Spline Lube Ahoy!

[Semper Gumby]

Spent a goodly part of the day dong the Spline Lube and the Thowout Bearing Service.  On assembly found the RH swingairm bearing contaminated with water and not rolling properly.  Hopefully BMW of Atlanta has the part and I finish the job tomorrow.

BTW - I'm also replacing the fuel hoses and the new 1/4 inch stuff from Autozone has a blue liner on the inside now.  Stuff was expensive and is made by Goodyear in the EU.  So now I'm looking for light blue particles in my float bowls.  I wonder how long this stuff will last.  I hate ethanol...    ...but I didn't like the idea of MBTE in the ground water supply either.  They have gotten rid of the MBTE right?

TTFN,

[Justin B.]

If something is relatively cheap, and works, it's eventually outlawed instead of used carefully.  So yeah, MTBE is probably extinct by now, at least in populated areas...

You should be able to get a bearing from pretty much any local bearing supply.  The number is on the bearing and locally, here, they are between $20 and 25.

The translucent blue Bing alchohol resistant polyurethane line I got was $1.35/ft...

[Bob_Roller]

A day well spent !!!

Just curious, what lube did you use on the splines ?

I spent the better part of the day cleaning up the R65, been way too long since a sincere effort has been made to make it look presentable .

Had that 'road warrior' look to it !!!

[Bengt_Phorqs]

Gumby, by chance did you take any photos of the spline lube?  I started out just planning on replacing my driveshaft rubber boot but now that I'm this far along I think I ought to tackle that job as well.

[nhmaf]

I will try to finish up my first draft article for the wiki on 'replacing your clutch and spline lube' and get the pics organized in the next couple days. IF a bit over 1/2 done right now, and ahven't had a chance to finish lately.
It may not be on the wiki right away but if you PM me with your email address I can WinZIP them up and send to you if you like.

[Justin B.]

Mike,

It would be nice, I guess, to point out during your procedure which steps can be skipped if one is inclined to do the "lazy-man's spline lube" procedure.  I have done it both ways but I know there are some here that adamantly oppose even the thought of doing it that way!

I'm kinda from the camp whereby it's good to pull, clean, inspect, grease a new bike and thereafter you can probably get away with doing it the "lazy" way...

[nhmaf]

I will try to do that - hopefully I can organize my pics and words in a suitable fashion..

[Semper Gumby]

Finished this afternoon.  Found the bearing from a local supply house.  SKF 30203 J2 40X17X13.25 for $19 which was a deal as the local BMW place wanted $65.  

I use Honda Moly 60 on the spline and on the Throwout bearing.  No more chirping from the Throwout bearing going into gear.

I used the shorter 1981-on stretch bolts this time around.  Much easier to get into place.  Replaced the boot as well (the old one leaked).  Normal colored oils drained out of the final drive, drive shaft and tranny.  Replaced with 85W140 in my favorite blue bottle from Autozone for summer action.  It has been so cool that I delayed this change one month for the warmer weather to arrived.  Love this global warming....

To get the swing arm off disconnected the Rh shock at the top and the left hand shock at the bottom.  I've also gotten in the habit of removing the clutch actuating arm off the back of the tranny.  Makes the thing easier out and in.

I actually had no trouble getting the new boot in place.  Usually this cause me an hour of frustration.  I had that part done in about 5 minutes.  Why I don't have a clue.

One of the carbs was pulling early so I balanced the carbs.  I need to reset the idle mixtures and do the valve adjustment.  That comes next week.

No leaks so far.  Sorry Ed - no photos.  When I announce these things you are welcome to come over and spectate (bring beer).  8-)

Good for another 15,000 miles (Or the chirping returns)

TTFN,

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Moly grease on the throw-out bearing?  Hmmm... not too sure about that.

I used to put axle grease on mine, but just a couple of years ago I learned that gear lube is the appropriate lubricant here.

[nhmaf]

You'll *probably* be OK in that eventually you'll get some gear oil back in there, but with small, rotating parts like ball bearings, gear oil (or even high temp wheel bearing grease) is better.  The sticky Moly grease is mainly for corrosion protection and reducing sliding friction in pressure/shear situations, like splines and pulley shafts, etc.

I think that the older style, radial rollerbearings used in the pre-81 versions did much better with gear oil than any grease, due to the tendency for the rollers to push anything as thick as grease into "clumps", whereas the captive ball bearings don't have as much of a "wiping effect" compared to the radially arranged rollers.