Servicing u-joint

Hello all,

Well, it's getting close to riding season here in northern IL, and I want to catch up on some NT maintenance. I've found a comment on a review of the NT700, where an owner advises removing and greasing the u-joint splines. Check out the link below and search the webpage for "Pedro":

http://ridermagazine.com/2010/03/01/2010-honda-nt700v-abs-road-test/

Has anybody here actually went to the trouble of preforming this service, and was it worth the effort? My 2010 now has 12k miles on it, and last year the driveline did seem a little clunky. My local dealer put on new tires about 3k miles ago, and they greased the splines at the wheel, and I have done final drive fluid changes every other oil change.

Thanks in advance for your input.
Brad

I have 55k my NT and have never greased the driveshaft splines. That is something that had to be done annually without fail to BMWs of a certain era but it was never a requirement for Honda motorcycles. If you failed to do it on BMWs, it ate up the splines and it's such a common occurrence that I've seen ads for specialty shops that can cut off the old spines and weld a new spline in its place!

Oh...the transmission on the NT is loud and clunky but that doesn't mean it has a problem.

i have 134,000 and not taken apart the driveshaft or u joint yet. on my Honda pc800 had to replace u joint at 163,000 miles

[..on my Honda pc800 had to replace u joint at 163,000 miles...]


Did you complain to the factory about premature failure?

Has the site changed motorcycles? I remember always seeing grease the splines whenever rear tire is changed. While we do not have so-so splines like the BMW's it still is a wise maintenance step to grease them with Honda Moly-cote. I believe it is in the manual to do so. Perhaps it is winter slumber. Or in Texas 2" hail on the head.

[I remember always seeing grease the splines whenever rear tire is changed...]

The area they're talking about is ahead of the driveshaft U-joint. The area on the NT's final drive that requires Moly 60 are the driven flanges on the wheel.

I should probably clarify my post. The item I'm referring to is the u-joint, located in the boot between the trans output stub shaft and the front of the swingarm. Go back to the web link in my first post, Pedro explains how to remove the u-joint through the gap between the front of the swingarm and the trans output stub, once the boot is removed from the gap. Of course, to do this one would have already removed the final drive housing and driveshaft from the swingarm.

I'll probably wait to do this until the next new tire. On another note, the Honda Moly 60 has been replaced with a new part called M-77. My local dealer had it in stock, so I picked it up on my last visit. The new part# is 08798-9010.

Brad