Driveline- something stripped

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Thud300
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Driveline- something stripped

Post by Thud300 »

Ouch...

Ok, so last night, get on the bike, start it, put it in gear and I don't hear the usual big clunk from neutral to first... didnt think much of it until later on my trip home, on a engine brake slight decel to make a turn, heard more clunks that were never heard before. Stopped to check, could rock the bike back and forth with a slight snap sound. Made it to my garage ok.

This morning, start up and go to first gear, again no clunk, then let the clutch out and something was grinding like a spline stripped, and the bike won't move.
:!!

Post mortem to come, I'm thinking final drive/rear wheel spline.... it was lubed when I put on a new tire.

Thought starters appreciated.

And wouldnt ya know, i finally found a lid for the left bag cover storage compartment.
Returning neglected Kawasakis to glory since 2014
1991 Voyager XII "Xaviera"
1998 Concours "Connimus Prime"
1989 454 LTD "Merlin"
cushman eagle
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Re: Driveline- something stripped

Post by cushman eagle »

How good did the splines look when you installed the wheel?
If they still had full spines on both hub and wheel,I would not think they would have failed :hmm:
That was a problem on the GS1100GK when I bought it,and the dealer I bought it from included the wheel hub with the bike. :thmup:
'99 Voyager VXII,'58 Cushman Eagle
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ekap1200
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Re: Driveline- something stripped

Post by ekap1200 »

Sorry to hear this, I read this was a poorly neglected bike when you purchased it. My only thought at this time is , it may have also been abused by the PO as well as neglected. And once warmed up, with the proper grade oil in the engine you should not always hear a loud clunk unless you quickly pull in the clutch and wack it down in gear. pull in the clutch and wait a few seconds for oil to get in-between the plates, also make sure your idle is not so high as to keep a hydraulic load to the clutch system. Good clean oil and good clean clutch fluid and you will not hear that loud of a noise in going from neutral into gear. Time to pick up some paint strainers and dump the engine oil and final drive thru them looking for metal. I would not start it up again as more serious damage may occur. I hope you don't find this to be engine related . Hope for a broken drive shaft or spider , something that won't cost a small fortune. Splines are fairly tough even when worn. What is the mileage ? If you find the spider ( U-JOINT ) to be busted up and it has a grease fitting style in place of an oem. Just spend the extra money and get the one Carl and I recommend , it is off a four wheeler and is a solid cross , not cross drilled and thinner in construction. Only other one I have seen with what your telling us I have found the front pinion chewed up. from ( hey ya'll , watch this back wheel spin ) , this is far to heavy a machine to pull hole shots with. It is always a gamble with used bikes and I hope your not paying for someones abuse.
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"Its not bad if you don't know something, but when you don't know you don't know; That's when your in trouble". Joe Place 1912-2008 (my grandfather)
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Thud300
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Re: Driveline- something stripped

Post by Thud300 »

Thanks. So far, i've only had time to get it on the center stand and get the rear wheel in the air. Putting the bike in gear, I can rotate the rear wheel and get a fairly rapid catch/release kind of thing when rotating the rear wheel maybe 45 degrees. Still feels like the spline between the final drive and rear wheel. Whatever it is, it'll be obvious when I find it. I'm also curious about the condition of the cush hub in the rear wheel.

Mileage on the bike is now about 104,000.
Returning neglected Kawasakis to glory since 2014
1991 Voyager XII "Xaviera"
1998 Concours "Connimus Prime"
1989 454 LTD "Merlin"
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Thud300
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1998 Kawasaki Concours
1989 Kawasaki 454 LTD
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Re: Driveline- something stripped

Post by Thud300 »

Ok, I finally had time to tear into the bike to find out what let go, and the culprit is...

...the driveshaft spline to the final drive. :shock:

Whatever grease was in it slung out decades ago... the thing was bone dry. Splines on the final drive pinion look like sawteeth, splines inside the driveshaft show obvious wear. So, out came the swingarm and off with the driveshaft, awaiting replacement parts.

When I put the rear tire on, there wasn't time for me to pull the final drive to inspect/grease this spline, because I was working at my employer on a Saturday and couldn't have the bike locked in the shop all weekend... probably wouldn't have made much difference anyway, these splines had to be mostly gone already.

The good news is, now a few other issues in the rearset can be addressed; humming wheel bearings, draggy rear brake, new rotor and pads are waiting. Clean, lube, fix, maintenance.

Grateful to have made it into my garage before it failed completely. Hey, I told Xaviera that if she took care of me I would take care of her. Guess she heard me.

Now, if I could just find my pocket screwdriver... the one that's been in my personal carry for years... can't find it anywhere. Maybe the pocket screwdriver fairy swiped it. :-?
Returning neglected Kawasakis to glory since 2014
1991 Voyager XII "Xaviera"
1998 Concours "Connimus Prime"
1989 454 LTD "Merlin"
cushman eagle
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Posts: 1983
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Current bike(s): '99 Kawasaki Voyager 1200
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Re: Driveline- something stripped

Post by cushman eagle »

Glad to hear you got the problem diagnosed :thmup: ,after she got you home before she failed :woohoo:
How is the front spline? :hmm:
'99 Voyager VXII,'58 Cushman Eagle
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Thud300
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Re: Driveline- something stripped

Post by Thud300 »

Front spline at the bevel gear was in good shape, no trouble removing the shaft from the bevel gear.
Returning neglected Kawasakis to glory since 2014
1991 Voyager XII "Xaviera"
1998 Concours "Connimus Prime"
1989 454 LTD "Merlin"
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ekap1200
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Re: Driveline- something stripped

Post by ekap1200 »

Hello from NJ, are those your pictures on facebook ?
"Its not bad if you don't know something, but when you don't know you don't know; That's when your in trouble". Joe Place 1912-2008 (my grandfather)
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ekap1200
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Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:54 pm
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Current bike(s): 2000 voyager end of year total. 108.634
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Re: Driveline- something stripped

Post by ekap1200 »

ekap1200 wrote:Hello from NJ, are those your pictures on facebook ?

Paul you need to post those pics here on the forum for the newbies to view.... :laughing:
"Its not bad if you don't know something, but when you don't know you don't know; That's when your in trouble". Joe Place 1912-2008 (my grandfather)
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