Whoo-Hoo and AWWW CRAP

[Rio Wil]

Been putting off a final drive lube job for some 25K miles.  The Last two intervals were 20K each and I'm thinking I discovered some new.  Most of the previous intervals, the pinion cup was getting pretty dry at 15K so for the hell of it, I upped the quantity of final drive lube from 5.1 oz. to 6.1 oz.  Lo and behold, the pinion cup and drive shaft splines were actually wet with grease AND final drive lube. Draining the final drive, the lube was quite dark....made sense, the pinion cup grease was black.  So what do we have here......I'm thinking CIRCULATION of final drive lube into the pinion cup and then back into the final drive......thats the way its supposed to  work. I will let this next interval go another 25K and see if it is also circulating........

Then the aw-crap. Decided to check the old u-joint for looseness....was beginning to feel a tiny vib when running with neutral throttle.. Sure enough, the vice grip/channel lock twist test revealed an pretty noticeable slack/click.....saying it ain't long......so looking for a good price, any one know a place to beat 128.00? This one lasted about 165K,,,so can't complain too much.

At this point, its looking like upping the final drive lube from 5.1 oz. to 6.1 oz. might be the secret to keeping lube in the cup........and maybe a indefinite lube interval.

[Jess from VA]

I only used the called-for quantity to fill the final drive once.  I discovered that that quantity, on a level bike (or a level final drive on the bench), just starts to come back out the fill hole.  So every other change, on a level bike or pumpkin, I just fill til it overflows, then shove the plug back in.  So how did you get the extra in, lean the bike right (or the final drive while off the bike)?

I would not think a single ounce extra could cause any pressure problems.  And if it did, it would probably squirt out the vent anyway.

I always overlube the splines, and I usually get some Belray squirting out, for a ride or two.

Us car tire guys do tend to go past the 10K rule.  But never to 25K.   With half a million mile bikes, an indefinite lube interval is probably too long.  Even synthetic 80/90 wt probably has a finite lifetime of useage.

[Rio Wil]

I changed the lube while the final drive was on the bench cleaning the splines and I needed to check the u-joint. So just used the wifes kitchen scales (while she was napping....), to measure the 6.1 oz. I would kind of like a 50K-100K interval if it was possible......comes too often now.
I have never made it a practice to change differential lube in my cars or trucks even at 100-200K miles and didn't notice any detrimental symtoms........this final drive is really no different....IMO. It would be nice to do the rear tire and final drive maintenance every 50K......a more frequent interval does give an opportunity to tweek up the balance on the tire......being old school and using weights......balance beads are just too hi-tech for me.

[Harryc]

I changed the lube while the final drive was on the bench cleaning the splines and I needed to check the u-joint. So just used the wifes kitchen scales ...

Scale? The 5.1oz is fluid oz's not weight...big difference. My take on pumpkin capacity is add what Honda recommends and fill it how they say to fill it. I had my pumpkin out recently and the drive shaft was full of grease/oil and perfect. I think cleaning the oiler hole in the pinion cup is important however.

[Chrisj CMA]

I only used the called-for quantity to fill the final drive once.  I discovered that that quantity, on a level bike (or a level final drive on the bench), just starts to come back out the fill hole.  So every other change, on a level bike or pumpkin, I just fill til it overflows, then shove the plug back in.  So how did you get the extra in, lean the bike right (or the final drive while off the bike)?

I would not think a single ounce extra could cause any pressure problems.  And if it did, it would probably squirt out the vent anyway.

I always overlube the splines, and I usually get some Belray squirting out, for a ride or two.

Us car tire guys do tend to go past the 10K rule.  But never to 25K.   With half a million mile bikes, an indefinite lube interval is probably too long.  Even synthetic 80/90 wt probably has a finite lifetime of useage.

Change the final drive fluid while the drive is removed, then you don't have to overflow it and make such a meds of things.

[Jess from VA]

I always change it when removed.  It's just a few ounces of dope, 80-90 flows like molasses, I slow feed it, and when it is full to the hole only a little bit dribbles out.  Plug it, and one wipe cleans it up.

No measuring.

I like the idea of one oz more than called for.