Wonder what my drive shaft looks like

[Mildew]

I never had it out or even looked at it. I heard it does more harm to keep checking it because of the lining up of the gears and o rings but its driving me crazy not knowing. I run a car tire and I'm not a nympho on checking everything but my splines were rusty last time I checked. They cleaned up good and look new but I was wondering if anyone ever went 70k without checking the shaft.

[Daniel Meyer]

Probably should give it a look. Does no harm as long as you put her together right! I check mine every 10,000 since I have the wheel off anyway.

[Mildew]

Putting it together right is what I'm afraid oid. It seems every time I mess with something, I have bigger problems than I had before I checked.

[registbass]

i went 85000 miles without checkin the shaft ! then i bought a new one because i felt some "flutter " in the drive line and thinking i had bad ujoints i investigated only to find i was a victim of red dust disease that i learned about on here too late ! so , NO, i wouldnt check it . but you should .

[alph]

last year my driveshaft went to hell.  it wore out my pinion cup and because of the extra play in the line ruined my universal joint.  there isn't much to replacing the whole thing, the hardest part ( i think) is getting the boot back on over the universal joint!!  personally, i don't see what there is to "misalign"?  the gears are only going to go together one way, you can't possibly put the "wrong" end in!! 

if i were you, i'd check it now while the weather is still a bit cold, that way you won't lose riding time waiting six months for a universal shaft like i had to!!  thankfully i knew someone that had a spare joint and he loned it to me until my new one came in.  saved my summer!!

[fudgie]

The more you do it the easier it will get for ya. I was nervous doing mine but its simple now. Better in the garage then along side of the road.

[Daniel Meyer]

Putting it together right is what I'm afraid oid. It seems every time I mess with something, I have bigger problems than I had before I checked.

Come to Inzane. It's one of the tech sessions. We don't just talk about it, we rip my bike half in-two.

I'll show you.

[Mildew]

priciate it y'all.
I'll digg into it this weekend hopefully

[Mildew]

Well I finally inspected my drive shaft after 14 years of neglect and 70I took this pic when  it first came out still looks new

[Daniel Meyer]

Kewl. Clean out the crud that accumulates in the end of it and put 'er back!

[Mildew]

Kewl. Clean out the crud that accumulates in the end of it and put 'er back!

That's what I did. It had the red clay stuff on the end. I wiped it off and added some black Moly grease to it. I'll be checking it all every 10k from now on

[Gangman036]

I don't have a problem taking rear tire off, and the whole pumpkin for that matter..........but I cannot get the drive shaft out of the pumpkin. Is there a trick to it beside persistence?

Ride Safe!!

[fudgie]

I don't have a problem taking rear tire off, and the whole pumpkin for that matter..........but I cannot get the drive shaft out of the pumpkin. Is there a trick to it beside persistence?

Ride Safe!!

Just give it a good yank. Try pushing it in and then pull hard. Took a few pulls for me but got it. Since then it comes out easier.

[Mildew]

This might not fly with the moderators but it was twice as hard getting it in as opposed to taking it out

[Hoser]

If you put the bike in gear and and get the swing arm level, it slips in a lot easier.    Hoser

[Mildew]

Thanks for the tip.   next time

[Mildew]

I'm not doing cartwheels over how everything looked. I let some things get dry before

[Daniel Meyer]

I'm not doing cartwheels over how everything looked. I let some things get dry before

Tighten the 4 nuts that hold the pumpkin to the swing arm last...*after* the axle has been torqued. Not doing that is the majority cause of this kind of wear (can also be bad wheel bearings, particularly the left)

[Mildew]

Thanks. I used to never loosen those bolts in the past. I just didn't know any better

[olddog1946]

take the time to check...I had mine apart less than 2k ago and all looked really good..I checked the wheel bearings and all seemed ok there as well. Then I had the left bearing go out on me last sunday and now my splines are showing wear..can't believe how fast that happened..
My wheel bearing must have been going belly up for awhile to cause the wear I saw..
Now I am looking for a final drive that is toast to rebuild for when mine goes out.

[Mildew]

Should I replace my bearings because they are the originals or is it possible for these things to go another 10 years

[Daniel Meyer]

I just check them every 10k when I pull the wheel. Stick the axle into the bearing you want to check (only into the bearing, not further), put a little pressure on it and turn it. If the bearings are failing you will feel roughness.

They give plenty of warning usually. If the test/feel good they'll generally last another 10k.

[Mildew]

Thanks