Picked up a well used 05 not long ago and I am going through it making sure everything is in order. I decided to check/ lube splines with the magic moly snake oil. When I removed the pumpkin the shaft stayed engaged and only the pumpkin came out. No problem I removed the shaft and reversed the process when installed. I guess my question is to reinstall I had to put the shaft in first and then "attach" the pumpkin. Is that right? The shaft seems to have a stopping point and wouldn't go any farther which allowed me to line up the pumpkin no problem. Seems like the sealed system is just held together with a few bolts. Really not bad at all and the splines were completely dry for sure but looked in great shape. Thoughts? Input?
Somebody who has actually taken the shaft out of the pumpkin can likely tell you better, and I'm not sure if Gen1 was different... shaft shouldn't come out easily, check for missing circlip perhaps. But with some effort I believe that's how you remove the shaft from the pumpkin. No biggie, put it back together as you did and it will be OK.
There is a spring in the pumpkin that pushes the shaft forward at all times to ensure full engagement up at the u-joint regardless of swingarm travel, so no wear from a fore-aft motion. Everybody likes moly, but you don't have to use it on the splines if you don't want to, you can use a good lithium based grease.
Thanks. This is my first shaft drive motorcycle so nothing to compare it to. I see the gear and spring which supports the shaft and it appears to look fine from what I can tell. I guess it just seemed too easy to remove and reinstall. I have not taken it for a spin yet but the wheel turns nicely now that it's back on.
I've removed the pumpkin on my "05" three times and the shaft always came out with the pumpkin. I suspect the shaft is held by a keeper and that yours is missing or damaged. Need to check my shop manual later tonight to verify.
Re: Seals and Circlips.
Not sure if I know how to attach a photo here, but tomorrow I can scan and email you a parts explosion of that assembly from my "04-05" service manual if you think that would help. Let me know.
Rusty
I have removed the splined shaft to replace an ever-so-slightly weeping seal and it was a pure tee bee-atch getting that thing out. If yours comes apart as you describe IMHO something is wrong. Sounds like the circlip (snap ring, #36 below) is missing. I'd thoroughly inspect the seal and be ordering parts pronto.
The only thing that keeps the drive shaft in the coupler is the oil seal. The circlip just keeps the seal in place. According to the service manual, it is supposed to be driven in to the coupler to a certain depth with a special tool. If it goes in real easy, then I agree with Russ that it should be replaced.
I've had a couple that came out fairly easily and one that was like Russ's and really had to be yanked out. I never had a leak with any of them reusing the seal but it is something to watch out for.
Since the forward end of the drive shaft is pressed against the u-joint by the spring inside the coupler, the only place where there is back and forth movement is inside the coupler. I believe there is a small weep hole that allows gear oil in that area to lubricate it. The seal keeps the oil inside the coupler.
The only thing that keeps the drive shaft in the coupler is the oil seal. The circlip just keeps the seal in place. According to the service manual, it is supposed to be driven in to the coupler to a certain depth with a special tool. If it goes in real easy, then I agree with Russ that it should be replaced.
To help me better understand the above quote, are any special tools required for the re-assembly of the drive shaft system? Or is he referring to the seal retainer on the shaft itself? It's been my understanding that it should all just go back together at the coupling with some light force possibly required.
Just doing a little homework here in anticipation of eventually treating the splines on my own bike. Thank you.
I'll be taking a look at my splines here in a few days. I did them about 25,000 miles ago. Since none of you hooligans bought my bike I decided to give it a minor refresh. The splines will follow installation of the new OE shock. I cleaned and lubed the rear suspension linkage and it looked very good after 25K since I last lubed it. I use a mixture of Wurth SIG 3000 grease and a moly. The Wurth is the stickiest stuff known to mankind and is a high pressure and water proof grease. I add about 20% moly just because. The mixture seems to have a very long life.
Doing the initial phase of the refresh on the floor because I do not want to tie-up the lift.
If you lube the u-joint and forward driveshaft spline with moly grease, there's no reason it won't last you a couple of years. After that, just do driveshaft splines down the road at your next convenient interval. Same with your suspension pivots, it seems they need that initial "more generous than Yamaha did", and it lasts. Sticky stuff like Wurth's sounds the bomb.
Just finished the splines and u-joint. The mixture I put on 25k ago was still doing it’s job; well lubed and rust free. I had some surface rust on the drive shaft. There is nothing consequential about such corrosion, but I knocked it down with steel wool and coated it with ACF 50.
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