Spline Gear Grease

I'm preparing to lubricate the drive splines on my K11RS. I havn't done it myself before so I've been studying my Clymer Manual before I jump in on the job.

The lube that the book calls for is STABURAGS NBU 30 PTM available at the BMW dealer. I don't have a dealer very close by, so I checked the local auto parts stores with out any luck. One of my customers builds Gold Wing Trikes and uses HONDA MOLY 60 which I figured would work just as good on my bike, but thought I'd run it by the Brain Trust on the forum for opinions and experience to avoid using something that wouldn't hold up.

Is there a "generic equivlant" that I could pick up close to home? Also any tricks or anything I need to beware of during the job?

Your input is appreciated!

boomyr said:

I'm preparing to lubricate the drive splines on my K11RS. I havn't done it myself before so I've been studying my Clymer Manual before I jump in on the job.

The lube that the book calls for is STABURAGS NBU 30 PTM available at the BMW dealer. I don't have a dealer very close by, so I checked the local auto parts stores with out any luck. One of my customers builds Gold Wing Trikes and uses HONDA MOLY 60 which I figured would work just as good on my bike, but thought I'd run it by the Brain Trust on the forum for opinions and experience to avoid using something that wouldn't hold up.

Is there a "generic equivlant" that I could pick up close to home? Also any tricks or anything I need to beware of during the job?

Your input is appreciated!

Click to expand...

Honda Moly60 is the best stuff. Make sure you clean all the old goo off before you put the nice clean new stuff on. I got a model airplane paintbrush, poked a hole in the cap of the lube and just stored it on the shelff like that. I had a nice little brush to put the lube on with and could get it right there on the splines.

Spline Grease

As a previous owner of the Honda Valkyrie, 1998 standard, I have been down this road before. Valkyries has a lot of problems with spline lubrication, mostly due to inadequate lubrication during the original assembly. The lubricant of choice by most Valkyrie owners is TS-70 Moly paste from Moly-Lubricants, Inc. (www.tsmoly.com). This 70% moly paste and was preferred over the 60% moly product from Honda and gave excellent results..

Thanks much!

Outstanding. If you listen really carefully, you'll probably hear Don E. clicking on the website and ordering a tube.

KBasa said:

Outstanding. If you listen really carefully, you'll probably hear Don E. clicking on the website and ordering a tube.

Click to expand...

Actually - not

The reasons being:

1. I've had terrific luck with Honda Moly60. As have other members of the Grease-Gang (a group of IBMWR K bike owners who experimented with various greases until we found one - Honda Moly60 - that worked.)

2. I had bad luck with a grease that contained more than 60% moly. When you increase the moly, you decrease the base lubricants, and those are also important for spline longevity.

3. I've increased my spline lube intervals to 40,000 miles, and since I did it about 15,000 miles ago - I won't need any more grease before then.

4. I have two alternative greases in my garage, sent to me by people who wanted to know if they worked well - these are Red-Line Synthetic Moly (made for CV joints on hopped up Hondas where the joints get cooked from the exhaust) and a Wurth product (3000 comes to mind, but I'm not at home where I can check it.) BOTH of these have gotten very favorable reviews from members of the Grease-Gang who tried them.

BMW has also come out with a new grease (finally must have sold out all the BMW #10 Lubricant) - which is horrendously expensive for a small quantity. Dunno if it works or not since none of the Grease Gang want to put their splines at risk with it - not at the price BMW is asking.

Best,

Has anyone tried sta-lube brake caliper syn. grease ???It's a silicone base w/moly&teflon I get it from NAPA and have used it for over 180k on my 85kbike the original drive shaft had 150k on it when changed out , it didn't fail but the splines worn...

mechanic savant said:

Has anyone tried sta-lube brake caliper syn. grease ???It's a silicone base w/moly&teflon I get it from NAPA and have used it for over 180k on my 85kbike the original drive shaft had 150k on it when changed out , it didn't fail but the splines worn...

Click to expand...

Are you sure it's a silicone base? Silicone grease is not a particularly good lubricant. It does work OK if there is a thick film of it, but the real reason it is usually used is good temperature resistance (it doesn't run) and it is very resistant to water wash-off.

I'm glad you had good luck with it. Some members of the Grease Gang
have well over 100k miles on their splines using Honda Moly-60 and
they seem to be holding up well. Paul Glaves sent me some photos
of the splines on his K75S - with over 300k miles on the clutch
splines, and they looked like they were brand new. They were
amazingly good..

You do have an advantage (IMHO) with an '85-K bike. They used
a different driiveshaft design than later models (changed mid-year
in '86) and they seem to hold up better than the later design (which
used more, but finer teeth in the driveshaft to transmission input splines.)

Best,

Acording to the tub o grease in front of me it says "a specialy formulated synthetic grease containing molybdenum disulfide, graphite and teflon"..sorry Ididnt see silicone word in there, my bad!!!!

mechanic savant said:

Acording to the tub o grease in front of me it says "a specialy formulated synthetic grease containing molybdenum disulfide, graphite and teflon"..sorry Ididnt see silicone word in there, my bad!!!!

Click to expand...

Ah - good. Should work fine. If it is meant for brake use - it has to have a good temperature resistance (to turning watery and running, which #10 did in the tube in my garage..)

Thanks for clearing that up

Halp! Spline Lube Procedure question!

I got my Honda Moly 60, and the bike half tore apart. I'm using my Clymer Manual to guide me through, but the manual uses a older K75S and I have a '96 K1100RS, which is a little different in this example.

I'm hung up at removing the rear end from the swingarm. There is a hex ended (bolt?) on the inside of the swing arm, and a nut on the outside of the swing arm. I've loosened both, but they do not seem to be connected. (When I turn the hex , it doesn't turn the threaded shaft that the nut is attached to.) The nut came off with an adjustable wrench with no problem, the hex was really torqued on pretty tight.

It doesn't appear that the reardrive will come off without removing these, but I'm having some difficulty figuring out how it works. I hesitate to remove them until I can confirm it necesary to remove them and I can get it back together. (FLASHBACK TO 9TH GRADE POWER MECHANICs CLASS WHERE I TOTALLY SCREWED UP MY DAD'S JACOBSEN LAWNMOWER ENGINE BY NOT PUTTING SOME BEARINGS IN PROPERLY)

Attached is a pic of what I'm refering to. I'd appreciate any advice.


http://boomyr.smugmug.com/gallery/468050

Try looking your bike up at:
www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fishe/fishe.asp
Perhaps the exploded parts views might help.
Bruce Chasmer

It doesn't appear that the reardrive will come off without removing these, but I'm having some difficulty figuring out how it works. I hesitate to remove them until I can confirm it necesary to remove them and I can get it back together.

bomyr,
You will need LOTS of heat to get those off. bmw used GREEN loctite on the threads for both side at the pivot AND at the swingarm. I sent you an email too.

looking at max's micro fiche it looks like the outside bolt with jamnut is the side that you apply preload to the bearings that are on the inside.i would take measurements befor taking anything apart just to asure proper alignment during reassembly.these pivot points align the final drive to the driveshaft any misalignment could ruin the driveshaft splines in a hurry.it will also shift the rear wheel one way or the other depending where the final drive is pushed to with these pivot bolts.

Karl,
The alignment is 'fixed' and the only things you have to worry about are #1 Getting the pivot pins inside the bearings without putting any sideload on the bearings and #2 Setting the preload correctly on the 'floating' pivot pin. The fixed pin is just that, 'fixed'. Now the old Airheads with the twin shocks were a totally different story.

Thanks for the tips! The link to the online service manual, and to Max's part fische are very helpful.

When putting it back together the inside cone of the needle bearing on the left side pivot pin came out when I pulled the pin back out to apply loctite. The needles stayed in place alright, and I brushed some grease on the cone and set it back in.

I didn't think much about it at the time, but it did surprise me a little that it came out. I didn't expect for the cone to just rest in the bearing. Might I have damaged the bearing when I applyed the heatgun on the pivot pin to loosen the original loctite, or is that normal?

Should the needle bearing be replaced? If there was a dealer close by I'd probably replaced them to be safe, but my bike will be down a few days waiting on the parts, and I didn't want to do that unnecesarily

Here is an alternative for the dinky little needle bearing BMW uses at the final drive pivot, I got this from Tom Cutter:

Try replacing the bearings with bushings from Jess Lindley.
"The bushings fit all paralevers '87 to present with no mods to swingarm. They provide a much larger contact surface than do the stock bearings and are a one-time investment. Installation is no more complicated than stock bearings. I am offering them at $75 a set / incl. s&h with instructions. Please feel free to e-mail or phone with ? . THANX
Jess Lindley 970-523-7067 jlenterprizes@acsol.net "

I have NOT tried these bushings yet but I plan to the next time I have either of my final drives off.

Your bearing is 'probably' OK. The grease seal is no longer seated so it may not last as long as the first service period. The only thing that holds the inner race in the bearing is the grease seals until you put the pin in there.

Thank ya. Thank ya very much.

Thank's much Mick.

I dug around the manual and after finding some more info on the bearing I felt pretty comfortable going forward, with the idea I'd probably go ahead and replace them next winter.

I got everything put back and test rode. Everything seems fine.

I very much appreciate the input from those of you that answered the questions I had along the way!