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Drive shaft replacement
I just finished replacing my drive shaft and thought I would pass on what I learned to those that are about to embark on this endevour.
Let me give a bit of background info first. The PO NEVER greased his connection from the drive shaft to the final drive. I took pictures of a new drive shaft next to the old one I pulled out. It's ugly.
There wasn't much left to the PO's drive shaft. The first time I pulled the final drive off there wasn't anything but rusty iron dust on the drive shaft. So I obtained a new drive shaft and started at it.
Ok now that the backgound is out of the way, let's tear the bike apart. First of all and foremost the rear wheel must come completely off. Get the bike on a bike stand. Take off the four (4) nuts at the drive shaft/final drive connection(14mm I think). Pull the pin at the axle nut and take off the axle nut (located on the left side of the bike if you were sitting on the bike). I used a 1 1/16" socket. (I'm sure it is metric but I didn't have a metric socket this big. 1 1/16" fits perfectly.) Loosen the bolt on the right side of the bike that holds the axle in place. I think it is 12mm. Put a screwdriver in the hole in the axle on the right side and use it to pull the axle out. Pull the wheel back until the drive shaft disconnects from the final drive. Don't let the final drive turn upsidedown as the oil will leak out of the top. Slide the brakes off of the rotor and hang or sit it on another part of the bike. Don't let it dangle from the hose. I pulled the final drive off of the wheel and set it somewhere safe. Do not lay it down on the greasy side. It leaves a mess and gets gunk in there.
Next pull the drive shaft out. The manual says there is a "special" drive shaft puller. I used a pair of plyers and gave it a good tug. It comes out after a bit of good pulling. Make sure when you get it out that the C-clip is on the drive shaft. This is located on the universal joint connection end of the drive shaft. This little C-clip is what gives us problems later on.
Now we have to pull off the swing arm. This is the only way I could do it. Moving the boot off and shoving my fingers down to the U-joint to line up the connection didn't work. I couldn't get the connection to line up with the drive shaft. I spent a couple of hours trying to do this before I decided to pull off the swing arm. The swing arm isn't that hard to get off. Take the spings off of the swing arm side of the boot and push the boot towards the front. Take off the rear shocks. There are crome caps on the frame at both sides of the bike. Pry these off to get to the nuts and piviot shafts that hold the swing arm in place. The nut comes off with the 1 1/16" socket. The piviot shaft comes off with an allen wrench. I do not remember the size of the wrench needed. Take these off and the swing arm should just slide out or fall off. (There are two (2) set of berrings inside of the swing arm assembly. One on either side. Slide your finger inside them and make sure they are moving freely. If they are not they need to be replaced.) Set the swing arm aside for the time being.
Now we must take off the U-joint. Slide the rubber boot off. (You may want to inspect the boot for damage and replace or repair it if necessary. Bicycle tube and RTV would work to repair the boot.) Slide a screwdriver into the U-joint so that you will have something to push against when taking off the bolts at the U-joint. There are four (4) bolts that need to be taken off. (If the U-joint is damaged or not moving smoothly, it needs to be replaced.)
Ok, now that your bike is torn apart and in pieces, this is where we begin the reconstruction. Grab the swing arm, U-joint and drive shaft. Slide the drive shaft into the side it is supposed to go in on the swing arm. Infact, push it until it won't go any farther. Hold it in there and turn it so you can see the other end. Add a bit of grease to the U-joint connection end. It doesn't need a lot. Just a thin layer to help it slide in. Push the new drive shaft into the U-joint connection. I won't go all the way. Just a bit. Now place the flat side of the U-joint on the ground with the drive shaft and swing arm. Slide the swing arm over the U-joint. The drive shaft should be an inch or so above the swing arm. Now the fun part. Get a rubber mallet or lead hammer and start pounding. Do not use a hardend steel hammer. It may chip the drive shaft. It does take some effort to get it in. That C-ring that I mentioned earlier needs to compress in order for the drive shaft to slide into the U-joint connection. Check the U-joint often while you are pounding to make sure that it is going in correctly.
Once it has completely seated you can put everything back together. First slide the boot over the middle drive/U-joint area. Then put the swing arm back into place. Put the piviot shafts back in with the allen wrench and put the nuts on but don't tighten yet. There is a certain way that this is supposed to be done. There is a small gap between the swing arm and the frame of the bike. This gap should be no greater than 1.6mm in the left and right gaps. If the gap is greater than this it should be adjusted as follows: Loosen the piviot shaft on the side of the greater swing arm/frame gap. Loosen only slightly. Do this in increments. After loosening, tighten the opposite piviot shaft. Measure the gap between the swing arm and the frame. If it is still not within 1.6mm repeat this step. When the gaps are within 1.6mm tighten the nuts on the piviot shaft.
Connecting the U-joint back to the middle-gear is a bit awkward. You have to push the boot out of the way and try to get the bolts back into place. When you have all four (4) bolts in place, place a screwdriver in the U-joint to keep it from moving so you can tighten them. Pull the boot over the swing arm and connect the spring. Put the rear shocks back in place.
The whole point of my doing this is that the PO didn't grease his splines. So at this point, grease it. Grease both ends. Put as much as you can in them. Don't worry about overflow. It will just slide up the drive shaft. Refer to Ken Talbot's post here: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36 Also while you are at it, grease the connection between the final drive and wheel. Put the final drive back on the wheel. Get the wheel inplace to put back on. Slide the brakes back on the rotor. Push the wheel up so that the final drive will connect to the drive shaft and insert the axle. You will have some grease squeezed out when putting the axle in. Tighten the four (4) nuts at the drive shaft/final drive connection. Tighten the bolt on the right side to keep the axle in place. Place the axle nut on the axle and tighten. Replace the pin. Clean off eccess grease.
After this is all done you may have to adjust you rear brakes. Sit on the bike and bounce it slightly. Make sure that the swing arm is moving and doing its job. And you're done. Take it for a spin and make sure everything is right.
I hope that this will help anyone that has to replace their drive shaft. Hopefully it will make things a bit easier
for you.
Jason Udy
CootieUdy
XS1100SH
Let me give a bit of background info first. The PO NEVER greased his connection from the drive shaft to the final drive. I took pictures of a new drive shaft next to the old one I pulled out. It's ugly.
There wasn't much left to the PO's drive shaft. The first time I pulled the final drive off there wasn't anything but rusty iron dust on the drive shaft. So I obtained a new drive shaft and started at it.Ok now that the backgound is out of the way, let's tear the bike apart. First of all and foremost the rear wheel must come completely off. Get the bike on a bike stand. Take off the four (4) nuts at the drive shaft/final drive connection(14mm I think). Pull the pin at the axle nut and take off the axle nut (located on the left side of the bike if you were sitting on the bike). I used a 1 1/16" socket. (I'm sure it is metric but I didn't have a metric socket this big. 1 1/16" fits perfectly.) Loosen the bolt on the right side of the bike that holds the axle in place. I think it is 12mm. Put a screwdriver in the hole in the axle on the right side and use it to pull the axle out. Pull the wheel back until the drive shaft disconnects from the final drive. Don't let the final drive turn upsidedown as the oil will leak out of the top. Slide the brakes off of the rotor and hang or sit it on another part of the bike. Don't let it dangle from the hose. I pulled the final drive off of the wheel and set it somewhere safe. Do not lay it down on the greasy side. It leaves a mess and gets gunk in there.
Next pull the drive shaft out. The manual says there is a "special" drive shaft puller. I used a pair of plyers and gave it a good tug. It comes out after a bit of good pulling. Make sure when you get it out that the C-clip is on the drive shaft. This is located on the universal joint connection end of the drive shaft. This little C-clip is what gives us problems later on.
Now we have to pull off the swing arm. This is the only way I could do it. Moving the boot off and shoving my fingers down to the U-joint to line up the connection didn't work. I couldn't get the connection to line up with the drive shaft. I spent a couple of hours trying to do this before I decided to pull off the swing arm. The swing arm isn't that hard to get off. Take the spings off of the swing arm side of the boot and push the boot towards the front. Take off the rear shocks. There are crome caps on the frame at both sides of the bike. Pry these off to get to the nuts and piviot shafts that hold the swing arm in place. The nut comes off with the 1 1/16" socket. The piviot shaft comes off with an allen wrench. I do not remember the size of the wrench needed. Take these off and the swing arm should just slide out or fall off. (There are two (2) set of berrings inside of the swing arm assembly. One on either side. Slide your finger inside them and make sure they are moving freely. If they are not they need to be replaced.) Set the swing arm aside for the time being.
Now we must take off the U-joint. Slide the rubber boot off. (You may want to inspect the boot for damage and replace or repair it if necessary. Bicycle tube and RTV would work to repair the boot.) Slide a screwdriver into the U-joint so that you will have something to push against when taking off the bolts at the U-joint. There are four (4) bolts that need to be taken off. (If the U-joint is damaged or not moving smoothly, it needs to be replaced.)
Ok, now that your bike is torn apart and in pieces, this is where we begin the reconstruction. Grab the swing arm, U-joint and drive shaft. Slide the drive shaft into the side it is supposed to go in on the swing arm. Infact, push it until it won't go any farther. Hold it in there and turn it so you can see the other end. Add a bit of grease to the U-joint connection end. It doesn't need a lot. Just a thin layer to help it slide in. Push the new drive shaft into the U-joint connection. I won't go all the way. Just a bit. Now place the flat side of the U-joint on the ground with the drive shaft and swing arm. Slide the swing arm over the U-joint. The drive shaft should be an inch or so above the swing arm. Now the fun part. Get a rubber mallet or lead hammer and start pounding. Do not use a hardend steel hammer. It may chip the drive shaft. It does take some effort to get it in. That C-ring that I mentioned earlier needs to compress in order for the drive shaft to slide into the U-joint connection. Check the U-joint often while you are pounding to make sure that it is going in correctly.
Once it has completely seated you can put everything back together. First slide the boot over the middle drive/U-joint area. Then put the swing arm back into place. Put the piviot shafts back in with the allen wrench and put the nuts on but don't tighten yet. There is a certain way that this is supposed to be done. There is a small gap between the swing arm and the frame of the bike. This gap should be no greater than 1.6mm in the left and right gaps. If the gap is greater than this it should be adjusted as follows: Loosen the piviot shaft on the side of the greater swing arm/frame gap. Loosen only slightly. Do this in increments. After loosening, tighten the opposite piviot shaft. Measure the gap between the swing arm and the frame. If it is still not within 1.6mm repeat this step. When the gaps are within 1.6mm tighten the nuts on the piviot shaft.
Connecting the U-joint back to the middle-gear is a bit awkward. You have to push the boot out of the way and try to get the bolts back into place. When you have all four (4) bolts in place, place a screwdriver in the U-joint to keep it from moving so you can tighten them. Pull the boot over the swing arm and connect the spring. Put the rear shocks back in place.
The whole point of my doing this is that the PO didn't grease his splines. So at this point, grease it. Grease both ends. Put as much as you can in them. Don't worry about overflow. It will just slide up the drive shaft. Refer to Ken Talbot's post here: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36 Also while you are at it, grease the connection between the final drive and wheel. Put the final drive back on the wheel. Get the wheel inplace to put back on. Slide the brakes back on the rotor. Push the wheel up so that the final drive will connect to the drive shaft and insert the axle. You will have some grease squeezed out when putting the axle in. Tighten the four (4) nuts at the drive shaft/final drive connection. Tighten the bolt on the right side to keep the axle in place. Place the axle nut on the axle and tighten. Replace the pin. Clean off eccess grease.
After this is all done you may have to adjust you rear brakes. Sit on the bike and bounce it slightly. Make sure that the swing arm is moving and doing its job. And you're done. Take it for a spin and make sure everything is right.
I hope that this will help anyone that has to replace their drive shaft. Hopefully it will make things a bit easier
for you.Jason Udy
CootieUdy
XS1100SH