Wisconsin trip

[Rubin]

From those great photos of the rustic roads of Wisconsin, and conveniently having my girlfriend on a delegation south of Milwaukee, I have decided to leave tomorrow morning on the ol’ XJ. I have just installed a set of foglights, bit of a getto install but it will function for this trip. I will make it look pretty later on. I have also picked up a Krauser luggage rack to go with my hard bags. I do love the Krauser bags and luggage setup! Between those and a tank bag, I should have enough room for a few clothes, a tonne of tools and an extra gallon of gas.

I don’t really plan on seeing too much of Wisconsin this trip, mainly planning on resting as much as possible on Saturday for the return trip on Sunday. I leave Friday morning at 6 AM, taking I-75 north over the Mackinac Bridge. I hope to take some interesting photos of this leg.

From there I plan on taking #2 through the Michigan U.P., hugging the coast of Lake Michigan. Into Wisconsin I hope to take 35 south, and onto 41 south, all hugging the coastline. Down through Green Bay, and onto #43 into Milwaukee. Hopefully, I will be there in time for a late dinner with the woman, before following her to Racine where she is staying.

Sunday I will be continuing the trip south through Chicago, and down around the southern tip of the Lake, then straight over to home on #94. The trip home is only 359 miles according to mapquest, and this will be fairly easy. The trip there will be a staggering 684 miles, staggering for me that is.

I have gone over every occurrence and have extra cables, fuses and gas. I am bringing a bunch of tools with me with some zip ties and even some clothes, if there is room! I have tightened and retightened every bolt, changed the oil and brake fluid, then ridden a few hundred miles to ensure all is well. So far, no leaks, issues or hiccups.

I will try to post photos of my small journey as I can, and will try to post tomorrow night from Wisconsin. If I have forgotten anything, please remind me!!!
Wish me luck!

Scott

[Pain]

I sent you a pm with my phone number, if you need anyting while in SE wisconsin. I am moving this weekend, and working at night on top of it, but if you need help will do what I can.

And I will get some more rustic roads done, next week, I hope.

[Rubin]

Thanks Pain!! I really appreciate the offer. I hope for your sake, since you are very busy, and my sake - since I don't want problems, I won't have to call you. If you need a break though and want to join me for part of the trip, you are more than welcome.

[Erik the Red]

shoot, didn't see this till now

Rubin-
If you were delayed, and get to read this, consider taking US-23 north rather than I-75. You'll end up in Mackinaw City just the same to cross the bridge. 75 isn't nearly as scenic. 23 hugs Lake Huron and is 2 lane-2 way north of Bay City. I'm in Gaylord; I'll PM you my phone number in case you should need anything here in northern MI.

-Erik

[Rubin]

Well, bad news on ths trip. I made it to about Flint, about 1.5 hours into the trip. The driveshaft, I think, is shot. I have not looked at it yet, but the motor still runs great. I can shift through the gears fine, but as soon as I try to apply the power to the rear wheel, all I get is grinding.

I called a friend with a truck, and together we were able to get it back home. I am not sure what the problem is, but I believe I wil be looking for a few new parts.

[Ken Talbot]

Yikes, Rubin, that doesn't sound too good. The driveshaft on the XS is pretty robust, so it is pretty unlikely that is your problem. However, the middle drive unit has been known to go south if it is run without enough fluid. Do you know if the middle drive unit has been serviced recently?

[Rubin]

I had serviced the middle and final drives last fall, though it is possible I did not refill it enough. I have put on a good number of miles on it since then with no problems. I find it odd that the drive would suddenly fail, while under power. I was not accelerating or decelerating, just constant speed at around 80 mph.

I will be taking a look at this hopefully later on this week and will post in the other forum for tech help. Thanks Ken for pointing me in this direction, and thanks Pain and Erik for the pointers and help. I had taken #23 north to the lake last year and really enjoyed the trip. I hope to fix this issue and get back on the road before the season is up. I need to get this running if I am going to take a ride down to Alabama later on this year.

Cheers!

[Pain]

Late checking this thread, and it is bad news

Hope you get it sorted out well. Final drive failure? What are we riding, BMWs?

[Rubin]

Final update:

I pulled off my final drive to replace it with a XS850 drive and found the splines were dry and all sheared off. I need to replace the driveshaft now as well, but that should be a minor thing once it arrives. I ordered the middle gear as well just in case and I will have that on hand if I ever need it.

Good thing to remember - even if the mechanic says he greased the splines on the driveshaft, check it yourself!!!!!!!

I look forward to trying this trip again soon, hopefully in a few weeks. I will want to put some miles on the new setup before I do any distances.

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by Rubin
Good thing to remember - even if the mechanic says he greased the splines on the driveshaft, check it yourself!!!!!!!

You also need to be aware that squirting grease in through the zirk fitting does not actually get grease to the splines either, even if you do it yourself. This just builds grease up around the shaft where it does no good at all. To grease the splines, you must remove the final drive.

Pictures and more explanation available at this link