drive shaft/final drive lubrication

I am in the midst of replacing a drive shaft and final drive on a
Kawasaki Vulcan 750. This is caused by the drive shaft splines being
stripped as well as the ones on the final drive.
What should I do to make sure this doesn't happen again. I see no way
for that area to be lubricated. I'd rather not have to do this again
in another 15,000 miles or is it just something I need to plan for in
the future.
Any help is appreciated.

 

Very popular with BMW riders too. I do an annual spline lube
with the Honda Moly paste myself.

 

Thanks for the information and the idea of making it an annual
maintainance. Those of you that have used the Honda Moly, how did you
apply it and about how much should be used?

 

You should use molykote FB180 grease for the spline.
Not the usual molybdeen dislufide grease, it will be trown off the
spilne due to rotation forces, FB180 sticks to it much better.
BMW uses staburags.... grease which has the same qualifications.
On the connection form the final gear to the wheel we call is meenemer
in dutch you can use any ordinary molybdeen disulfide grease.
The wheel will get off every 10 to 20 MM (Mega Meters.) So it get
greased reguraly.

goodluck,

 

I use a brush. Solder brush, old toothbrush, something like that
and aply enough to coat both surfaces without extra gobs sitting
anywhere. About the only place I have to really worry about
excess is in the front where it could potentially crap up
the clutch. Other than that, a little excess makes no difference
at all.

 

I found that the Honda Moly seemed to go south in about one year. The
result was stubborn downshifts in the lower gears. Seemed to dry out quick
for some reason, maybe excess rains I've ridden in and condensation added to
the problem.

I'd hate to make it a practice to do a BMW clutch spline lube every year.
Least you can get an eye look on the seals to see how many are leaking at
the time it's done. ;o\

Someone said something about some waterproof spline lube by the boating
company (Evenrude?) that may work better. I've had good luck with Yamaha's
lubes, tire mounting spray, and Yamabond gasket cement, but don't know if
they have a specific spline lube product.

B~

 

I rack up about 10-15,000 miles a year, and usually lube the
splines and aftermarket U joints (R100 GS) at the same time.

Both could probably go longer, but over the course of a year
they'll go through a few creeks and this seems like a nice safe
service interval.