Moly 60 Paste

[Ron_S.]

What's the difference between Moly 60 PASTE and Moly 60 GREASE?  I have paste but think I should have grease.  I intend to use it on clutch splines-'86 R65.

[Bob_Roller]

I think the Moly 60 paste will work as well as grease in lubing the transmission splines .

[nhmaf]

I have never seen Moly60 grease - I didn't know/think that it existed (or could exist).  Moly 60 PASTE is a PASTE because it is mostly Molybdenum Disulfide material, and is basically 60% solids particles.   A grease would, IMHO, have to be a lower percentage solids (and higher percentage high viscosity liquid), though I don't know what the "boundary line" for differentiating between a paste and grease would be....  

I used to use straight MOLY60 paste, but it seems to dry up quickly.  While it can still leave a layer of Moly on the spline teeth to help reduce friction, I don't think it does much for corrosion protection when that happens.  So, now I mix 1 part MOLY60 paste and 1 part sticky/tacky quality grease for lubing splines.   If you like buying premixed/premade stuff in small expensive tubs, you can get a mixture of this from a company called GuardDog lubricants.

[Ron_S.]

Thanks.  Got it.  

[montmil]

There's a note on today's Airhead List from a guy who confesses he always said doing a spline lube was a waste of time. He now freely admits that his input splines are gone.

Confession is said to be good for the soul.

Maintaining input and final drive splines is good for the bank account.

Honk if you agree.

[tvrla]

The spline lube debate continues...

Some last, some don't, greased or not.

That's not to say it hurts greasing them, just don't apply more than necessary. What I mean, all that's needed is a very thin layer - it'll get squished out in use anyway. Also, too much will get flung off and possibly foul the clutch. So don't go there!

Another thing to consider is grease can attract grit, and we know there's enough in that environment. More is created all the time. So the grease on the splines can retain grit which then acts like grinding compound to wear away metal.

[darrylri]

I am just about to cross 600,000 miles on BMW twins and I have never lubed a spline for its own sake.  

My R80 had 92k miles from new when I sold it (stupid move).  

My R90S has 62k showing on the odo, 44k of that is mine.  

My '94 R1100RS (beta bike!) has 217k miles on it.  Admittedly, it has had several trannies, but not because of splines.  I put 110k on one, and the current one has 67k.  

My current R65 has 173k miles on it (but only the last 4k are mine).  However, if I believe the records that my friend gave me with the bike, the splines haven't been lubed in 100k.

I do have a tube of Honda Moly 60 paste, and that is what I put on trans splines when I assemble a bike, but then I don't worry about it again.  

Maybe I'll be posting here at some later date that the splines went away on some bike, but so far I have had a 30+ year career without trouble.

[darrylri]

Heck, if I'm going to piss off Murphy, why not go all the way?

So, just to hit up another maintenance topic, I've never changed the oil more frequently than the manual suggests: 5k intervals for the Airheads and 6k for the Oilheads.  Otherwise, just keep it topped up.