Universal joint service

[VAcracker]

Anyone try or succeed in re-greasing the universal joint on the drive shaft? Alternately replace it without purchasing an entire yoke assembly?

Mine feels smooth but seems fresh Lube would decrease some resistance.

 

[RossKean]

Anyone try or succeed in re-greasing the universal joint on the drive shaft? Alternately replace it without purchasing an entire yoke assembly?

Mine feels smooth but seems fresh Lube would decrease some resistance.

Look at Mark's FJR Tips site for U- joints and much more!
https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/ujoint/uj.html
Home
https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/maint.html

 

[VAcracker]

Look at Mark's FJR Tips site for U- joints and much more!
https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/ujoint/uj.html
Home
https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/maint.html

Thank you! That site seems to be a valuable resource. I may be missing something because that link was only addressing what I was calling the yoke.

The universal joint is inside of that. It’s the u-joint bearings i was curious about servicing or just replacing all together. Yamaha only sells the assemble and it’s $$$$$$

 

[RossKean]

Don't think that there is a need to do more than clean the joint and lube the splines from time-to-time. If the bearings feel crunchy, maybe consider other action but I haven't heard of failures.

Edit
Lots of u-joints on eBay for cheap, if you have one die.

 

[rbentnail]

The u-joint bearings are non-serviceable unless you disassemble. If you're going to do that you may as well replace them. This is what it looks like -> https://www.fjrowners.com/threads/universal-joint-service.153569/ . I don't think I've ever seen a replacement set of bearings detailed.

 

[Ignacio]

It’s the u-joint bearings i was curious about servicing or just replacing all together. Yamaha only sells the assemble and it’s $$$$$$

I've heard of one failure in the 18 years I've been on the forum. This ain't a part to worry about. And when I pulled one out on an '05 I parted out, I recall the yokes were sealed didn't appear servicable.

 

[Reese3]

Anyone try or succeed in re-greasing the universal joint on the drive shaft? Alternately replace it without purchasing an entire yoke assembly?

Mine feels smooth but seems fresh Lube would decrease some resistance.

You should consider watching a UTube video named TwoWheelObsession by Bryan Glynn. He demonstrates an easy step-by-step practical way to re-grease the u-joint and every service done on your FJR.

 

[rbentnail]

You should consider watching a UTube video named TwoWheelObsession by Bryan Glynn. He demonstrates an easy step-by-step practical way to re-grease the u-joint and every service done on your FJR.

He ain't all that, make sure you turn the volume all the way down. Dude rambles too much for me. And be careful, at least one other person broke his frame supporting his bike in such a ****** way.

 

[VAcracker]

Thank you all for the feedback!

I think for now I’ll leave good enough alone. The U joint has smooth movement no play and an apparent history of excellent reliability equals don’t F with it today.

I may try to find an extra one on eBay and rebuild it as a project/spare. In the interim the back end of a wife's bike is reassembled and serviced minus cleaning up the rear caliper and putting on the rear wheel. I think the center stand is the absolute worst part of inspecting and servicing the bearings for the rear suspension.

Next step is to flip the bike around, drop the forks in the tube about a half inch to compensate for the lowering links and maybe regreased the steering head bearings. Hopefully the slight bit of lowering and 20 K miles service will result in a the smoother ride and her not dropping the bike again.

 

[Reese3]

He ain't all that, make sure you turn the volume all the way down. Dude rambles too much for me. And be careful, at least one other person broke his frame supporting his bike in such a ****** way.

I agree with you, no one is. No driver should take advice wholesale without personal knowledge and experience in what they are attempting to do (know your limitations). I support viewing information, then vetting and applying it; seeing how best it can be applied to the situation based on personal abilities. That's the purpose of a forum. Keep learning Riders!

 

[Mr. BR]

I may try to find an extra one on eBay and rebuild it as a project/spare.

That's what I did.. found a rusty FJR u-joint on ebay for $20 just so I could take it apart. You'll see the results of that with pictures in the link above that rbentnail posted. These are stout little units that rarely EVER fail... just check and grease the splines once in a while.
Mr. BR

 

[Bounce]

Thank you all for the feedback!

I think for now I’ll leave good enough alone. The U joint has smooth movement no play and an apparent history of excellent reliability equals don’t F with it today.

I may try to find an extra one on eBay and rebuild it as a project/spare. In the interim the back end of a wife's bike is reassembled and serviced minus cleaning up the rear caliper and putting on the rear wheel. I think the center stand is the absolute worst part of inspecting and servicing the bearings for the rear suspension.

Next step is to flip the bike around, drop the forks in the tube about a half inch to compensate for the lowering links and maybe regreased the steering head bearings. Hopefully the slight bit of lowering and 20 K miles service will result in a the smoother ride and her not dropping the bike again.

Periodic cleaning of the drive line is still a good idea. U-joint to the seal into the pumpkin is about all I've ever needed.

u-joint
Shaft and Splines
Swing Arm

I do the u-joint, shaft, and splines with every tire change. It's that easy. I also do a rear "diff" flush every other tire swap. It's mostly cleaning up the road splooge.

 

[VAcracker]

I agree with you, no one is. No driver should take advice wholesale without personal knowledge and experience in what they are attempting to do (know your limitations). I support viewing information, then vetting and applying it; seeing how best it can be applied to the situation based on personal abilities. That's the purpose of a forum. Keep learning Riders!

You both make good points.

Opinion: I think the purpose his channel is to provide relevant information. Particularly for people less knowledge and experienced than yourselves.

I personally think he does a good job explaining and demonstrating the tasks he intends to. Yes there is a fair amount of opinion and at times conjecture but the bulk of his how to videos seem to be pretty on point or at least enough for the majority of people. To tackle the jobs he demos.

Caveat as stated, is check other resources especially if your not positive. Blindly trusting anyone 100% leads to unintended consequences