Gearbox output seal weeping

I thought, but not sure, copperslip turned into a cutting paste on moveable parts?
 
I thought, but not sure, copperslip turned into a cutting paste on moveable parts?

As I see it, the copper component would form a soft 'sacrificial solid' lubricant in a moving part scenario between hardened steels such as splined shafts, but would be easily displaced through repeated cycles, leading to a lack of lubrication after a short period.

The grease carrier agent in the copperslip may also be unsuitable for the heat the friction generates and also be prone to 'fling', obviously getting any grease on your clutch friction plate is not a good idea.

Hence a 'dry film lubricant' is ideal for such applications as it contains no grease and only needs to be microscopically thin to be effective.

As for galling between sliding surfaces, the wikipedia article has it pretty much spot on. Explains it better than I can.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galling
 
The bike was split to paint the frames while the FD was being rebuilt.
The clutch friction plate is only 1/2 worn. Even pessimistically there is another year of life in it. Maybe two or three years.
When it does fail I now know the back end strip down isn't the huge deal it appears to be.
The dry lubes are mandatory on stainless parts. I used to work with multi stage high pressure pumps. Parts will gall and be scrapped without it.
My clutch spline was totally dry. It must have come out of the factory like that.
 


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