universal Joint?

[Rickrod3]

I've been going thought my manual addressing all of the maintenance recommendations. Currently servicing the swing arm bearings.
The manual does not list servicing the u joint.
I have found some nice threads on some who have but; I was wondering what most are doing here.
Is anyone running around on an original one that has not been taken apart?
My bike has 35K on it and I'm considering the 750 FD would think that would be a good time to address it.
what do you guys think?

TIA
Rick

[CatatonicBug]

Just shoot some grease into it, and leave it alone.

[petejw]

The uni joint on mine is a sealed unit,
you'd have to pull the joint apart to grease it,
unless theres a grease nipple on it.

just check to feel if there is any free play
in the joint, no free play, your sweet to go,
if theres free play, the joint will have to be
serviced or replaced.

in general there pretty strong, ive got 2 with over
140 000ks with out any problems.

[Crazcnuk]

Over 70,000kms on mine, haven't done anything with it.

[DGXSER]

You could maybe put some grease on the ends of the joint. Otherwise, not much to do there.

As to the 750/850 drive I love it and I put one one the bike of an original owner of an 80 special and he now wonders why he had not done it before.

[dbeardslee]

I'd leave it alone and just reinstall it. Taking it apart could result in chasing needle bearings around on your mancave floor. Probably the toughest part of the 750 FD upgrade is getting the drive shaft lined back up with the u-joint. My best advice on that is DON'T FORCE IT. I've seen several references to using a BFH to get it in - not a good idea. I managed to chew up the end of a u-joint doing that, and as there's a little less spline engagement with the 750 FD, I wound up replacing the u-joint. If it gives you trouble, it's easier to remove the swing arm to get it lined up, IMHO.

[Rickrod3]

6th gear

You could maybe put some grease on the ends of the joint. Otherwise, not much to do there.

As to the 750/850 drive I love it and I put one one the bike of an original owner of an 80 special and he now wonders why he had not done it before.

This bike could have really used one. In 79 I had an RD400F and it had one.
Since I just got the bike running I'll hold off on it maybe a winter project.
For now I'll make sure all the required maintenance is done and put some miles on it.

Rick

[randy]

The joint is re-greaseable. Is that a word? You'll need a vise and suitably sized sockets to press it apart and back together. If it's so dry that the needles will fly out, then it's probably a GOOD thing that you took it apart in the first place! JMHO.

[motoman]

Guess they fall into the "lifetime" catagory U-joint, so at 78,000mi. guess its lifetime isn't up yet. Still tight with no end or up&down play. But like Randy said you could "sevice" it if y
you wanted. No much of a working angle going on there, so imagine durability is fairly good.
Yea Randy, it is an unofficial XS tech-term.

[cywelchjr]

I've got about 84,000 miles on mine and AFAIK nothing has ever been done to them. They still felt tight and smooth when I change the engine last summer.