Molly

I must've been lucky with my recent disassembly because the wheel came apart without issue. Pity I hadn't read this at the time or I'd likely have taken the opportunity to drill the rubbers. As for super sticky grease for spinny parts potentially exposed to water, I swear by Castrol Optimol Paste. It was recommended for the splines on a BMW final drive I serviced and I've been using it since on all sorts of things. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373738695763

I cleaned the heck out of them. Skinny wite brush in my drill and copious amounts of brake cleaner. Marked with a paint pen too. Cheers.

So, it's all back together. The drive shaft now 'telescopes' like it should (it was solid!), the needle bearings in the right side of the bevel box actually move (they too were utterly corroded to a single mass), and everything else has had a good clean and grease. The old drive shaft bolts were munted and I think that's because the shaft wasn't moving. Could be my imagination but gear changes seemed smoother. More snick-snick rather than clunk-clunk. Thanks for your help along the way with this. Much appreciated, gents.

LOL. I'll put this one up there with the time I demolished a 'stuck' Harley fuel cap that turned out to be left hand thread... Thanks guys. Bit premature in my posting there.

Erm.... Should this chap be playing a part? It was hiding in plain sight...

Reassembling the rear end. Factory manual says 120nm on the torque values page and 28÷30nm in the wheel parts section. Whatever that means... Thing is, the wheel is solid - won't rotate - long before 120nm suggesting to me that there's a spacer missing as I must be applying lateral force to the bearings. Any advice appreciated. 2001 Greenie.

Thanks Docc. I'll look at all that. This one is now replaced.

Certainly nobody had taken the trouble to grease it despite assurances. And the outer needle bearing in the bevel drive too hadn't been checked because it too was rusted-up. Otherwise the bike seems good.

Naaa. It was perfectly safe. No spring-loaded tension set to explode across the garage or anythinglike that. Biggest risk was a bollocking from the Mrs for spending the entire weekend in the garage. ;-)

It's a different one. I took the first out to NZ (as a family we alternate between there and the Isle of Man). This one was bought a year ago from a dealership in Wales based on photos and a video. It was supposed to have been fully serviced but clearly wasn't. I'd only done about 700 miles on it but being a year figured it was time for annual maintenance. Salt air could be an issue as I'm on the coast but my garage is dry and warm (contains the house heating system) and my other bikes show no corrosion. The outer surface has cleaned-up well on the stainless wheel. The splines are in good condition. As I said I suspect the grease takes the path of least resistance so rather than being forced down the splines it escapes through the hole beneath the UJ.

Here's the thing. The splines were clean but dry. Because there's a small hole (appears like the plug simply hasn't been welded-up properly - not an engineered hole) grease seemed to be stuck at one end and would escape rather than find its way along tge splines. Path of least resistance I suppose.

Celebratory beer... Had to look a the manual's drawing to appreciate how releasing fluid would find its way to the splines. Removed the grease nipple and put loads of WD40 in that way. Reassembled my contraption, heated the heck out of it, and it finally let go.

Same with mine. There's a vent of some description so no pressure is possible. Thanks for your help with this guys.

Same with mine. There's a vent of some description so no pressure is possible. Thanks for your help with this guys.

Same with mine. There's a vent of some description so no pressure is possible. Thanks for your help with this guys.