I give up on the front u-joint

[dlaing]

So has anyone tried drilling or cutting the shield for access yet?

[callison]

I was going to and went so far as to remove the swingarm for access. That's when I saw that getting to it wasn't really a big deal. Easy if the rear wheel is off, a bit harder when it's on, it's just difficult to see.

[Guest geezerx]

Here's a low tech (my specialty) approach that worked for me without removing or unbolting anything. I got an extra jaw for a grease gun, ground the end pretty thin so it would fit down into the ujoint and over the zirk, screwed a 45 degree fitting into the end of it and then plugged that into my regular grease gun jaw.

This contraption then went up the drive shaft tunnel and onto the the front ujoint zirk which was pointed up. Used a mirror to help align and then to confirm that grease went into the fitting and not around it.

[al_roethlisberger]

So, while putting my back wheel all back on after stripping the edges, I went ahead and greased everything... well except for that front zerk which is still giving me some fits No worries though, I'll get that sucker eventually <_>

 

 

Anyway, here's a question though..

 

The driveshaft actually has three zerks on it. The two in the u/cardan-joints themselves, and one actually on the shaft between the rear u/cardan-joint and the driveshaft spline junction.

 

I'm wondering what this zerk lubricates, as one can easily lube the driveshaft splines. Is this what that zerk is for anyway?? ...lubricating the driveshaft splines That's all I can figure.

 

 

al

 

P.S.

 

I also wanted to bump this topic to the top again, since it's Winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and it's a good time to do this sort of maintenance

[Murray]

These thread seems a little odd to me. Havn't actually tried doing it but I looked at the V11 acess piont and got the distinct impression you didn't have to unbolt anything to grease the forward uni joint. The 1100 sports are a pain but can be done without removing anything you need a pretty small hand as the acess hole in the tube that goes around the uni jiont is above.

Looking at the V11 there is a elongated hole that appears to allow acess to the front unijoint from the right hand side. This hole is not large enough? I think the rear is done from below as per the 1100 sport. Actually if the shop manual is followed with the 1100 sports the uni jiont should be assembled in such a manor that the spline and forward uni jiont grease nipples are acessable from the top and the rear from underneath without having to rotate the shaft to realign them. I find it strange that the factory had actully thought of this way back in 94 yet the bikes built almost ten years later they havn't thought of this.

[al_roethlisberger]

Well, all I can say Murray is "give it a try" and you let us know

 

 

That elongated side access hole is for removing the cinch bolts that hold the front u-joing to the transmission shaft/spline. I think the zerk actually points to the rear of the bike, so you can't get to it through that hole.

 

With the u-joint "shatter gard" and swingarm in place, it's very tight in there

 

I'm going to try to get to it from above with my swivel as suggested.

 

al

[Guest Le Man]

I can do the front u-joint on mine without doing anything except greasing it. I fabbed a tip for my gun and ,yes, it is a pain, but no big deal. I will be @ my shop in the AM tomorrow and will take a pic of the tip and post it.

 

I think I may have posted on before but another forum guy followed up with a way to do it using off the shelf parts that was way clever and anyone could rig it.

 

Mike

IBA#15554

[Guest IanJ]

Ok, so I'm a total moron when it comes to greasing joints. I've just never done it before. Thus, I have some questions:

 

1. I have purchased the $10 "mini grease gun" from sears, which you can see on their webpage (sears.com) by searching for "grease gun". The only grease they sell in the little 3 oz tubes is "multi-purpose lithium grease," which claims to be #1-1/2, with a dropping point of 177 degrees C. The manual specs #2 grease, with a dropping point of 180 degrees. Penetration isn't listed on the grease I found, but the manual specifies 265/295 penetration. So, is this grease alright to use, or do I really need to find some #2? If I do need to find #2, does anyone know of a store that might carry it in 3 oz tubes, or do I need to go back and get the bigger gun?

 

2. Once I get a gun set up with the right grease in it, I still don't quite understand how one is meant to use the swivel joint I got (the Sears $5 swivel joint, which I believe is the one people were mentioning earlier). It looks like it's used to go around corners, so I surmise that the zerk should be pointing up and to the inside of the bike, and I'm meant to get to it from forward of the metal side-plate that supports the footpegs. Does that sound right? I presume that an inspection mirror and a flashlight will aid in this endeavor.

[docc]

I remember getting all sweaty after I greased the Sport with Bel-Ray Water proof grease then seeing all the specification in the manual. I e-mailed Bel-Ray but never heard back. They must've thought " what a . "

 

I posted on Wild guzzi and Pete ( ever the gentleman ) basically said , " yeah, grease is good." The consensus from that board was 1) don't let them dry out ( any grease more often is better than the perfect grease too late) and 2) don't over fill the joint and cause the grease to push through the seals as this will create a leak which then flings the joint dry. Just fill until the seals bulge a little.

 

I think point '2' , overfilling, is the toughest issue because the joint is so hard to see.

[Kiwi Dave]

and I'm meant to get to it from forward of the metal side-plate that supports the footpegs. Does that sound right?

 

That's what I thought too Ian, before I tried in practice. The only way I could even get near it was to remove the wheel, undo the suspension and drop the swinging arm as far down as possible. You may be able to do it without this procedure, but seeing what you're doing is almost impossible.

 

The zerk (or grease nipple as we call 'em down here) sits in a tunnel within the swinging arm, and I found the only approach was to come in from the rear. Even then it took a bit of fiddling to convince the gun (I used a straight needle on a flexible hose) to sit on the nipple and position itself for the transfusion. Quite a nice feeling when you see the grease finally swelling from the seal.

 

Possibly a hole could be drilled in the swinging arm tunnel to allow an approach straight on to the nipple, but once you've done it the next time's easy, and can coincide with tyre changes.

[Guest IanJ]

Hmm. Ok, I guess I'll have to see what I can do. Is there some compelling reason to not take off that guard? Is that even more of a pain than just greasing with the wheel off? I'm not sure I can get the wheel off safely, unless I start getting crazy with rope and the main beam in my garage. I really need to get a shop stand (it's on my Xmas list!).

 

And, I'm glad to hear that being anal about the grease type isn't that important. I didn't figure a 3 degree dropping point difference would really be that big a deal. (Also, I just discovered that the store across the street sells #2 grease in 3 oz tubes. Problem solved.)

[docc]

getting the collar off means pulling the swingarm. The collar can then be cut to access the nipple ( ooh, I like using that word: nipple. Hah, there I said it again)

 

Nylon tie down straps seem to make nice suspension devices.

 

Check out CRABBING the spine frame

[Guest IanJ]

Ok, after some adventures in slippery mess-making, I've managed to get the two easy zerks greased. This raises two quick questions though: first, is there only one zerk on the shaft itself? That's what the manual says, but the manual also says the shaft zerk is on the forward end of the shaft, yet I greased a zerk that was just forward of the rear U-joint. I couldn't find a forward zerk on the shaft, but I may have missed it.

 

Second question: not quite knowing what I was looking for, I caused grease to bulge out of the seal on the shaft; is this a bad thing or not? I've seen descriptions that say, "you know you've greased enough when you see grease coming out of the object being greased," as well as "if grease comes out of the U-joint, then the joint will just fling itself dry: don't do it." I'd appreciate any feedback on this.

[docc]

The guys who seem to be most experienced say blowing the seals on the U-joints is a mistake.

 

The shaft ( yeah, it's that nipple just in front of the rear U-joint) is sealed with an O-ring. I don't think you'll damage anything if you push some grease by it. Of course, I'm not one of those dyed-in-the-grease experienced Guzzi wrenches.

[al_roethlisberger]

Which seals are we concerned about "blowing out" ? ...the round ones pressed into the "end" of each u-joint shaft?

 

I ask because I just greased my back joint, and these "caps" never bulged, leaked, or anything, but a small amount of grease did ooze out down around the arms on the "cross" in the middle of the u-joint. That's when I stopped.

 

I got a 360-degree swivel, but still can't get to that front joint... sheesh Maybe the Sears model is slimmer. I'll try again another time when the wheel is off.

 

I also greased the spline on the shaft via the shaft zerk, and although no grease escaped past the o-ring, I stopped when grease began to ooze out from three or four small gaps in the weld right above the spline collar. I hope those gaps are supposed to be there

 

al