Opinions on my driveshaft

[heavyd]

I pulled the rear wheel tonight to get my first darkside tire mounted and started doing some rear end maintenance. When I drained the final drive drain plug, dimple magnetic plug, it had what looked like rubber powder stuck to it, but it was magnetic. Checked my records and it had been 25k km since I pulled the drive shaft last so I decided it was time again, and it did not look good. I tried to find pictures from the last time but I can't seem to find them so I have no base of comparison. I know that it was showing wear last time, the previous owners were not big on maintenance, in 2011 I had to replace the crown and pinion gears and get the rim machined to fix their lack of maintenance. There are 123k km on the bike, wondering what the professionals think of the state of my driveshaft.






I don't remember the brand of grease I was using back then, but it was a high pressure, high heat, waterproof grease, Lucas maybe. I have Honda Moly grease now.





Unless I am mistaken, the two holes in the pinion cup look clear, which probably explains how the mess made it into the plug magnet. My winter repair budget is pretty well used up, in no small part due to both bikes needing both tires replaced, so I am hoping this will last until next winter. I usually manage 10-15k km per summer.

[Gryphon Rider]

Here are mine at 104,000 km.  I now have 114,700 km and haven't had trouble.  I will be having another look a few weeks before heading to Inzane this year and will replace them if they look worse.

[BobB]

If someone wants to see pictures of a failed drive shaft and pinion cup, just say so.  I had these fail in 2012 and I still have the parts.

[PAVALKER]

If someone wants to see pictures of a failed drive shaft and pinion cup, just say so.  I had these fail in 2012 and I still have the parts.

Bob,  not to steal this thread...but what happened that gave you the failed indication?  Oh and just post them pics up so we can see the failed parts and how far gone they might be compared to those that posted.

[Tfrank59]

I'm no pro, but your parts look okay to me.  just clean and re-grease everything and you should be good to go.  My PO failed to grease my final drive splines so I'm watching that close, but the stuff in your pics look normal.

[Chrisj CMA]

For the OP...these parts still look usable to me.  However, its been my experience that once they rust like that and you clean them up they wear faster than normal after that.  So, I would order a pinion cup and all the parts for a drive shaft now.  That way as soon as you discover wear that is un-acceptable you can just switch the parts out and have no down time.

[da prez]

 Clean and use a good moly grease. You said the drain holes were clear. I would double check and get rid of the grease you used on the prior service.

                        da prez

[The emperor has no clothes]

Clean and use a good moly grease. You said the drain holes were clear. I would double check and get rid of the grease you used on the prior service.

                        da prez

Agree that stuff looks dry and gooey. But the teeth don't look too bad to me.

[salty1]

I agree the parts look useable. Clean everything up and use the recommended lube upon reassembly.  Also , I would do the final drive service every 10K miles or so in the future.

[heavyd]

Well, these replies were better than I hoped. I'll be using the Honda Moly grease this time, and I use royal purple synthetic hypoid gear oil in the final drive. I'll take some good close ups, pull it apart in 10k and see what it looks like. Is there a reason that the grease would have dried out this bad? I had to scrape it out with a small screwdriver. This is the grease that I was using before.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/lucas-x-tra-heavy-duty-grease-0280407p.html#.VRnTrfnF8c8

[houstone]

There is some wear on the splines, but I have reinstalled them a bit worse than that and changed them after a while and getting parts in.  I would get replacements to have on hand like mentioned above.  Don;t expect them to last the life of the bike!  ;-)

[Skinhead]

Check to make sure your U joint boot is properly installed, it looks like you had a lot of water in there.

[BobB]

If someone wants to see pictures of a failed drive shaft and pinion cup, just say so.  I had these fail in 2012 and I still have the parts.

Bob,  not to steal this thread...but what happened that gave you the failed indication?  Oh and just post them pics up so we can see the failed parts and how far gone they might be compared to those that posted.

The failure started with single rear end clunks on acceleration.  This continued for about 250 miles while I babied the throttle.  But then, on a hill the clunk turned into a clatter and the Valk no longer moved forward.  Picture below...

[sandy]

Well, these replies were better than I hoped. I'll be using the Honda Moly grease this time, and I use royal purple synthetic hypoid gear oil in the final drive. I'll take some good close ups, pull it apart in 10k and see what it looks like. Is there a reason that the grease would have dried out this bad? I had to scrape it out with a small screwdriver. This is the grease that I was using before.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/lucas-x-tra-heavy-duty-grease-0280407p.html#.VRnTrfnF8c8

Moly Paste and moly grease are not the same stuff. The grease has 2-3% moly content. I use Valvoline Durablend (3% moly) on the drive shaft splines. Still good at 148K. In all the years of doing my own maintenance, I've not seen any rear drive oil in the input splines. I rely on a liberal application of the Durablend upon assembly. This works for me. BTW: I have a good used drive shaft available with the seal and spring assembly.

[Gryphon Rider]

Here's what I use: