Rear Tire Replacement - What Else to do?

[yustr]

Now that the our beautiful PNW weather has begun its inevitable turn to dreariness, I will be pulling the rear wheel off to get a new tire. While its off the bike I plan to check the wheel bearing and at least drain and replace the shock oil. What else is worthwhile doing?

[cushman eagle]

Not knowing how long it has been,but with a little more work,you might consider pulling the drive shaft.that way you could check and possibly add a little grease to the u-joint,also grease both splines.
I do not know your capabilities,but with the right tooling,you can disassemble and regrease the u-joint.
The u-joint does not need much grease,or it will not go back together without blowing the seals out.

[cushman eagle]

I forgot to add ,change the final drive oil while you are at it.

[ekap1200]

Also , based on your skill level , open up the 1/32 ( 0.031 ) to 3/64 th's (0.047 ) vent hole in the final drive vent location.
If you have seen or smelled gear oil up around the gear shifter , then it is in your best interest to do that. You should if your that far apart and have quite a few miles and notice a dry spline on the shaft, order up and replace the two O-rings on the unit. Use water proof grease in the spline , as the boot on the front of the swing arm is not secured at the back of the boot and some gear oil that migrates into the swing arm travels up the drive shaft and drips out the back of the boot.
The U-joint is best tackled , by one that has done some automotive u-joint replacement and has experience in removing the clips on the cups. This u-joint is not the one you want to be doing as the first one you have ever done before.
What brand of tire were you going with ? And have you read the book on how to change out the shock oil ?
The progressive spring over oil shocks will give you a much improved ride if you able to warrant the cost of them new.
I would not recommend any high pressure washing around the main inner seal of the final drive , as it can lead to forcing debris/sand/road dirt and whatever is there into the seal and cause a leak there. Look at the spline in the rear wheel, it will tell ya if the bike has seen some hard life and full power pounding to the rear wheel. Age can wear it down as planned , but low millage / high wear shows a rough life.
Gene Kap

[yustr]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm not comfortable tackling the U-joint so will leave that to the pros if/when it becomes necessary (and worth the price).

I'm still researching the tires (will do the front too). I've run Metzeler ME's on other bikes - am wondering what's the forum's opinion?

I'm sure I can do the shock oil change and going with new shocks maybe in the future. (I noticed that Progressive has both pressurized and non-pressurized shocks for the XII. Are the pressurized worth twice the price.)

Kap - I'm not clear on what's involved in opening the vent holes? I'm not even sure where they are. (The manual doesn't seem to show them.) Is there some trick I should know about? Video available?

[cushman eagle]

If you are referring to the Progressive 416 as the pressurized shock,Then I do not like mine at all!
It is advertised as an air shock,but it has such a heavy spring in it that it only needs air for us when we are loaded down for a trip,and only 12 lbs then.
When we[Peg and I] are riding with no luggage,they are entirely too stiff.
I would much prefer the original shocks,if they would not have started leaking oil.

[Thud300]

With the rear wheel already out, its only 5 nuts to pull the final drive off. Before you pull it, make sure the 27mm fill plug isn't stuck. Make sure the splines inside the driveshaft and on the input side of the final drive are nice and square. (unlike what I found ) Use a high quality grease to lube both input and output splines. New o-rings on the input spline too, like ekap1200 said.

The vent is at 12 O'clock on the wheel side of the housing. It might make it's presence known if you set the final drive down on the output spline and wait a few minutes, that's how I found mine safe to say it works.

If you're pulling the driveshaft off, which means the swingarm is coming off, great opportunity to check, clean and lube the swingarm bearings. The seals pop out easy peasy.

[cushman eagle]

If you do decide to pull the driveshaft have a spare retaining pin on hand.I bought a couple spares before a greased mine the last time.
I was extremely careful,so I would not lose another one like I did the first time and
I had to dig into my spares

[ekap1200]

Bob, there is only need for one small vent hole to BE drilled out. It will be around the 12:00 position. There should be a small spot of weld puddle where it will go. Do not worry about chips, at .031 dia and being aluminum , it will not be an issue. Plus it is in an area that is baffled to the inside of the case.
As for tire's, Dunlop E-series are the most preferred as well as Avon's. But it is a user's choice and a most argued personal issue as to which brand , speed / load rating , and cost . For me and my money , I chose Avon's. There are far to many opinions here and on other forums , it is a personal choice . I don't use cost as a factor with only 2 tires under me, I want the best of the best.
Once you get the shocks off the rear, Look under the rubber bellows and look for any damage, scratch's or leaks.
Good luck finding a used drive line. If the seller has said it has been re-greased , have some one familiar with this to look it over carefully for any damage to the seals.
Inspect the splines for the final drive to the wheel spline. The final drive spline is much harder than the wheel metal and most wear will occur at the wheel.
Wheel bearings are the same as tire cost , cheep is cheep...... Don't cut yourself short , get good bearings , Kawasaki wheel bearings seem to outlive the other brands in my opinion. And when torquing up the rear wheel , 80 foot lbs is the max. if the cotter pin don't align . don't go past 80 , loosen up and torque to a slightly lower value. Most owners will not fill the rear up all the way with gear lube, It has a habit of weeping out into the swing arm and leaking where you would least expect it to. Again new O-rings and a liberal amount of water proof grease in the spline joint will hinder that condition.
If you have any amount of working with ring and pinions, you first observation will be that there is some play in the pinion shaft, this is normal as they do not have tapered bearing in the rear final drive , only the front drive has that. The rear is a modified needle bearing and a ball bearing.
Gene

[etheis]

My bike was down for a long while while I cried about ripping the oil filter and bolt out of the engine while loading the bike on a trailer (to have the tires replaced). Luckily, it turned out the manifold it bolts to is replacable.

Tires:
I've been riding 47+ years. I've never found better than Metzler (and found a lot that are worse, including ones lots of folks 'swear by').
I just installed these:
- F tire Metzler ME 888 Marathon Ultra 130/90B16 73H TL Reinforced
https://www.revzilla.com/cart $138.88
- R tire Metzler ME 888 Marathon Ultra 170/80 B 15 M/C 77H TL
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/met ... ltra-tires $148.88
I normally get ~10K out of a rear tire, and about 20K from a front. I use a bike pretty hard.

While it was down, I took care of a bunch of other issues (this might give you some ideas):
- New oil, filter 3.7 qts Shell T4 Rotellea 15/40
- Replaced R two ex header gaskets (pipes removed for fixes)
- Research, buy, install LED replacement headlight.
- Replace drive shaft with junkyard part, grease sliding joint. U-joint still stiff on one axis but not as much: Problem solved!
- Kaw: Checked again: 28-30 mph 'grinding' feel is gone.
- Grease, retorque swingarm bearings, polish up bushings some, grease
- Check rear wheel bearings: Seem perfectly fine
- Check rear brakes: down to ~50%
- Check/replace front brakes. At 80% wear, very uneven. 09/17/17
- Checked final drive oil: ok

* After putting everything back together, the rear brakes were so tight I almost can't turn the wheel by hand. But I hadn't changed the shoes.
- Clean/grease Kaw rear caliper shafts/holes. Clean with alcohol. Grease with brake grease. Clean up, clean around piston, cycle piston.
Assemble: seems okay. 10/4/18
- Rode, checked rear brake: marginally too hot - definitely dragging.
- Rebuilt Kaw rear master cylinder, rear caliper, bleed; test ride; adjust gear shift position; test ride to work and back: rotor hot but not excessive. Wheel turns by hand with normal drag - definitely better. Pump them up hard, then release: wheel turns by hand with normal drag.
So bypass in master cylinder is working now.

- Kaw: recheck coolant level (filled before test ride - but I had disconnected the radiator while fixing the oil pump manifold)>
- Install Rivco air horns (see separate post)
- Completely clean up/rewire feeds from + battery terminal.
- unbend R side engine guard
- Seal down decorative caps on swingarm pivot, handlebar joint caps that tend to go missing (get stolen)

10/24?/18 Had to push start in AM; also PM
10/28/18 Sat Battery on trickle charger 3 days, Plus rode to work/back 2 days.
On trickle charger: ~13.9V Disconnected: quickly diminished to ~12.9V
Hit starter: Immediately dropped to ~10V, would not turn motor over.
Fired up, measured @~1200 RPM across battery: 14.98V.
11/02/18 - Install new (same) battery: Yuasa 12V 21 Ah (10HR) VRLA YTX24HL-BS (M6250H) 22.1Ah(20HR/350A(CCA)
The first one lasted ~2.5 years.
- Re-rivet exhaust pipe extender (rivets loose = rattling)
- Fix/lube Kaw signal canceller. 3/16/13
open, lube turn signal switch: broke choke lever at cable connection. Ordered replacement, installed.
- Discovered both saddlebag mount bracket bolts were loose/very loose: tightened.
- Break out, hook up smart charger. 11/08/18

[cushman eagle]

It sounds like you have done pretty much everything you should have and in the process are getting to know the bike on a first name basis