Bearing Service

[mwsxj1100j]

While my bike now has just ticked off the 12,000mi. mark and having no clue if the bearings were ever serviced my attention is drawn to the fact is that they are 33 years old. I believe all that hold in the grease in the XJ bearings is a rubber seal that can be removed? Anyway being the second day of Autumn and riding season drawing ever shorter as it gets dark earlier and earlier the bike will be off the rode and I want to service all the bearings as well as the U-Joint. Has anyone tackled this before? This is one of the things preventing me from wandering that far from home base. When the tires were replaced (the rear tire that was on the bike is what it left with from the factory) the bearings seemed smooth and the guy who mounted and balanced them did not say anything. But nothing last forever grease will given time dry out. My steering head bearings while not sealed only had a thin film of grease on them and now since I cleaned them and re greased them along with the fork lock the steering is smooth as silk, and the fork lock actually works. But how difficult is it to service all of this?
Now I am a pretty mechanical guy although I am not Kevin Cameron (Cycle World's Tech Guru) but I just don't want to get over my head. Thanks in advance.

[crazy steve]

Both front and the right rear wheel bearings are sealed, so there's no service needed. If they still turn smoothly, they're good. The u-joint requires disassembly to grease. Yamaha didn't get carried away with grease on the original build, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to service the u-joint, swingarm bearings, and the driveshaft splines, but I wouldn't let that prevent me from using the bike...

None of this is particularly difficult, but it is time-consuming. No parts needed (unless you find something damaged/worn), just tools, grease, and the FSM.

[Prisoner6]

U-Joint

The subject of changing the U-Joint cross was brought up in another recent thread ...

Here is a very good tutorial on changing/servicing the U-Joint:

How to Change/Lube Driveshaft U-Joint

[bikerphil]

The left rear bearing can be easily removed and greased, just pop out the rubber seal and slide the bearing out. It will usually last over 100k miles, YMMV.