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You need a Moly grease that is at least 60% Molybendum.
It does not need to be Honda's grease.

The reason this grease is needed is because without it, normal greases will be thrown off the drive shaft as centrifugal force throws it outward to the housing.
When this happens, the shaft will go dry and accelerated wear will commence quickly.

This is a problem for ANY mechanism of this type so unless the 1800's have a lubrication system that takes care of the throw off problem, it will need the Moly 60 as well.

Interesting to note that you will find documents where Honda does not specify the Moly 60 but those documents were early on and Honda realized the flaw in design later when they started recommending the Moly 60.

You don't have to use it. You can always buy new parts instead.

BTW, beware that many dealers do not use it because of it's cost or because they are ignorant or negligent. I would never allow a servicing dealer to lube my drive splines unless they committed to the Moly 60 and could show me an open container of it in the service department, indicating that they were true to their word.

 

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Here's an article that basically explains it all



Spline Lubricants
You need to grease your drive splines each time you change your rear tire. This is true for all shaft drive bikes, regardless of brand. This is a real issue: ask any BMW rider, or any old-time ST1100 or GL high mileage type, and you'll likely get a whole lecture about spline maintenance. The lecture may or may not be informed, but it will demonstrate real concern.
The drive splines get surprisingly hot. Additionally, there's a lot of pressure on the splines and a lot of back and forth sliding motion. Any liquid type of grease will quickly be squeezed out of the splines, and leave you with no protection. The first time you remove your rear tire, you will likely find that the factory grease has dried out completely and solidified into something which does not even remotely resemble a lubricant. Actually, if it's a good Moly grease, it's still doing its job in this form, but it's not a pretty sight.
Honda specifies a spline grease which is 60% molybdenum disulfide ("moly"). Moly is a dry lubricant which bonds to the metal surfaces, offering lubrication properties even when the parts have squeezed everything liquid out. A lot of greases now say "Moly" on the container, but you must be careful about this. Ford and Caterpillar specify moly greases for particular applications, but the requirement is for 3% moly, not even close to the 60% requirement of Honda. It's not enough to buy a moly grease, what you really want is basically dry moly in a grease-like carrier which makes it easier to apply.
These days, most BMW shops seem to be using the Honda moly paste on drive splines. I have no idea what Kawasaki, Yamaha, or Suzuki dealers are doing, but if it's anything like what most Honda dealers are doing, it's simply not acceptable. My informal survey of Honda shops, backed up by observations from several other riders, has convinced me that essentially none of them use Moly-60. They use the cheapest brake and drive shaft grease they can buy.
If you let a dealer or shop change your rear tire, be certain they are using Moly-60 paste or Krytox, or you're going to be needing new drive splines in about 50,000 miles. Guaranteed. I recommend you remove and replace your own wheels, leaving the spline cleaning and lubrication up to you. If you want nothing to do with this, then I recommend you have a talk with your favorite mechanic before tires come up, and buy your own tube of lubricant if necessary.



Interesting too is I found my splines dry looking when I pulled the rear wheel yesterday.
This is after I'd lubed with Honda Moly 60 only 3 months ago. The splines didnt look any worse for wear.

 

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I went looking for the cheapest moly 60 on the market and I found the Honda tube to be the best deal.

 

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This has answered my questions on why 60 molly grease. It's not easy to find.

The other thing is when I look at the manual it mentions that taking off the final drive requires specialized tools. Maybe I am over complicating things but I don't have these tools.

 

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Any Honda dealer will have it. Over complicating things, just grab a wrench and attack!

 

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And a breaker bar...

Buddy of mine and I attempted to take off the rear without one.. Not a freakin' chance. Once we got a nice length of iron pipe and a wrench that could deal with about a jazillion foot pound of pressure, it was a non-issue!

 

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:cheeky1:yep--you got to get the nut off first.

moly 60 fur sure.

 

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Bearing shops have, or can order Loctite Moly 60 or 70, but, it's very expensive. Like 30.00+ for a small amount. I have contemplating trying Cat turntable spray. That stuff is amazing, and fairly readily available at almost any Cat dealer. We used it on grader turntables, and slides, and it seems to be an excellent lube, when applied properly. I sprayed a lot of large piston pump drives with it, and don't recall a problem with splines failing, whereas, they definitely do, if installed dry.

 

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moly grease is the only way to initiate a new apprentice into the work place :cooldevil::cooldevil:

 

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:cheeky1:yeah---can be hard to get off---huh.

 

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I got the final drive off and I noticed that the shaft at the final drive end was a bit oily and the other end looked a little greasey. This is the first time that I have had it off since I bought it 4 years ago. Since then I have changed the tires 3 times. I really never knew about about greasing the splines before. I owned bnike with chain drives before.