U-Joint Experts? Suspected U-Joint Failing@152K

Austin city limits said:
Since getting hooked on $1 sweet teas at Mc Donalds,,, I will drink those clean up to November I am sure...

I will update you all on if after November,,, I am still drinking Sweet Tea!!!:D
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Yeah but update them in your own thread!!! Grrrrrrr. If this bike ain't fixed by Tulsa you're in big trouble Terry.

Curt
 
Well the U-Joint is shot and the part is back ordered until 8/20 so looks like I'm driving to Tulsa which sucks big time.

Maybe I'll post a thread looking for a u-joint. I'm sure everyone has those just laying around there garage.

Curt
 
crazykz said:
Well the U-Joint is shot and the part is back ordered until 8/20 so looks like I'm driving to Tulsa which sucks big time.

Maybe I'll post a thread looking for a u-joint. I'm sure everyone has those just laying around there garage.

Curt
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U-Joint shot after only 152K? What's with Honda quality?!

I hope this is warranty work.
 
MidLife said:
U-Joint shot after only 152K? What's with Honda quality?!

I hope this is warranty work.
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It is covered under the warranty. I'm going to say that the Honda quality is fine. I don't do wheelies, etc. but I'm not easy on the accelerating a lot of time. Not sure how much abuse it will put up with so I don't really fault Honda for this.

Curt
 
crazykz said:
.........the part is back ordered until 8/20 ......
Curt
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Sounds like these famous FZ-1s nobody can put their hands on!

crazykz said:
It is covered under the warranty. I'm going to say that the Honda quality is fine. I don't do wheelies, etc. but I'm not easy on the accelerating a lot of time. Not sure how much abuse it will put up with so I don't really fault Honda for this.

Curt
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Just kidding KZ, should have used one of these ;-)
 
Thread "un-jacked".

Ok, gonna vent a bit...

[MAD]AAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!![/MAD]

( I actually screamed in my garage after doing a search for universal joints )

I have the damn problem :censored :censored

But my poor bike skills led me down the wrong path. (see here https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41792 )

I put my bike on the center stand with intention of checking the motor mounts ( again ). Putting the St in gear made a lot of noise, and I had looked over the manual for motor mounts and noticed the location of the u-joint. Knowing that I knew my u-joint was suspect.

I'm mulling over DIY'ing the replacement, but that would mean finding special tools and finding/making time to do the job.

Curt, is your problem resolved? And if you don't mind how much did you end up paying? I've gotta two dealers that I trust but haven't used in a long time. If the cost isn't rediculous I might just let the dealer do the job.

Thanks,

Tom de
 
tdeboeser said:
Curt, is your problem resolved? And if you don't mind how much did you end up paying? I've gotta two dealers that I trust but haven't used in a long time. If the cost isn't rediculous I might just let the dealer do the job.

Thanks,

Tom de
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Hi Tom,

I'm actually glad you asked because I got some more information on my u-joint issue this weekend. My issue is resolved and I don't believe it took that much to replace it other than the time to remove the swing arm. The u-joint area is confined to an area by boots. I was lucky. My u-joint had all but let loose (see the pics). If you know what a u-joint is suppose to look like you'll see just how busted mine was although the bike still would go down the road. Basically one of the cups that holds one of the swivel pins had given out on the side which aloud the two u-flanges to actually come in contact with each other. The nice thing is that the flages were made large enough so that the u-joint did not come apart and kept the bike moving. However you can see in the one picture where the metal on metal was wearing down the u-flanges and as they wore it allowed the swivel pin to start coming out of its holder further and further. Eventually it would pop out and fail completely possible causing a fracture in the swingarm casting. Luckily that did not happen but it wouldn't have been much longer.

Mine was covered under warranty so I don't know how much it would have cost. I'm guessing it would be 4-6 hours of labor and about $200 in parts. The swingarm bearings just needed to be repacked and were in perfect working order.

Hopefully that helps but feel free to ask anything else if I missed something.

1st pic: Shows where the two u-flanges were pressing against and wearing on each other. This was pretty much the only reason the joint held together as long as it did. Had the flanges been smaller (creating a bigger gap) the u-joint would have had no support and would have let loose. This slack was the mild clunk I would feel in letting on and off the throttle slightly or when pulling in and letting out the clutch.

2nd pic: Shows that the two u-flanges actually came in contact with each other. That should not be the case. BAD u-joint!

3rd and 4th pic: Shows the pivot pin actually coming out the side of the pivot pin socket/cup.

Curt
 

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Gonzo said:
Is there any preventive maintenance that can be done, and if so, what is the mileage/age interval?
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The preventive maintenance is to take it easy on the throttle when accel/decel ing. Inspection yearly after 100,000 might be a good thing to do. I don't really see anything you can do about it. Honestly you can get that joint for $120 so if it was me I would just replace it at 100,000 or so and be done with it. Of course you have to pull the swing arm to do it but it isn't that difficult I don't think. I've never pulled the swing arm myself thought.

Curt
 
Had the u-joint fail on my first ST1100 which was a 1991 model I do not recall the mileage but it was covered under warranty also.
 
crazykz said:
The preventive maintenance is to take it easy on the throttle when accel/decel ing. Inspection yearly after 100,000 might be a good thing to do. I don't really see anything you can do about it. Honestly you can get that joint for $120 so if it was me I would just replace it at 100,000 or so and be done with it. Of course you have to pull the swing arm to do it but it isn't that difficult I don't think. I've never pulled the swing arm myself thought.

Curt
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It doesn't look bad going thru the service manual, but there is a special tool I don't think you can work a round.

Thanks Curt for the info, and think I'm going to attemp the replacement myself.
So now I'll be searching for the "special tool", I've had luck in the past in finding the tools like this. It seems motion pro makes these special tools, you just need to use descriptions rather than part numbers.


I'm at 66k on a 2003 ST, with a possible u-joint issue. I say possible because I'm having bad luck in diagnosing bike problems this year :D.

I'm a sportbike rider and part squid, and I ride the ST pretty hard. Even then I'm kinda disappointed if this is a u-joint thing. Hopfully this is problem only a few will have.

Once again, ST-owners.com proving to be the best site ever!!

Thanks guys,
 
What special tool, Tom?

On the 1100, pulling the swing arm was a moderately large deal. Get one of the 1100/40amp guys to help you...It's pretty do able, and a weekend will cover it easy. A lift is essential to guys like me, but most do it right on the ground.
 
BigTom said:
What special tool, Tom?

On the 1100, pulling the swing arm was a moderately large deal. Get one of the 1100/40amp guys to help you...It's pretty do able, and a weekend will cover it easy. A lift is essential to guys like me, but most do it right on the ground.
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The special tool is a large locknut wrench. A UK ebay guy has them for about $50 shipped. Not bad really, but I think I might try cutting/grinding a big socket.

Yeah, the job actually looks like a day job. And that cause I work slow ( slow=careful ). Now to find the actual u-joint.
 
crazykz said:
Yep that was the issue. I talked to a few others and they all said they had the same issue when the u-joint was going bad.

Thanks,
Curt
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:confused:

Others? Is this a problem for the ST? Something Beemer riders can point to, like we point to their FD? :D

Seriously, should this turn into a poll? Is this something all ST owners need to be concerned about?

Tom
 
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