Spline Restoration: any experience?? (Merged)

[Joecubana]

Ok gang,

I thought I would probably need some spline work when I got the K75. I couldn't sleep so I got up at 5:00 and went to the garage to do the ube.

Everything went pretty well (thanks to Paul Galves for his article in this months ON), (and except when I smashed my thumb between the swingarm and the breaker bar...different story!) but when I got the drive of I saw that there wasn't any point in lubing the splines but it would be better to get them fixed now.

I don't want to spend the $712 for a new final drive, and my research finds two different methods available to restore the splines.

The first biulds up new material and then re-machines the splines (this from Hansens MC in Oregon) and the other cuts off the old spline and welds on a new one (Bruno's in Canada).

Has anyone had any experience with either of these, or have any other options they's used? Any help would be appreciated.

JC :brow

[GSTom]

Ok gang,



Has anyone had any experience with either of these, or have any other options they's used? Any help would be appreciated.

JC :brow

I had extreme wear on my rear splines on my '88K100. I was able to find a good, low mileage final drive, driveshaft, and swingarm complete from a wrecked bike for under $300. That worked for me. I found it by posting a "Parts Wanted" ad on the IBMWR Marketplace.

[Bobmws]

I had my 89 K100RS rebuilt by Hansens. Top quality work, I'd use them again. :thumb

[deilenberger]

Ok gang,

I thought I would probably need some spline work when I got the K75. I couldn't sleep so I got up at 5:00 and went to the garage to do the ube.

Everything went pretty well (thanks to Paul Galves for his article in this months ON), (and except when I smashed my thumb between the swingarm and the breaker bar...different story!) but when I got the drive of I saw that there wasn't any point in lubing the splines but it would be better to get them fixed now.

I don't want to spend the $712 for a new final drive, and my research finds two different methods available to restore the splines.

The first biulds up new material and then re-machines the splines (this from Hansens MC in Oregon) and the other cuts off the old spline and welds on a new one (Bruno's in Canada).

Has anyone had any experience with either of these, or have any other options they's used? Any help would be appreciated.

JC :brow

No personal experience, but I know people who have been pleased with both vendors who rebuild the splines. Both have upsides (or downsides if you happen to think that way):

1. Hansens supplies the rebuilt rear-drive spline with a brand new driveshaft. This has the advantage of having a brand new universal joint in it, and the U joints can and will wear, and there is some suspicion that the wear may make the rear spline wear faster.

2. Brunos makes a longer female spline section on the driveshaft and adds a plug at the back end of the hole - so grease is contained in the splines and doesn't go down the shaft. He does not redo or replace the U joint - the U joint you sent him is the one you'll get back.

If it was me - I'd take Hansens, and then push a rubber stopper down the female spline hole to keep the grease in. Best of both worlds and I'd have e brand new U joint on the driveshaft.

Prices AFAIK are comparable and I don't think you'll go bad with either one of them.

<b>BTW</b> - it is a good message to get to the monolever K bike owners - LUBE those splines at a minimum of every other tire change. If you use the Anton technique (see the IBMWR K-tech pages) - it only adds a few minutes to the job. A set of ball-end allen wrenches make it much easier to do. I would strongly recommend using Honda Moly-60 for this application. There are people with over 130k miles on a driveshaft/rear-drive who have used the Honda Moly.

Best,

[byker]

I had my final drive splines rebuilt by Brunos in Kitchener Ontario. At the same time a new female end was replaced on the drive shaft along witha new universal joint. As I live only an hour east of Kitchener, I made the trip to see Bruno and examine his shop. He is a one man operation and does very fine work. Bruno recommends that a new universal joint is installed at the time of the shaft/final drive rebuild. I had the work done last year prior to the riding season. With a little over 16,000miles on the new parts, everthing is working just fine. My ride is an 87 K100rs. Cost in Canadian dollars for the final drive splines, new female end on drive shaft and new universsal joint was 450.00. In my opinion, you cant do better in terms of price unles you find all new parts that someone is giving away.

[Joecubana]

Thanks Guys,

After reviewing and talking I am sending it to Bruno's. His turnaround is quicker and I am HOPING for some clear roads before MArch!

FYI Don, Bruno now replaces the u-joint (also, snuck in a few miles for the Rounders list today).

Joe

[deilenberger]

Thanks Guys,

After reviewing and talking I am sending it to Bruno's. His turnaround is quicker and I am HOPING for some clear roads before MArch!

FYI Don, Bruno now replaces the u-joint (also, snuck in a few miles for the Rounders list today).

Joe

Joe - great to hear that Bruno now replaces the u-joint.

Let us know how it turns out please!

[Joecubana]

Don,
Bruno called and said my final is on the way. Should be here next Wedsnesday. Will let you know how it turned out.

Joe

[deilenberger]

Don,
Bruno called and said my final is on the way. Should be here next Wedsnesday. Will let you know how it turned out.

Joe

Joe - great. If you have a digi-cam - some photos would be nice to see, both of the repaired splines and the rebuilt U joint.

Best,

[Joecubana]

It's back!

I received my repaired final drive back from Bruno's yesterday. I sent it January and it arrived January 24. Not bad turnaround considering it was in transit for 9 days! (isn't customs great?)

Bruno got id of my bad splines and welded on a new section; dismantled, inspected the final drive and lubed the bearings. Installed a new u-joint, installed a grease cup in the driveshaft; and added an extended spline section to the drive shaft.

The work looks great and I can't wait to get it back on! Here's what it looks like now. Before it looked just like the pictures in Paul Glaves article on page 25 of the January ON.

Anyone needing any spline work I give a big thumbs up to Bruno's :thumb

JC

[41107]

Joe - great. If you have a digi-cam - some photos would be nice to see, both of the repaired splines and the rebuilt U joint.

Best,
so much talk about wear and low brinnel/rockwell in the driveline.no matter how hard the metal without proper lubrication on the splines the will not last.the junk that bmw recommends and uses for lube on the splines is more to blame then anything else.Why does hondas moly work so well?? hallo! bmw.
I have also used heavy duty high temp. moly wheelbearing grease and seen better results then with that bmw junk. :doh

[Motorman]

I'd suspect that the moly lube from Honda works as well as the moly lube from BMW but is likely to be cheaper. I like BMW bikes (on my 3rd now) but I don't like the premium prices they charge even for regular consumption items. :cry Buying Honda lube wouldn't bother me a bit, in fact since I have no idea when the splines on my scoot were lubed I'll be doing it this month.

[108281]

I went to the Honda dealer to buy their grease but they were out. However, the manager told me he just buys the grease from an auto parts store nearby so that's what I bought. I'll report back in about 20,000 miles.

LR

[deilenberger]

I'd suspect that the moly lube from Honda works as well as the moly lube from BMW but is likely to be cheaper. I like BMW bikes (on my 3rd now) but I don't like the premium prices they charge even for regular consumption items. :cry Buying Honda lube wouldn't bother me a bit, in fact since I have no idea when the splines on my scoot were lubed I'll be doing it this month.

Ummmm..... BMW doesn't sell a moly lube. They now sell a very tiny, very expensive tube of lubricant from Germany for splines - but it doesn't contain moly. The lack of moly was the problem with BMW #10...

[deilenberger]

I went to the Honda dealer to buy their grease but they were out. However, the manager told me he just buys the grease from an auto parts store nearby so that's what I bought. I'll report back in about 20,000 miles.

LR

LR - what sort of grease did you buy? There are moly greases available from autoparts stores for use in CV joints that look suitable, as is RedLine Synthetic Moly (also specified for CV joints - but a number of people have had good success on BMW splines with it.) Wurth now makes a grease a few people are trying - it has the number 3000 in it - but I forget the exact PN (and I'm not near my garage..)

Lots of alternatives - some we know work (Honda, Redline) some people are trying (Wurth) and some we know don't work (BMW#10)

[kbasa]

I think I paid $10 or so for a container of the Honda Moly60. I poked a hole in the cap and stuck a little brush in it. After lubing the splines on my K75 a couple times, I hadn't made an appreciable dent in the lube. Consider a purchase of that stuff a lifetime acquisition. It should last damn near forever.

[108281]

LR - what sort of grease did you buy?

Valvoline moly fortified all purpose grease.