Something snapped! A diagnosis.

[BA80]

Check your PM box mesmeridicus.

[vedgar]

finally an answer

All you had to do was take off the rear wheel to see it. ............ You are now on the way towards self improvement. The learning process has begun. Not being sarcastic. My father could care less about car maintenance. When the blower motor crapped out in our 61 Buick, it was fix it or freeze during the winter. Went to the junkyard with my brother and scavenged one from a Cadillac. First job towards self reliance and self improvement. How bout that, MOTOMAN.
Vance

[motoman]

All you had to do was take off the rear wheel to see it. ............ You are now on the way towards self improvement. The learning process has begun. Not being sarcastic. My father could care less about car maintenance. When the blower motor crapped out in our 61 Buick, it was fix it or freeze during the winter. Went to the junkyard with my brother and scavenged one from a Cadillac. First job towards self reliance and self improvement. How bout that, MOTOMAN.
Vance

Nice.........I'm just part of the audience on this one............some serious abuse definitely went on with that final drive!

[TopCatGr58]

If I had to guess, I'd say who ever reassembled the wheel at some point did it incorrectly and didn't make sure the hub splines engaged the final drive completely. Under normal conditions those splines should last the life of the bike, even if lubrication was being neglected I wouldn't expect it to be that bad.

Yep, some serious damage there! The wheel hub bearing seal looks intact, so I'm also wondering how this type of damage could have occured? IF the left side bearing was gone, would this allow the hub enough wiggle room to allow the splines to shift apart enough to slip/grind!? Aside from the lack of grease, could particulate matter(dust/grime/grit/sand) accellerate this type of wear as well? Just postulating how it occured.

As for getting the rear wheel locally, if it is a 16", he should be able to just swap out the spline/hub assembly from the rim to keep his 17". He should also look for the thread that shows how to take out the left side bearing seal to clean/repack that needle bearing as well as inspect it for wear first, Lorax should be able to assist him with that.

Mack, that is a seriously worn drive shaft spline!

T.C.

[James England]

Take James up on his offer, buy the left side bearing while you can, He is the only source on the planet.

DonebySunday just did exactly that, and bought the last two bearings I had. One for immediate use on a new hub, no doubt, and one for the spares drawer. I'll post in the bearing thread if I get hold of some more....

[mesmeridicus]

Thanks for your help, guys. As soon as I get the parts from Andreashweiss and BA80, I'll put them on. I may need to replace the drive shaft, too, as the edges on mine resemble more the "spikey" bad drive shaft splines in mack's picture.

Busy these past couple days with family obligations, haven't had much time for tinkering.

[mack]

video

Well the reason I was able to post a video of the components so fast is because the PO of the E I'm restoring was also an A..hole, and he was the one who wore it's drive train down. I had purchased all the pieces up to the middle driven gear from Andreas in the spring and had it sitting in the packing box in my porch.(no room in the shop anymore!) I figured if he wore down the shaft and final drive like that, that the middle drive would be suffering as well. Pisses me off that my taking this bike off his hands really was a rescue in the true sense of the word. It will have a good home here with my other resto's!I'll start a build thread soon, but my back is giving me problems right now from working on something else for ch 11. Going to rest it for a bit and homefully get some serious rides in before the snow falls. Crappy weather now so I can rest a bit.

[mesmeridicus]

Excellent progress! Now you're getting somewhere, eh? And I bet you feel justifiably pleased with yourself.

You've found the problem, I'd say! Your wheel hub needs to be replaced and,as has been said, I'd look at the final drive splines carefully. Clean them up with a solvent and paintbrush and the post pix here, OK? They may actually be OK. Final drives are cheap and you'll get one no problem, but don't buy one if you don't need to. Same goes for the wheel hub.....readily available

That wheel is quite a way from the clutch! or the middle gearbox!

I am pleased. Tomorrow I'm going to clean up the drive and post pictures for your opinion. I actually have another wheel/hub from the previous owner in my garage. I'll need to find that molybdenum grease, some 20/50 oil, and whatever type of oil I'll need for the middle and final drives at a store tomorrow. Hoping these items can be found at run of the mill Auto-Zone type store.

[BA80]

You can use pretty much any 20/50 as long as the API service label is blank on the bottom like this....



I use Walmart house brand. It's inexpensive.......




In the middle and final drives what seems to work best for keeping them cool and quiet is full synthetic 75/140.

[motoman]

You can use pretty much any 20/50 as long as the API service label is blank on the bottom like this....



I use Walmart house brand. It's inexpensive.......




In the middle and final drives what seems to work best for keeping them cool and quiet is full synthetic 75/140.

+1 on the motor oil choice. These ole' loose clearance air cooled motors don't need use of expensive 'snake oil' motor oil. See no difference in engine noise using SuperTech as opposed to the 20-50Vavoline automotive oil I used to use. +1 0n the use of syn. 75-140w in middle and final drives.

[BA80]

Yeah, for a long time I ran the Castrol 4T motorcycle 20/50. $6 a quart.

The SuperTech works just as well for $13 for 5 quarts.

[ViperRon]

Double and triple clean everything those wheel bearings will not hold up long if any of the filings off the hub gets to them and the same issue with the final drive assembly.

[mesmeridicus]

Double and triple clean everything those wheel bearings will not hold up long if any of the filings off the hub gets to them and the same issue with the final drive assembly.

Excellent, will do. Trying to find local source for that molybdenum grease currently. How much grease should I be packing onto this thing before I put it back together?

[cajun31]

Hey Mes

Just coat everything good with the grease.

I was looking at the original still picture of the bike that you posted and I see that you are running aftermarket shocks on the back. Never have seen the other side.... no pictures of that side of bike... but am assuming the sister of the shock on the left.

The only reason I am pointing this out is because I am puzzled as to what wore the wheel hub down so bad. Lack of grease is absolutely a contributing factor, however if it was a good snug fit it would have taken something else to cause that kind of damage. Could be an alignment issue... make sure you look at that very closely with the replacement parts.

It could have also been something with the final drive itself or possibly bearing issues in the wheel. While you have it apart do a very thorough inspection of everything and be very liberal with the grease... anything that seeps out on reassembly can easily be wiped clean. I grease mine, wipe clean, ride a couple of miles.... low speed, wipe again and keep an eye on it for a few rides.

Looks like you are on your way to recovery..... good luck.

[cajun31]

shocks may not

be aftermarket.... I was looking at some earlier xs11 pictures and they may indeed be stock... I would still pay attention to alignment. Hopefully you will find something as you clean everything up. I would just not feel comfortable without digging and finding the real reason for the issue. You don't just want to throw parts on and then end up with the same problem in short order.