rear end maint- same as Goldwing 1500?

[CoachDoc]

I'm about to replace the rear pads and overhaul the rear caliper on my '97 standard, plus I'm going to service the final drive and both ends of the drive shaft (bike owned for 8 months now- runs great). I've done all these jobs several times on my old 1500 Wings. Looks about the same on the Valk after perusing the shop manual and pages on this Tech Board (even the 3 O-rings are the same parts numbers). I'm wondering if anyone else on this site has done this work on the Valk and Wing both to enlighten me if there are any differences I need to know about that I may have missed. Thanks, guys.

[olddog1946]

The valk even uses the same rear brake pads. I had a set for the Valk but had to use them on the Wing (98) as one side had lost all the brake lining. As near as I could tell, other than the tupperware removal, it's done the same way.

[CoachDoc]

Thanks, OldDog. Should be a piece of cake on the Valk by comparison.

[9Ball]

Don't forget the thrust washer...not sure if the Goldwing uses a thrust washer.

[CoachDoc]

Don't forget the thrust washer...not sure if the Goldwing uses a thrust washer.

Excellent point. I am not familiar with the thrust washer. Where is it and how often should it be replaced? Serviceable?

[Disco]

It's number 5 in the pic below.  You'll find it underneath number 8 when you pull it from the wheel.  It will either be stuck to the wheel/bearing face or to the underside of number 8. 

I have 76K miles on mine.  I'm not sure of the tolerance - I just remove it, clean and inspect it to make sure it's not cracked, and give it another shmear at every final drive service (+/- 10K miles).