Checking the U-joint/Drive Line

[Davemn]

Planning a 1300 mile trip in September (Mpls to Black Hills). Bike has 44,000 miles on it and the u-joint is original. Can I pull the boot back and inspect or should it be removed? My only fear is some kinda of drive line failure in the middle of South Dakota.

[Chrisj CMA]

If you are due to pull the wheel and grease the splines before the trip then Id pull the U-Joint just for peace of mind.  If you dont need to grease the drive splines or replace the rear tire before the trip and you have never had weird vibrations especially after letting off on the gass then (with only 44K) I would nt be too concerned about the u-joint....pulling the boot back will only reveal catastrophic failure, you could not be driving around with a U-joint bad enough to see the damage with a peek under the boot and not know somethiong bad wrong is goin on

[NWRRA1]

Mine went out at 40K on the clock and 300+ miles from home. For peace of mind, buy one (even a used one) and carry it in the saddlebag.

[Patrick]

I don't think I'd worry about it either.. I'd be more apt to be concerned about a valve stem, wheel bearing or drive spline failures.. If you remove the rear wheel and perform that maintenance you'll see what condition those items are in.. If they are good, I'm not sure I would even remove the drive to check the drive shaft.. Installing the drive shaft can be a real PITA sometimes..
For such a trip I'd take along a couple valve stems plus other tire repair stuff, a couple left rear wheel bearing[same as front except '97], fuses and if you're really concerned about the u-joint then I'd get one and take it along..
The folks in S. Dakota are great people,,they'll stop and see how you are and help in any way they can..  Hehe, they are not like us New Yorker's, Hehe..

[Chrisj CMA]

I don't think I'd worry about it either.. I'd be more apt to be concerned about a valve stem, wheel bearing or drive spline failures.. If you remove the rear wheel and perform that maintenance you'll see what condition those items are in.. If they are good, I'm not sure I would even remove the drive to check the drive shaft.. Installing the drive shaft can be a real PITA sometimes..
For such a trip I'd take along a couple valve stems plus other tire repair stuff, a couple left rear wheel bearing[same as front except '97], fuses and if you're really concerned about the u-joint then I'd get one and take it along..
The folks in S. Dakota are great people,,they'll stop and see how you are and help in any way they can..  Hehe, they are not like us New Yorker's, Hehe..

Removing a rear wheel after thousands of miles to either check the splines or to put on a new tire and NOT taking the drive off and greasing the drive shaft is a big mistake...dont get lazy if the drive splines need it then the pinion cup needs it..........a dry rusty pinion cup doesnt give much warning it just goes bad and you go nowhere no matter where you are.  Having a spare u-joint  with you on trips is not a bad idea, but you made it past the defective part mileage, and if you arent a drag racer or pulling wheelies I dont think the u-joint is worth going in after just for that, but its easy to pull if the rest of the drive train is out

[Patrick]

My only point was that if the drive splines were good and greasy then the drive shaft probably is too.. I just took mine out for the 4th or 5th time and it was fine,, however,, it refused to go back in.. It always went in fairly easily in the past,, but,, not this time.. I had to drop the swing arm and remove the u-joint.. They still wouldn't go together when on the bench.. I took the edge's off 2 files before they would 'fit' back together.. Now I'm waiting for a boot..

[tbone]

Just had mine replaced. Had a slight vibration when I let of the gas. just a little between full coast and giving throttle. Thought it was the splines and cup when we started but those looked good. checked U-joint last year when new tire was put on. Glad he found the source of vibration. Gives me
piece of mind on the trip to Inzane. 52 k on 99 i/s. weird thing is with the Joint out I can't get it to
show the wear. seems tight. Tbone

[hubcapsc]

My only point was that if the drive splines were good and greasy then the drive shaft probably is too.. I just took mine out for the 4th or 5th time and it was fine,, however,, it refused to go back in.. It always went in fairly easily in the past,, but,, not this time.. I had to drop the swing arm and remove the u-joint.. They still wouldn't go together when on the bench.. I took the edge's off 2 files before they would 'fit' back together.. Now I'm waiting for a boot..

What did you file down?

Putting the shaft back into the u-joint is always a hit-or-miss thing for me. If you look up the swingarm
with a flashlight, you can see how the u-joint typically flops down when you pull the shaft and isn't lined
up with swingarm anymore.

Section 12 of the manual sez to "insert the final drive assembly into the swingarm and align the splines
with the universal joint by holding the swingarm"

Best I can figure, "hold the swingarm" means positioning it so that it aligns with the flopped down
u-joint. My u-joint usually flops down to the extent that the bolts holding the left muffler on stop
the swingarm from moving down that far.

Daniel Meyer has a thing where he moves the swingarm up and down while simultaneously trying to
jamb the final drive into place - he's a lot bigger than me, I usually get worn out before it goes in  ...

I see now that Page 14-14 of the manual shows them sticking the shaft into the swingarm/u-joint, and
then attaching the final drive. I thought of trying that this weekend, but decided it was a dumb idea 
I might try that next time.

Usually it just goes right in for no good reason after several attempts.

-Mike

[Patrick]

' What did I file '.. I never had much of a problem before but that shaft would not go in this time no matter what I tried.. So,, I took out the u-joint and stuck in a vise and the shaft still wouldn't go in.. It came out easy enough.. So I took a file to the end of the splines on both the shaft and joint to try and clean up and add a bit more of a taper [ its an old trick with clutch disks].. Put the joint back in and just installed the shaft.. Once it was in I wasn't about to take it out again.. I stuck the rear drive on the arm and shaft together..
  I guess I over-reacted to Chris' statement.. I was pretty mad at the time.. Next time its due for some grease,, I'll probably pull the shaft and see what happens..
  All of this was actually over a cracked valve stem.. I removed the wheel and just kept going.. Then as I was checking the front, I must have twisted/pulled just enough to crack it.. It looks like what has happened is that every time I would take the wheels to the local Honda dealer for tires/balance I always had them change the stems.. I either never looked or checked or noticed,, but,, it now appears that they never changed the stems.. They sure charged me for them though..  So,, you can't even trust a dealer to be able to replace valve stems ??!!