U Joint update today 3/9/11

[T.P.]

Posted today in the tech section by Minnesota's BZAR

Bzar
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This is no Yoke
« on: Today at 11:46:08 AM »
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   This is no Yoke, Extended Backorder on driveline Yoke. I lost my drive shaft U-joint (Yoke in Honda terminology) back in June of 2010. I ordered one out and found out later that it became back-ordered. Well, a back order usually takes a few extra days or a couple of weeks. In this case, Honda changed vendors and said it would be delayed until mid-February of 2011.
   Well it is now March and it still is not in production. They say it will be March 31 before they will be available. When I called this morning, they were in meetings, so I had to wait an extra hour before they would answer the phone. So in my closing minute, I tried to encourage Honda to have less meetings and make more parts.
   I just bought a Suzuki to ride while my parts are being made..........

[RoadKill]

Save ALL the old ones!!! No matter what the damage. I just need one to disassemble and examine. 75 bucks for a new one is easy enough until there are NO new ones. I'll find a way,some one makes the U joint and we'll rebuild if we must!  Bent,loose,greasy,whatever...we may have to adapt and overcome.

[Jay]

I have the Spicer number 430-9A in mine.

[GOOSE]

jay....how did you adapt the # 430-9a to the yokes?  did you stake it/tack weld it?/or clip it?  thanks.

[Jay]

I had a driveline shop do it for me.  They pressed the new one in, tack welded the cups to the yoke.
Cost me about $60.00 parts and labor.
The guy said they have done that for other vehicles that have the staked u-joints, Subaru's for example.
The bike has been stored for winter, but prior to that put on about 2k miles, seems to work fine.

[T.P.]

HEY JAY !!  Does the joint have a grease fitting?

[Jay]

Yes, it has an inverted fitting on one of the caps.

[old grouch]

I have located five (5) used u-joint/yokes which fit the 1500 GW and the Valk.  They are at Apex Sports in Colorado Springs.  He is asking $50 each.  He states they are all in "very good condition". "They are all take-offs from Trike installs."  "They may be from a Valk, but most likely from 1500 G/W, as I have only done 4 Valk conversions"  I don't know anything else about the parts or shipping.  Contact ifo is as follows:  e-mail Doyne Bruner at  doynebruner@gmail.com  with u-joint in the subject line.  Hope this helps somebody out.  Stan

[WynneBear]

I purchased a used yolk off ebay.  It is at my machinist now.  We think we will be able to make the yolk serviceable with a standard u joint and rebuildable each and every time you need a new one.  We plan to get rid of the stakes and adapt it to accept spring clips.  No welding.  I will keep you posted on the results.

Rob

[SPOFF]

Remind me, if they are ever available again, to buy a U-joint and put it on the shelf. I wonder what other parts are made of unobtainium? It really irks me that you can go to a Harley Boutique, ask for 1937 Knucklehead parts, and not only do they have them... they may be in stock!

[SPOFF]

I might add, if you're waiting for this part from a Japanese factory, you can now add another year or two to the back order. I guess we're going to need to apply some American ingenuity to this problem. 

[alph]

that is, if the factory hasn't been swept away from a Tsunami!!  i feel sorry for those in japan, don't mean to joke about a universal joint, but one has to think of these things.....

[MP]

Well, ALL of Japan was not wrecked!  Just a very tiny portion.

MP

[Old Geezer Richard]

  Hey TP , Jay has a damn good idea and a purfect example of good old fashion  " Yankee Engineering "    ...  Hey T P I was lucky and bought a complete swing arm off a 2001 Valk with the shaft all the guts , parts and u-joint in perfect condition ready to bolt in if need be for about $75.00  American money ....  I'll ask some of these drive shaft guru's around here and see what they think whats possible  .......  Keep up the good work TP on the reporting ... glad to hear you and Paul got home safe , ride safe .... Thanks the Geezer

[WynneBear]

Ouch!!!   How many miles did that one have?

[Disco]

Hey Mase,

Yours looks like mine did when it grenaded last year at Hotglue's.  22,537 miles. 

DFG

[WynneBear]

Wow I am just over 50K and no signs of problems.  I have read many guys getting tons of miles out of them.  I wonder what factors played into these grenading so early.

[olddog1946]

Duh,,,,,,,,jack rabbits , smoking the tires, general mayhem could have something to do with it...

[Willow]

Wow I am just over 50K and no signs of problems.  I have read many guys getting tons of miles out of them.  I wonder what factors played into these grenading so early.

Loose boot more than likely.

I have 157K on mine.

[valkmc]

I changed mine at 70,000, the old one seems fine so I put it on the shelf. I hope other parts don't become this hard to find.

[Rio Wil]

I purchased a used yolk off ebay.  It is at my machinist now.  We think we will be able to make the yolk serviceable with a standard u joint and rebuildable each and every time you need a new one.  We plan to get rid of the stakes and adapt it to accept spring clips.  No welding.  I will keep you posted on the results.

Rob

Price it right and I would buy one since I break parts some times 

I hope that if Honda ever gets around to making some more of these, they will use a little tougher steel and provide more support for the bearing cups.  This metal appears to be quite soft and take a look at the bearing cups, parts of the cup are unsupported.  I suspect that lack of support for full circumference of the cup is responsible for the demise of mine at about 100K miles.  I am sure enthusiastic riding had no bearing on the issue....

[Anthony]

just to stay in line with all that good news :

i got informed by a Honda Dealer that mother Honda already decided to stop production of the following components for our Valks :

Windscreen
Cilinder head
Camshaft (L,R)
Carburator Assy
valves
ignition locks
Fuel Tanks
Wire harnass
speedo & rpm gauge
Final Gear Assy
Fenders
Side covers
paint stripes
exhaust Tips
Chrome Side Covers, Fendertips & handgrips
Labels

on some parts there may still be some stock, on some apparently it already ran out.

nobody NEEDS a warning label, but a fender or tank can easily be damaged and hardly missed.

keep your parts or get them now, before its too late.

Anthony

[Disco]

I wonder what factors played into these grenading so early.

Loose boot more than likely.

That's what we found on mine.  Engine side.   

[Mildew]

Hopefully I have a good u joint and haven't put too much strain on it

[lucky_1_chris]

just to stay in line with all that good news :

i got informed by a Honda Dealer that mother Honda already decided to stop production of the following components for our Valks :

Windscreen
Cilinder head
Camshaft (L,R)
Carburator Assy
valves
ignition locks
Fuel Tanks
Wire harnass
speedo & rpm gauge
Final Gear Assy
Fenders
Side covers
paint stripes
exhaust Tips
Chrome Side Covers, Fendertips & handgrips
Labels

on some parts there may still be some stock, on some apparently it already ran out.

nobody NEEDS a warning label, but a fender or tank can easily be damaged and hardly missed.

keep your parts or get them now, before its too late.

Anthony

Hmmm... Can anyone verify this? Grips seem to be common to a lot of Hondas, so hopefully that dealer was wrong about other things, as well. No heads, valves, camshafts, CARBS, FINAL DRIVES, WIRING HARNESSES...? Let's hope this isn't the case...

[Mildew]

I called the place that used to have valk parts and he just laughed and said, "you won't find any and if you do, it will be top dollar on ebay or something." I guess I will ride her til she falls over then buy one of those 140 horse power Harleys.

[hubcapsc]

I hope that if Honda ever gets around to making some more of these, they will use a little tougher steel

My guess (I don't really know) is that all this stuff is engineered... if you had a really studly ujoint, when it comes
time for something to bust, it might be inside your motor...

-Mike

[Mildew]

How come no one talks about those crv car u joints. I heard they were the right size for $60

[Dougs2000IS]

A1 Driveshaft is located in Milwaukee, Wi. 1-800-242-7027
3453 N 35th st. Milwaukee, Wi. 53216
I have taken many u-joints/CV joints there.Yep a little bit pricey, but it will be correct when you get it back. That is where I will go when and if my u-joint goes. Oh here is there web address as well. http://a1driveshaft.com/locations.html

[John U.]

Thanks for that Doug. It's good to have alternatives, even if they are expensive. Hell, we're Valk owners, we laugh at expense. 

[SPOFF]

just to stay in line with all that good news :

i got informed by a Honda Dealer that mother Honda already decided to stop production of the following components for our Valks :

Windscreen
Cilinder head
Camshaft (L,R)
Carburator Assy
valves
ignition locks
Fuel Tanks
Wire harnass
speedo & rpm gauge
Final Gear Assy
Fenders
Side covers
paint stripes
exhaust Tips
Chrome Side Covers, Fendertips & handgrips
Labels

on some parts there may still be some stock, on some apparently it already ran out.

nobody NEEDS a warning label, but a fender or tank can easily be damaged and hardly missed.

keep your parts or get them now, before its too late.

Anthony

The final gear assembly could be a problem, since the splines are definately a poor design and prone to complete failure. I'm on my second and apparently final rear end. Valkyries are selling for good money these days. I wonder if it's time to bail and buy something that still has parts available--like a 50 year old Sportster 

[Mildew]

That's the thing with Harleys. Parts are still made. I had the same problem with the V65. I wanted to keep it but nobody had parts or wanted to work on it.