16 Years and 59,000 miles of Neglect.

[Steve K (IA)]

I am ashamed to admit that I had never pulled my drive shaft until today.  (2000 I/S) I don't have any good excuse.  We're going to ride to the UP in mid July and I thought even though I'm not changing out the rear tire, I had better give it a look and see what the damage is to have enough time to get the parts ordered if needed.
(The drive line parts of my Std looks like new.  No worries there.)

I was very surprised.

The pinion cup was wet like it should be.

Dodged a big bullet.

Just a little shiny.


Almost zero wear.


BelRay Waterproof Grease.

[Chrisj CMA]

Absolutely beautiful 

[Black Dog]

Hey Steve...

Go buy a lottery ticket 

See ya in a few weeks,

Black Dog

[F6Dave]

I had a similar experience.  I didn't even know the final drive components needed all that maintenance until my Tourer had nearly 40K miles.  When I read about it I got alarmed and pulled it all apart one evening, only to find that everything was in great shape.

I have to wonder if in some cases the frequent maintenance does more damage than neglect.  I'm sure that's the case for the drive splines.  When they get damaged it's nearly always the result of misalignment resulting from torqueing nuts in the wrong sequence.

[Tfrank59]

Yep, goes to show what the correct lube can do, though nobody should push it that far .  I went 5k after I bought my bike before getting in there (it then had 33K on it), only to find the PO or his mechanic screwed me--nothing but rust on the splines!

By the way, you say you never pulled your bike apart before 59K--how did you ever change tires without seeing your splines?

[Steve K (IA)]

Yep, goes to show what the correct lube can do, though nobody should push it that far .  I went 5k after I bought my bike before getting in there (it then had 33K on it), only to find the PO or his mechanic screwed me--nothing but rust on the splines!

By the way, you say you never pulled your bike apart before 59K--how did you ever change tires without seeing your splines?

Took it apart for tire changes.  Cleaned and lubed the splines just never pulled the driveshaft.

[Steve K (IA)]

I use BelRay Waterproof grease on the splines on the wheel, what are guys using on the splines in the pinion cup?  On my Std, I put BelRay in the pinion cup.

I won't be able to get back to finish this job until Monday.  Will be out of town all day.  If I need something special, I'll have to wait until Tuesday when the Honda shop opens.

[Tfrank59]

Yep, goes to show what the correct lube can do, though nobody should push it that far .  I went 5k after I bought my bike before getting in there (it then had 33K on it), only to find the PO or his mechanic screwed me--nothing but rust on the splines!

By the way, you say you never pulled your bike apart before 59K--how did you ever change tires without seeing your splines?

Took it apart for tire changes.  Cleaned and lubed the splines just never pulled the driveshaft.

Okay, I get it.  I can't prevent my driveshaft from coming out of the u-joint whenever I take off my pumpkin, but I guess yours is different.

[Tfrank59]

Yep, goes to show what the correct lube can do, though nobody should push it that far .  I went 5k after I bought my bike before getting in there (it then had 33K on it), only to find the PO or his mechanic screwed me--nothing but rust on the splines!

By the way, you say you never pulled your bike apart before 59K--how did you ever change tires without seeing your splines?

Took it apart for tire changes.  Cleaned and lubed the splines just never pulled the driveshaft.

Okay, I get it.  I can't prevent my driveshaft from coming out of the u-joint whenever I take off my pumpkin, but I guess yours is different.

No wait, now I acutally get it--I'm a little slow--you just never pulled the shaft out of the pinion cup before now 

[98valk]

Yep, goes to show what the correct lube can do,

correct lube was not used.  Honda engineers call for moly grease drive shaft, final drive splines get moly paste both with a minimum of 60% moly. I use TS-70 moly.
 excessive wear on the tooth sides can be seen for such low miles.

[Gavin_Sons]

So you have done maintaince prior to this if you pulled the pumpkin and lubed it. Or am I not understanding?
Went back and looked, I assume you just greased the splines of the pumpkin not the pinion cup.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Yep, goes to show what the correct lube can do,

correct lube was not used.  Honda engineers call for moly grease drive shaft, final drive splines get moly paste both with a minimum of 60% moly. I use TS-70 moly.
 excessive wear on the tooth sides can be seen for such low miles.

I think the pinion cup calls for 3% moly grease, the splines call for 60% moly paste.

[Tfrank59]

I actually think the pinion cup is going to be more forgiving towards neglect than the drive splines because for one thing I know there's a debate about this  but a certain amount of gear lube gets into the pinion cup correct? I put a little bit of Honda moly paste as well as some bel-ray Grease on my pinion cup and there  hasn't been a problem.

[Steve K (IA)]

So you have done maintaince prior to this if you pulled the pumpkin and lubed it. Or am I not understanding?
Went back and looked, I assume you just greased the splines of the pumpkin not the pinion cup.

Correct

[Steve K (IA)]

Yep, goes to show what the correct lube can do,

correct lube was not used.  Honda engineers call for moly grease drive shaft, final drive splines get moly paste both with a minimum of 60% moly. I use TS-70 moly.
 excessive wear on the tooth sides can be seen for such low miles.

Excessive wear?  I guess the pictures don't transate well?  If you seen this in person you wouldn't have said that.  I would give all parts a 99% good.  I'm quite happy with what I have here.

[Tfrank59]

yeah I wasn't sure what he meant by excessive wear either. My comment about correct Lube was since Steve didn't do any maintenance on his pinion cup, then it's the lube that mother Honda put in there at the factory that lasted him all those miles and years.

[Steve K (IA)]

yeah I wasn't sure what he meant by excessive wear either. My comment about correct Lube was since Steve didn't do any maintenance on his pinion cup, then it's the lube that mother Honda put in there at the factory that lasted him all those miles and years.

That would be correct also. 

And because of that I think I will use the recommended lube.

[Fazer]

There was an excellent tech session on the rear end service you are doing at Inzane.  It prompted me to do exactly as you are doing when I got home.  My Tourer has 23000 on is now and the splines, pinion and drive shaft all looked good.  Dan Meyer, who conducted the seminal, demonstrating on his own Valk with 211,000 miles, said all he ever used for lube is high temp waterproof grease.  I think your BelRay fits this bill perfectly.  Dan prefers Valvolene brand FWIW.  I have the Honda moly paste, but based on the tech session, used just the waterproof grease. 

There are lots of opinions about the correct grease/paste, but that's what I did.  Since I know how do this service now, and will be getting new tires in another 5000 or so miles, I will recheck then.  That will be next season for me.

[Fazer]

Forgot to mention the tip he (Dan Meyer) gave us for re-installing the drive shaft in the ujoint.  He showed us how to use a ratchet strap to raise the rear axle above the exhaust pipes to extract the axle.  When the drive shaft is pulled, the ujoint will droop making it difficult to line up.  If you ratchet the swing arm and drive shaft tube up as high as possible, at least above level, you can, after inserting the rear end side into the cup, simply start the studs into the four holes and grab the whole differential and wiggle it very forcefully and the end will slip right in. You have to sit on the ground behind the bike and give it a good shake while pushing forward.  Worked like a charm for me.

After getting the drive shaft re-inserted, only hand tighten the four nuts holding the rear end in.  Lower the swing arm back so the axle is just above the exhaust and re-install the wheel.  Once you get the space, brake caliper and axle torqued then you tighten the four nuts in a crisscross pattern.  This ensures proper alignment of the rear end gears.

[Jabba]

I have had 3 valks, and do/did service on several others for buddies... Some have wet pinion cups all the time. Some have issues. I have yet to figure it out. I have had repeated issues on my Blue Standard. I have replaced the shaft and cup a few times on it. They have never failed... me, but have come out rusty a couple times. I have started just packing that one with grease...

Still bugs me.

Glad you got her all put back together Steve.

Jabba

[Valk_Ridin_Soldier]

I may have been overdoing it on my interstate, which was totaled at 170K, but I changed wheel bearings with every other tire change and lubed splines/pinion cup/drive shaft with every rear tire change, since I already had the rear end apart. 

[Tfrank59]

only the wheel bearing part was overdoing it

[The emperor has no clothes]

I may have been overdoing it on my interstate, which was totaled at 170K, but I changed wheel bearings with every other tire change and lubed splines/pinion cup/drive shaft with every rear tire change, since I already had the rear end apart. 

Dang that's a lot of wheel bearings.

[Valk_Ridin_Soldier]

I may have been overdoing it on my interstate, which was totaled at 170K, but I changed wheel bearings with every other tire change and lubed splines/pinion cup/drive shaft with every rear tire change, since I already had the rear end apart. 

Dang that's a lot of wheel bearings.

Yes it is.  But...the ONLY time that bike let me down on the road was due to a wheel bearing.  Riding through Georgia on the way to the National President's meeting for my club down in Florida (Think Inzane but for my club) and the left rear wheel bearing starts whining whenever I put any weight on the left side of the bike...like on a crowned road or whatever.  I think I had about 45K on her at that point. 

By that point, I had been somewhat smug for a lot of years about the reliability of the Valkyrie.  I am well known for NOT liking to wrench on motorcycles.  They have people for that, but generally you have to pay those people, and I am not really happy about that either, so...Honda + preventative maintenance.  The shop got it once a year...usually in February. They'd do a full on service annually. I would then do oil changes as needed (every 5K or less, if there was a ride coming up that would take it past that.)  But, the visit to the shop was usually off-season, so nobody ever saw me miss a ride because "The bike was in the shop" or "torn apart in my garage" or "Broke down waiting for payday". 

Riding with Harley dudes gives you a lot of opportunity to say stuff like "I remember when my bike broke down- oh wait, that was the Harley I used to have."  "I took my bike to the shop for a safety inspection and needed a tail light bulb.  MAN! those guys charge a MINT for changing a lightbulb.  Glad I had that extra ten bucks on me." "WOW! You know how to do a clutch? (or whatever they were broke down for)  I wouldn't have a clue.  Honda, ya Know."  And my favorite, after hearing what it cost to have an HD dealer fix a bike, or how much a part costs...  "Wow, I would have needed rape counseling after seeing that bill."

So....when the Hondapottamus actually BROKE DOWN on a ride, everyone got some payback.  I dropped it off at a Honda Dealer in Georgia.  Had to ride the chase truck to Florida, and then pick it up on the way back, three days later.  Three days of "The HONDA broke down? Say it ain't so."  "hey, we're going for a ride, wanna go?  Oh wait, your HONDA is in the shop."  etc.

Never again would I cede that high ground.  Wheel bearings aren't that much.  The only other thing that ever broke was a throttle cable (in my garage- nobody knew).  I carried an A and B Throttle cable taped to the lid of one of my saddlebags from that day forward, and always carried spare fuses and lightbulbs.  of course, never used any of them.