best the Paste (Molly 60), or Molly paste M77?

Orcadian

· #11 · Nov 22, 2009

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Hi,

I had exactly the same problem on my previous 1500. I took it round forthe annual test (MOT) and the tester who had become a friend over the years, remarked that he had never ridden a 1500 - as it had passed with flying colours - I told him to take it for a spin. I waited for ages for him to return and about half an hour laterthe Garage got a phone call from him to say the 'Wing had broken down with no drive! Eventually it was recovered and taken to my home, where I found thatnot only had the splines virtually disappeared, but the inside mating splines were gone too, as was the seal, or most of it anyway. I got a shaft and pinion coupler from a trike man, plus a new sealand was back on the road very quickly. First thing I noticed was the absence of vibration which had been there since I got the bike, so it must have been an issue for some time. I had some fun ribbing the guy who did the test as often as I could, but it was not his fault - he was probably a bit more throttle happy than I am. 'Don't let him ride your bike - he'll break it!!'

When I got my present 1500 Iimmediately got into the driveline to check everything and it was as clean as a whistle - butIgave it the Moly paste treatment anyway.

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Bike...and Dennis

· #12 · Nov 22, 2009

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The more care a bike is given, the more it gives back.

There is no such thing as a care-free motorcycle.

exavid

· #13 · Nov 22, 2009

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Lil Pete wrote:

Interestingly enough, the shop manual for my '80 shows lube at 8,000 miles thru a fitting. The manual for my '08 does not show any lube intervals for the joint shaft assembly or pinion joint/gear. I wonder when Honda removed that information?

The rear zerk fitting for the driveline was a feature of early 'Wings due to problems with excessive spline wear. Once Moly Paste was discovered by Honda it was recommended in later manuals and the rear zerk was removed. The zerk really didn't solve the problem anyway because there was no assurance tha pumping in grease would hit the splines well enough to do the job. You'd have to rotate the shaft while squirting grease to get all way 'round the shaft splines and even then it wouldn't get into the full length of the splines. Also of you'd need to pull back the swing arm shaft to get grease on both ends of the U-joints. Moly paste cured the problem because the stuff still provides lubrication to the splines even when the grease carrier is thrown out of the joints as it always does. Don't mistake the moly grease you see at auto parts stores for moly paste. Moly grease commonly uses only 5% or less molybdenum which isn't enough. Honda calls for paste of at least 60% moly. Honda 60 or Loctite Moly Paste (which is 65%) are acceptable.

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lionelgo50

· #14 · Nov 22, 2009

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Very interesting. I thoughtit was normal to lube the splines at every tire change.

Bike...and Dennis

· #15 · Nov 23, 2009

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lionelgo50 wrote:

Very interesting. I thoughtit was normal to lube the splines at every tire change.

The tech will lube the splines on the wheel but they won't pull the jackpot to lube the shaft splines.

And realistically, they would have to charge for that service. Probably a half hour at least.

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