U-Joint wear...

[Kylenav]

Is it typical for the splines inside the u-joint on both the output shaft and the drive shaft sides to wear "lopsided"?  If I run my finger on one half of the splines there is a significant amount to catch my finger, on the other half the splines are worn nearly smooth.  I realize this is not normal, but is it something that people have seen before?  What would cause this? 

The splines on the drive shaft and the output shaft are like new and the new u-joint made a significant improvement on the bike.  Never knew how smooth the FAT lady should be!

I would just like to know if there is a larger issue at hand here.  2001 Standard with 58K.  Thanks in advance!

[F6BANGER]

got any pics?

[Ricky-D]

The drive line on the Valkyrie is designed to be in-line when on the road under normal circumstances and loading. See the load rating for the bike.

When the drive line sees abnormal alignment as a constant condition, what you find in the splines of the u-joint can certainly be the result.

This happens because of the limitations of the single u-joint design. Honda tries to compensate for this with the pinion end of the drive shaft and the pinion cup. (see the looseness of the assembly)

A better system would have been a CV joint like FWD cars but for whatever reasons Honda chose not to do it that way.

The hope would be that the wear would be restricted to the u-joint and not the output shaft of the motor.

***

[RonW]

Is it typical for the splines inside the u-joint on both the output shaft and the drive shaft sides to wear "lopsided"?

it might be. The output shaft end of the U-joint doesn't change angles while it's rotating. But the other end does constantly with every new angle of the rear wheel. Not talking about the yoke in the middle. If you were to be reincarnated into a u-joint which half of a u-joint would you rather be. Just trying to be humourous.

[Kylenav]

I will try to capture this with some pictures.  Loading restrictions since I have owned it, for a year and 14K miles, have never been exceeded.

The shaft's on both sides are in like new condition which I'm happy with.  I had the old one out and new one in, in less than an hour.  So if I have to do that and spend $75 every 50K miles or so that's fine.  Just thought I'd ask and make sure this isn't so unheard of that I should be worried.

Thanks for the input!