What oil in the shaft drive

[Nick V]

Anyone got or seen an idiot's guide to doing this on a hex head or preferably a cam head?

People have written guides on this, but it's actually a very easy job.

1. Take the bike for at least a 20-minute ride to get the rear drive quite warm.
2. Put the bike on the centre stand.
3. Remove the rear wheel. (IMPORTANT: now is an excellent time to check the condition of your rear brake pads.)

If the rear drive has a down-facing drain plug, then:

1. Remove the downward drain plug and drain all old fluid into an oil pan.
2. Replace the drain plug.

If the rear drive does NOT have a down-facing drain plug, then:

1. Remove the horizontal-facing filler/drain plug.
2. Remove the bolt connecting the rear drive unit torque arm to the rear drive.
3. Unseat the ribbed rubber seal between drive unit and swingarm. You should just about be able to see the point where the output driveshaft splines into the rear drive unit's input coupling.
4. Holding the output driveshaft FORWARD, tilt the rear drive unit downward until the drain hole faces the floor. The drive shaft must separate from the drive unit.
5. Drain all old fluid into an oil pan.
6. Tilt the drive unit back upward, making sure the drive unit's input coupling interfaces with the output driveshaft splines.
7. Reinstall the bolt connecting the rear drive unit torque arm to the rear drive.
8. Reinstall the ribbed rubber seal between drive unit and swingarm.

Use the horizontal-facing filler plug to fill the drive with a MAXIMUM of 180ml of Castrol Syntrax 75W-90 (or Castrol SAF-XO, whichever one you can find - they are the same fluid). Do not exceed 180ml. IIRC, the previous quantity was closer to 220ml, but it started resulting in rear-drive oil leaks (pressure was building up in the drive and forcing oil past the main drive seal).

Replace the horizontal-facing filler/drain plug and reinstall the rear wheel.

You're good to go! Don't forget to take a quick test-ride and check for oil leaks.

 

[pistole]

1. there is no need to remove the rear wheel.

2. there is no need to remove the rear mudguard/fender.

3. there are only two bolts you need to worry about. One at the bottom which is the drain. The fill is facing you as you look at the bike from the rear.

4. on watercooled bikes (this being the wc section) , you fill 180 ml of SAF-XO into the final drive using a large syringe. And thats it. The days of "fill till the fluid comes out are over".

 

[MondoRich]

Thanks - got mine as suggested from Amazon.

 

[Nick V]

1. there is no need to remove the rear wheel.

2. there is no need to remove the rear mudguard/fender.

3. there are only two bolts you need to worry about. One at the bottom which is the drain. The fill is facing you as you look at the bike from the rear.

Scotboxer asked for the drain/fill procedure for hexhead/camhead (air-cooled) bikes. Many of the earlier examples of these follow the same pattern as contemporary K-series (i.e. a filler plug, but no drain plug). Hence the complicated, fussy procedure that includes disconnecting and dropping the rear drive if no drain plug is present.

(Even if the drive includes a drain plug, it's still best practice to remove the rear wheel. High-persistence GL-5 fluids are not the kind of thing you want contaminating a rear tyre - put some rain into the mix, and that rear tyre will go out from under you so fast that you won't have time for any regrets.)

4. on watercooled bikes (this being the wc section) , you fill 180 ml of SAF-XO into the final drive using a large syringe. And thats it. The days of "fill till the fluid comes out are over".

This applies to ALL bikes equipped with the new-generation 'compact' final drives (i.e. all R-series and K-series from 2004 onward).

 

[Posh Pete]

May be of help to some?

 

[steadysteve]

Quick word of warning-- When I did mine and squirted 200ml in there was a dollop ended up on the floor via the rear wheel and tyre - seems like the residual oil left in there,despite 30 mins draining, was enough to bump the level up.