Mid drive lock up question

[perurider]

I seen the thread on a chain drive conversion, because of the mid drive locking up, but seems pretty costly. How much of a concern is this? I dont want to be going down the highway and my rear tire locks up at highway speed. are there any PMs to do to avoid this, my fluids are full, maybe too full.

[trbig]

I've never heard of anyone switching to the chaindrive to prevent a lockup. They do it to try to get more power to the rear wheel, or to be able to use a different swingarm and use a fatter back tire.

Use synthetic oil in the drives.. middle and final.. and change them out once or twice a year and you should be fine. Only ones I've heard that locked up were run out of oil.

Tod

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Peru,

Most of the lock up occurred because they ran out of oil, either because they were drained and not refilled. OR more rarely, the developed a leak at the U-joint seal, again running out of oil causing the bearings to burn up/lock up!

It only holds about 300cc's, and there's a vent so if it gets overfilled, it'll just blow out the overflow! But it should be drained and refilled with new every few years...see the owner's manual. Can use Synthetic 80-90 Hypoid for this as well as the Final Drive unit...same amount of oil in both...or very close IIRC!
T.C.

[WMarshy]

Here are some paper print-outs of the dipstick to check middle and final drive oil levels.

[Guy_b_g]

A regular mid drive or a chain conversion mid drive would be about equally prone to lock up if run out of oil, I would guess...

[CatatonicBug]

But it should be drained and refilled with new every few years...see the owner's manual. Can use Synthetic 80-90 Hypoid for this as well as the Final Drive unit...same amount of oil in both...or very close IIRC!
T.C.

Every few years???!! More like a couple times per year!

The rear holds 10 fluid oz, and the middle drive holds 12 fluid oz of oil. The bottle I get has a guage on the side that measures in CC's and ounces. I use the dip stick to do a final check.

[motoman]

Guess you could change it that often if your bored to tears. Change mine first time few thousand after new.....after that, think it was....still thinkin.....hmmmm. Then I changed it two years ago, put in Royale Purple. Maybe will get another change, maybe not. Can run it a thousand miles and just gets warm and totally quiet.....hmmm, guess some of the syn products do a good job, less friction= less heat=less wear. Same for middle drive. Bike has absolutely no whine from either drive. Come to think of it, no valve train noise either(yes valves were shimmed by a professional, not me). That was just done 200 miles ago for its first time. Engine/drivetrain smooth as silk. There IS such a thing as overdone. O'well, to each his own choice.

[trbig]

Change mine first time few thousand after new.....after that, think it was....still thinkin.....hmmmm.

Hmmm.. yeah, same as that engine oil. Change it if you're just bored to tears.. I change mine every.. hmmm.. still thinking...... thinking about how many motors I've been through.

Yeah, that middle drive.. pay it no mind. It just turns every ounce of torque your motor makes into two 90 degree angles.. probably just the single most stress of any part except the crank... but only change that or worry about it when you remember to. It's not that important.. it'll just pitch your ass over the handlebars at full speed when it has decided it didn't like your hit and miss maintenance regime. Maybe you'll remember just EXACTLY when you changed it last... just about the time you hit the ground.


The book says to replace every 5k miles, or 12 months. Yes, I have gone much further than that between changes.. but is it wise? Those short guys in the white lab coats seemed to know what they were doing on these bikes. If that's what they say to do, I would recommend doing so when possible. What's it take.. 10 minutes and a 3/4 a bottle of $8 synthetic oil? Cheap insurance... much less than the hospital bill.


Tod

[xschop]

Some XS11 owners need to hit the ground and knock some sense into their skulls. This last Batch of middle drives' pinion gears and bearings looked like the oil had never been changed and black-baked muck on the gears and roller bearings made for super-fine sand paper on the pinion faces. I can smell a burnt one a mile away now, there's nothing that smells as awefull as burnt 80-90 gear oil.....

[trbig]

Man, I agree. I drained mine from the first motor I had onto my gravel drive in front of my shop, and it was burnt pretty badly. It stunk up that area for MONTHS! I finally dug up the gravel there and hauled it off.

Tod

[xschop]

Santa

I can tell who's been naughty and nice to their MD's. The outer pinion gear on the "neglected" MD shaft has to be put under a large press to get the 2 apart. No wonder I see all the threads/posts about XSive drivetrain back lash.....
Don't be a cheap-ass and change your oil....you'll pay in the end.

[daveyg]

Draining my MD was one of the first things I did with my 11, it looked like the PO had put ATF in there, was kinda reddish in color, maybe it was some type of red synthetic... But was way, way thinner than 80-90... Anyway, she's good to go now. If only I could get the carbs cleaned again and my tank repaired maybe she'd let me take her for a ride...

[Guy_b_g]

I'm with the guys that say to use good oil and change it annually at least...

I once was the victim of a rear wheel lockup on a KZ750B2...when the bike was new evidently they didn't bend the tabs up on the nut holding the countershaft sprocket in place. I was riding home on the freeway and hit reserve a few too many miles away from the next gas station. I decided to coast down a 6 mile 6% grade to save fuel, and get gas at the truck stop which was a few miles from the bottom of the grade. I was almost to the bottom and a semi came up behind me so I put it in 5th, gave it some gas and let the clutch out to get away from the semi...the countershaft sprocket promptly spun off and the chain locked up the back tire in a sweeping left turn. The bike skidded onto the shoulder and I never went down, but the semi blew by me with only inches to spare. I never found the sprocket, and had to get a new one and a new chain & back tire. A rear wheel lockup is no joke. I'm just lucky to be alive.

Let periodic maintenance of the middle drive go unattended at your own peril...

[WMarshy]

Dont become another statistic. Change the oil. Clicky Skip the first 2 min's hes just talkin... "Some of them wheel bearing are there some are not" lol Gotta love that sound it makes! About as good as nails across a chawk board.

[TopCatGr58]

Every few years???!! More like a couple times per year!

The rear holds 10 fluid oz, and the middle drive holds 12 fluid oz of oil. The bottle I get has a guage on the side that measures in CC's and ounces. I use the dip stick to do a final check.

Hey Bug and Tod,

I keep forgetting that "some" folks ride theirs every day!

It takes me a few years to put 5K on mine, hence the few years bit!

T.C.