Drive shaft replacement.

[Cootie]

I really need some help. Last night I attempted to replace my drive shaft. (The previous owner never greased the connection to the final drive.) I pulled my rear tire off to get access to my drive shaft. I gave a nice tug on the shaft and it came right out. No problems, right? Wrong. Now I can't get the new drive shaft into the universal joint. I figured out how to get my fingers under the rubber boot and move the connecting end into the right place, however the drive shaft won't go in completely. It feels like it barely sits in it. I don't want to pull my universal joint apart unless I have to.

Can anyone give me pointers on how to get this fixed?
Thanks
Cootie

'81 XS1100SH

[TopCatGr58]

Get a bigger hammer!

Hey there Cootie,

Well, after looking at the exploded view, there is a compression "C" ring at the end of the drive shaft where it fits into the U joint. They use similar fittings for most driveshafts, I've worked with a few on front wheel drives. They are a bit stubborn, but they are designed to be compressed to fit past a notch/groove, so the answer is you need to use a bigger hammer!! Get a rubber mallet, and once you're sure you've got the end fitted into the beginning of the U joint fitting, then you need to tap it in. When you pulled it free, that ring is what held it slightly in place, until you pulled hard enough to stretch/expand that ring beyond the edge of the groove that it was wedged into. Hope this helps!

T.C.

[NOMAD]

MAKE SURE THE OLD RING CAME OUT ENTIRELY.

NOMAD

[Bob Falter]

Cootie having problems because the PO didn’t grease the connection to the final drive got me to thinking about greasing mine. The manual says to grease the “Drive Shaft Joint” after the first 2000 miles and every 4000 thereafter but I can’t find anything in the manual that tells how to do this. Are they talking about the end of the drive shaft itself of the u-joint? If it is the u-joint can you get to it by taking one end of the rubber cover loose? If they are talking about the end of the shaft, shouldn’t you do both ends and don’t you have to pull the rear wheel, rear gear drive, and drive shaft to do this?

I don’t have 2000 miles on my XS yet but I would bet that the grease is old enough to buy beer.

[xssiveone]

Bob, if you look at the end of the swingarm where the final drive bolts on, you should see a grease fitting. This is where Yamaha wants you to apply the grease. However, all this will do is fill up the cavity inisde the swingarm, and not get the grease where it is really needed.. which is on the splines inside the end of the driveshaft. IMHO, you should remove the final drive every other year and grease these splines. This is also a good time to drain the gear lube in the final and middle drives. Sure, you may not have the mileage specified in the manual, but gear lube and grease is pretty cheap.

[Bob Falter]

xssiveone,

Thanks for the info. Looks like I will be pulling the final drive. Dosen't the front end of the drive shaft have splines also?

[xssiveone]

The front of the driveshaft has a universal joint, similar to what is found on rear wheel drive cars and pickup trucks. It is greaseable, but in order to do so it must be completely disassembled as there is no grease fitting on it.