[crazzyrman]

I have a clunk, clunk, clunk (sounds like gears making noise to me)in the rear end of a gl1500i. so I was going to check/ change the final drive oil. so how much oil does it take & how do I know when I've got the right amount in the final drive? do I just fill it until it overflows?

 

[Ron Wylie]

Clunk

One of the things that can cause the clunk is the rubber rear wheel dampers. There are 5 of them inside the rear drive and they go hard causing play and a "clunk" . Part number (for my 1993 SE) is 41241-MT8-003

It can be other things but IMHO this can be the cause of the clunk

 

[oldwing99]

There are many links on what to lube on the back end of the 1500's and with what on the site. But yes, pull the drain plug with the gear lube warm and drain. Replace it and open the filler cap. Fill until it comes out of the bottom of the filler cap.

Enjoy.

 

[Silicon Sam]

It's a very, very good shot the issue is not inside the final drive, but outside the pumpkin, like in the gears that mesh the final drive with the wheel. Or wheel dampeners, as suggested. But it's a metallic sound, you're going to have to pull off the final drive and look at all the gears for wear. I have a feeling you may not like what you find....

To paraphrase a monkey movie...

 

[crazzyrman]

it's a metal on metal clunk & uniform in the repetition, it has gotten very noticeable in the last couple hundred miles. I put the bike on the center stand (engine off) & free spun the rear wheel & it rolls smooth & contines for a bit after I release it, so no extra resistance, but you can definitely hear the clunking. the bike has 129k miles & has had what I would call drive line slop for awhile (it runs smooth under acceleration, it runs smooth under no throttle/ engine braking, but at the point of just barely power/ maintain speed or slow slowing down from reducing throttle it gets a vibration)

 

[ALEX BERECZKY]

When did you last service the drive line? (eg Pull the drive shaft, lube splines at both ends; lube splines in the rear hub, change oil in rear gearbox)

 

[crazzyrman]

well i replaced the swing arm & final drive about 18k miles ago with a unit off a triked bike that suposidly had 17k miles when removed so in theory i've only got 35k miles on the final drive. i never changed the oil, but it was full & my old final drive had about 106k miles with the original oil & was running fine. when i changed the swing arm & final drive i greased up all the exposed splines/ gears (both sides of the u-joint asembaly engine & drive shaft, the gear end of ds into the final drive, & the big spline ring mating to the wheel).
i don't get why i would be having issues now after being greased 18k ago since i doubt the shop ever pulled the final drive to grease it when doing a tire change in the previouse 106k.

 

[ALEX BERECZKY]

The rubber dampeners in the rear wheel only last about 100k... at which point you'll get some slop in the rear wheel.

 

[crazzyrman]

well i'm trying to pull apart the rear end to inspect parts & i can't get the axle out. i removed the big nut on the right side & loosened the pinch bolt & pried it slightly open on the left side. i put a screwdriver through the hole & twisted back & forath while pulling out on it & only got it to move out about 3/4" before i gave up. i changed the rear tire about 2 years ago & it wasn't anyplace near this much of a broblem to pull the axle. the wheel bearings were replace at a shop about 9 months/ 10k miles ago so its not like it should be siezed in there. an i missing something simple or is this part of my rear end noise & minor vibration.

 

[busdriver]

Before you open the drain bolt on the final drive to change the oil, try and open the filler cap first. The filler cap often welds itself to the housing and if you drain the oil and can't get the filler open you can't refill the oil and have no ride.
This is important cause the only way to get a stuck filler cap off is to destroy it, and depending on where you live it may be while til you get a new one.

 

[ALEX BERECZKY]

well i'm trying to pull apart the rear end to inspect parts & i can't get the axle out. i removed the big nut on the right side & loosened the pinch bolt & pried it slightly open on the left side. i put a screwdriver through the hole & twisted back & forath while pulling out on it & only got it to move out about 3/4" before i gave up. i changed the rear tire about 2 years ago & it wasn't anyplace near this much of a broblem to pull the axle. the wheel bearings were replace at a shop about 9 months/ 10k miles ago so its not like it should be siezed in there. an i missing something simple or is this part of my rear end noise & minor vibration.

Assuming the bike is up on the centerstand, then I'd simply smack that axle through/out using a big screwdriver and hammer. Am guessing that's it's rusted in place... next time put some grease on it prior to assembly.

 

[crazzyrman]

well i got it apart & the final drive & drive shaft are toast. the drive shaft splines & final drive splines were it mates are 2/3 worn away & the final drive was dry. when i opened the drain & fill plugs powder & shavings fell out (yes i know i f-ed up by not checking it). so what is so special about the moly 60 paste for the drive shaft & wheel drive splines that honda specs out this "special moly 60 paste" is required when i couldn't find anything else on the internet that requies this special lube. even the one honda dealer said "well we can order it, but a good bearing grease is ok" & the second dealer i got it at said "we have 1 tube in stock, but i have never used it" & that tube was $11 plus tax. i did buy it for almost $12 for 3oz tube , but it decided to start snow/ sleeting were i went out to start reasembaling the bike. luckly i had a spare drive shaft & final drive on hand that i bought from a guy that triked his bike a couple years ago when i needed to replace the rusted swing arm.
well tomorrow isn't looking good for weather & work scedual makes it hard to get stuff done during the week, but hopefully it will be back together by friday.

 

[ALEX BERECZKY]

...what is so special about the moly 60 paste for the drive shaft & wheel drive splines that honda specs out this "special moly 60 paste" is required...

It does not fling off like normal bearing grease does. I've had good sucess using "Moly-D" grease from the auto parts store... You can get a whole tub of it for the same price as Honda's small tube.

 

[busdriver]

Lucky that you have spares.
Clean up everything first then apply the Moly paste with a small paint brush.
All you need to do is "paint" on a thin coating on all parts, ensuring complete coverage.

 

[Ansimp]

Lucky that you have spares.
Clean up everything first then apply the Moly paste with a small paint brush.
All you need to do is "paint" on a thin coating on all parts, ensuring complete coverage.

Great advice:claps::claps:

 

[ALEX BERECZKY]

Lucky that you have spares.
Clean up everything first then apply the Moly paste with a small paint brush.
All you need to do is "paint" on a thin coating on all parts, ensuring complete coverage.

It does not hurt anything to put excess on, just makes a mess. On the plus side, if you Fully Pack the rear splines on the drive shaft, it makes it noticably quieter.

 

[fatwing chris]

The Honda Moly is expensive to buy,but you need very little of it so it lasts a long time.Just requires a thin coat and does an excellant job.

 

[nico]

I read somewhere in the past that dealers for other brands sometimes use Honda moly 60 on shaft final drives...BMW, I think...which suggests it's pretty unique, but since the majority of *HONDA* dealers seem clueless about it, it would be surprising if that many other brand dealers/mechanics know about it.

I paid the "wopping" ten bucks or so for the Honda Moly tube years ago and I think it will outlast me and the bike. (Speaking of which: what else can we use this on?) I'm no expert but it does seem to coat the surfaces like no other lubricant. They might have sold more of this stuff, and created themselves a much bigger market, had they packaged this, say, ten times smaller.

 

[JD Diesel]

The rear ends only hold 5 oz's of oil. Me thinks one should change it once a year.......JD

 

[crazzyrman]

well the bike is back together & no more metal noises from the rear, luckily i had a spare final drive & drive shaft on hand. engine prop shaft splines into u-joint, drive shaft splines into u-joint, drive shaft into final drive & 5 stud drive gear from wheel into final drive all got moly 60 paste. fresh gear oil in final drive & light coating of cheap grease on axle so it would slide in east (& hopefully back out next tire change).