should I pull the u joint

[justooneez]

Hi, getting closer to getting the bike back on the road, got the back end apart, but it looks like to get to the u joint I gotta pull the swingarm completely off.

I guess what my question is, is there a better way, and should I do it, bike only has 13000 miles on it, but its been sitting in my dads garage for an unknown length of time (probably 4-5 years), I know that on the site it says to grease both sides of the ujoint, so I was hoping for advice on getting it done, whether it needs it or not, and how often it should be done

On a positive side, the splines looked lubed, and so did the pinion cup, and the end of the shaft that went into the u joint had lube too.  No wear detected by my untrained eyes anyways 

[Thunderbolt]

http://www.rattlebars.com/mtz/ujoint.html

[Joe Hummer]

Let me get this right...you are working on the bike after it has sat for 4-5 years so you can get it back on the road and have some piece of mind that it won't let you down while you are out and about and you are questioning whether to check the u-joint?  Really?    

Just messing with you....somewhat...seriously though, I would jsut so I knew it was good.  It probably is just fine with those miles on it but it is really pretty easy to get to so you can check it.  Follow the instructions given above and you will be good.  Most people have problems getting the boot back on the first few times they do it.  I have started twisting mine back on and it works out pretty good.  Start by lubing the edge of the boot (big end) with a little WD-40.  Slip as much as you can of the boot on the lip, and twist it until it is fully seated.  Twist in the same direction, not back and forth.  The motor side can be pushed on without too much trouble. 

Joe

[justooneez]

Sweet, exactly what I was looking for, a way to pull it without dropping the swingarm   not that I'm lazy mind you, well somewhat, just I'm nearing the end of my meager budget and my mechanical skills are somewhat challenged 

Thanks again

[Cruzen]

I replaced the universal without removing the swing arm earlier this year but be advised that if you have hands the size of feet you may not be able to get your fingers in there.  The hands in the tutorial are small in size. Thanks to recommendations from Sandy, I used a bit of white grease on the rubber boot to ease getting it back on.  You will also have to move the swing arm up or down to get the drive shaft aligned when you put it in.  In my case I had to move the swing arm up a bit when installing the drive shaft.