stretch spline maintenance???????

[CASABROKER]

I have about 10 k since last spline maintenance.  My darkside tire still has maybe 3 to 5 k left.  Hate to do all the work  until tire is gone.  I live in Ca dry weather etc.  Any thoughts
Thanks,

[garyheskett All 49 x 3 st.louis]

I hate to admit this, but.....before I joined "the board" a couple of years ago, I changed the rear tire numerous times. I would just take off the wheel, cram in some more grease, and put it back together. I never changed the o-rings, didn't even have a thrust washer, never loosened the "four bolts", etc.  I had my first car tire on with almost 30,000 miles on it (and no maintenance while car tire was on). Then I learned of the board and the next time did it all the right way.  I even took the wheel up to the firehouse and washed out the old grease. Everything looked great (the splines).  Now I do it the right way every time. I did put a lot of grease in (Wal-Mart boat and trailer grease) when I did it the wrong way. So, I went almost 30,000 miles (with a lot of grease) and everything was ok.  Now, I'm on my third car tire and have used Bel-Ray grease the last couple of times. I now do the maintenance about 10,000 to 15,000 miles. I will say the boat and trailer grease seemed to last better than the Bel-Ray grease. The splines still look great with 138,000 miles and I at least feel much better knowing I'm doing it the right way now.  I think the most important thing is having grease in there.

[matt]

I say do the maint or have parts needed on hand pinion ect

[Patrick]

I have about 10 k since last spline maintenance.  My darkside tire still has maybe 3 to 5 k left.  Hate to do all the work  until tire is gone.  I live in Ca dry weather etc.  Any thoughts
Thanks,

How have the splines [ and everything else] looked during the last maintenance sessions ?  That should give some indication of what happens in the future.
If the previous 10K work always looked fine, then, I would think you'd be good to go. If they looked 'iffy' [ technical term] then I think I'd pull it apart now.

[98valk]

I have about 10 k since last spline maintenance.  My darkside tire still has maybe 3 to 5 k left.  Hate to do all the work  until tire is gone.  I live in Ca dry weather etc.  Any thoughts
Thanks,

if u used the recommended honda moly 60 PASTE or TS-70 moly PASTE which I use, u will be ok until tire change.
final drive splines, maintenance should be done IAW honda service bulletin 97991-MAH-305 was issued for the GL1500 GWs

[Chrisj CMA]

I have about 10 k since last spline maintenance.  My darkside tire still has maybe 3 to 5 k left.  Hate to do all the work  until tire is gone.  I live in Ca dry weather etc.  Any thoughts
Thanks,

It all depends on how you did the job 10K miles ago.  If you used minimal grease and maybe not a good grease, then your pushing your luck.  If you did it right with a good waterproof high pressure grease, good O-rings etc.  Then let it ride until the tire wears out, I help a guy that just went 27K miles because that's how long his Cobra went.  We did his right and the splines looked great after 27K miles.

[pais]

Sooooo glad I decided to do proper spline maint. See the article titled elusive 3rd o-ring. I bought my set of tires  and they showed up last Thurs. 9/11. I was thinking about taking bike and wheels to local dealer. Let them do it, but did not want to spend money. As well as I like doing it myself and knowing it's done right.
   Well, got the rear wheel off Sat. and found dry splines, ouch! Fortunately they are not in bad shape at all. Peeled off 2 O-rings, come to find, thee elusive 3rd one is/was not their. Everything is cleaned and I am waiting on delivery of said O-rings.  Also, good luck finding MDP anywhere! Had to order that also!

[The emperor has no clothes]

Sooooo glad I decided to do proper spline maint. See the article titled elusive 3rd o-ring. I bought my set of tires  and they showed up last Thurs. 9/11. I was thinking about taking bike and wheels to local dealer. Let them do it, but did not want to spend money. As well as I like doing it myself and knowing it's done right.
   Well, got the rear wheel off Sat. and found dry splines, ouch! Fortunately they are not in bad shape at all. Peeled off 2 O-rings, come to find, thee elusive 3rd one is/was not their. Everything is cleaned and I am waiting on delivery of said O-rings.  Also, good luck finding MDP anywhere! Had to order that also!

Most honda dealers should have the small tube of it for about $11.

[Chrisj CMA]

Sooooo glad I decided to do proper spline maint. See the article titled elusive 3rd o-ring. I bought my set of tires  and they showed up last Thurs. 9/11. I was thinking about taking bike and wheels to local dealer. Let them do it, but did not want to spend money. As well as I like doing it myself and knowing it's done right.
   Well, got the rear wheel off Sat. and found dry splines, ouch! Fortunately they are not in bad shape at all. Peeled off 2 O-rings, come to find, thee elusive 3rd one is/was not their. Everything is cleaned and I am waiting on delivery of said O-rings.  Also, good luck finding MDP anywhere! Had to order that also!

Make sure you put it back together in the correct sequence with the shock NOT on the final drive.  To do otherwise is to sentence your splines to an early death

[CASABROKER]

The last maintenance the splines looked good it was my first since buying the bike.  I did it by the book new o ring thrust washer, honda moly lube plus the drive.  Hope fully alls good for a few more K..

[Hobo Joe]

Hey ChrisJ, why remove the shock? Rear tire removal as per Honda MX manual does not indicate removing the shock. I'm just curious what insight your experience has.
Cheers,
Hobo Joe

[Chrisj CMA]

Hey ChrisJ, why remove the shock? Rear tire removal as per Honda MX manual does not indicate removing the shock. I'm just curious what insight your experience has.
Cheers,
Hobo Joe

Well sure, rear wheel removal, no need to remove the shock to remove the wheel.......Im talking about putting it back on properly

You have to remove the shock to remove the drive.  If alignment of the drive is achieved by torqueing the axle (which it is) then anything that impedes free movement of the drive as it squares up to the wheel should be eliminated.  So why put that shock on then try to align the drive.....just doesn't make much sense.

[hubcapsc]

Hey ChrisJ, why remove the shock? Rear tire removal as per Honda MX manual does not indicate removing the shock. I'm just curious what insight your experience has.
Cheers,
Hobo Joe

There's a bunch of ways to get the wheel off.

The Honda manual wants you to take the pipes off...

Then, there's the loosen-the-pipes-and-stick-in-a-wedge method...

There's several variations on the remove-the-shocks method...

I remove the shocks, and the rear fender section, barely jack the wheel off
the ground, and sink and raise the shockless bike on the jack to
manipulate the axle and the get the drive shaft back in the
universal joint.

The way that gets the bike back together right and suits you is
the best way 

-Mike

[pais]

IMG_1705 (600x800).jpg
  Here is the reason I wanted to do my own rear tire change! Topping it off, when I took the tire and rim to the dealer for the switch. They swabbed a gob of grease on this mess!
   Bike is still on the lift waiting on O-rings to show up. I could not find MDP anywhere, and I mean anywhere. Had to order that from Am#*^n.

[pais]

Well, here is my spline after removing my rear tire for the 1st time, since buying the Valk Labor Day weekend 2014. Glad I decided to do it myself. Rather than letting the dealer do it.
  Tire removal went well. Waiting on O-rings to show up so I can re-assemble. Gonna do the front wheel Monday after work. Hope it's as easy as the front.

[pais]

   Hub splines. Almost forgot to mention. Not sure if you can tell in the pic, but there was NO elusive 3rd O-ring to be found! Wonder if that's why the splines are in the condition they are in? As far as wear goes they don't look too bad. I've since cleaned them up and they don't look bad at all!

[westnek]

Hey ChrisJ, why remove the shock? Rear tire removal as per Honda MX manual does not indicate removing the shock. I'm just curious what insight your experience has.
Cheers,
Hobo Joe

There's a bunch of ways to get the wheel off.

The Honda manual wants you to take the pipes off...

Then, there's the loosen-the-pipes-and-stick-in-a-wedge method...

There's several variations on the remove-the-shocks method...

I remove the shocks, and the rear fender section, barely jack the wheel off
the ground, and sink and raise the shockless bike on the jack to
manipulate the axle and the get the drive shaft back in the
universal joint.

The way that gets the bike back together right and suits you is
the best way 

-Mike
               

mike  id  like a step by step ,the method you use in removing back fender piece and  just where you position everything to get the rear wheel off e.g. shocks  ,height  you lift bike  etc etc  or ,,any tips a guy may need for first time self removal  -thanks to a great bunch in here  west

[Gryphon Rider]

Without removing the back fender piece:

Rear Wheel Removal

[hubcapsc]

This step-by-step includes removing the shocks and raising
and lowering the bike... The fender is just three bolts, and
a wiring block when it comes apart.

http://www.valkyrieriders.com/shoptalk/TireChangeSplineLube.htm

-Mike