Grease thrown onto rear wheel

[FJRRYDER]

Searched the section, but couldn't find this one;

I bought this bike, an '06 FJR1300, with 40k on it, about a month ago. Getting it dialed in. The seller, not the owner but a rep of the owner, says the bike was very well maintained and religiously serviced, but there was no paperwork to back that up. The craigslist ad said fluids changed 2k miles ago. The bike looks to be in excellent shape and runs well, but I'm getting a dirty grease/oil thrown onto the left side of the rear wheel rim. It appears to coming from the final drive unit, but can't exactly see where it might be coming from. checked the drive, fluid appeared pretty full, added maybe an ounce. I've cleaned the wheel and the pumpkin twice, can't see the problem. Is there a seal in there that may need replacing?

Thanks, this forum rocks!

 

[The Other Brian]

Just my 2 cents, but the PO probably over greased the splines on the rear wheel. Other than a mess, I doubt it is an issue. I did it on my old Concours and learned the hard way not to use too much grease.

 

[BkerChuck]

Ditto the above. I was a little overzealous with the lube and had some fling out for a bit afterwards. It stopped after a couple of thousand miles.

 

[luvtoride]

yeah, I've also had that happen.

 

[CRFan1]

Just smell it...if it is gear oil you will know it as it has a distinctive smell and yes, there is a seal that can leak. If it doens't smell like gear oil, like the others have said, it is most likely excess lube from the splines.....

 

[radiummadman]

no big deal either way.

 

[Fred W]

Look at the under side of the shaft housing where it comes out of the final drive. You'll see a weep hole there. If it is gear oil ieaking past the pinion seal (the only semi-common leakage point) it would be coming out of that weep hole.

Many owners over-grease the wheel splines, where the wheel hub couples to the final drive. It needs only a very light coating of grease for corrosion prevention. There is no actual slipping or motion between the two spline halves. You just don't want them rusting up and seizing on there.

 

[RaYzerman19]

If it's oil not grease, it could be the final drive was slightly overfilled. When the final drive heats up, the oil expands and a bit can be blown out the vent cap on top of the final drive. Check owner's manual for proper way to check oil level.......... do not turn wheel while topping up the oil........

 

[RossKean]

Not as likely but make sure that oil isn't coming from the shock. A lesser possibility is that it is brake fluid - pretty rare to get a leak but worth checking. My bet is on the rear drive - either overfilled as Ray mentioned or some getting by the seal and out the weep hole on the bottom of the swing arm.

 

[FJRRYDER]

A lot of solid info here! Thanks! I'll be keeping an eye on it.

 

[FJRRYDER]

The grease on the rear wheel has not returned, so I think it was the overzealous pre-sale grease job by the service technician.