- Joined
- Dec 28, 2008
- Messages
- 2,035
I am prepping parts for installing the rear wheel on a '73, 750 that I am building; I wanted to avail myself of all the information available. I have seen a number of hollowed out ring gears, broken teeth and loose/damaged pinions to realize that the design wasn't optimized and that very few drives ever got proper lubrication or a good cleaning, so I wanted to see if I could glean anything that might be useful to the members here. Here are my findings:
1, Improper lubrication and maintenance. forcing new grease into the drive nipple without a good cleaning just moves the abrasive dirt into a position where it is more effective destroying parts; this was mentioned in many posts.
2, The drive was manufactured with a bit of tolerance, call it clearance to be kind. If the ring gear isn't allowed to "float" a bit it will rotate in an a non concentric motion that, given the ratio, will continuously vary; add abrasives and you can imagine the damage to the ring and pinion gears. Here is a picture of the biggest culprit:
This condition is more the norm than the exception in my experience; too many hacks don't see the " L H" on the part and beat it with a punch or screw driver before realizing that it is a left hand thread, then beat it in the other direction. You can clean this up and return it to proper function, but don't expect your drive to last if you don't.
After all this the same hack will reassemble the rear wheel, the drive won't seat correctly and ends up being seized or buckling the drive housing.
Being lazy I simply replaced the hub lock ring (06-0317), I did polish the edges and the slots, used moly grease and will give thought to centering the drive as I torque the axle.
I hope this adds to the body of knowledge surrounding this not-so-poorly designed part that just needs a modicum of respect...
Best
1, Improper lubrication and maintenance. forcing new grease into the drive nipple without a good cleaning just moves the abrasive dirt into a position where it is more effective destroying parts; this was mentioned in many posts.
2, The drive was manufactured with a bit of tolerance, call it clearance to be kind. If the ring gear isn't allowed to "float" a bit it will rotate in an a non concentric motion that, given the ratio, will continuously vary; add abrasives and you can imagine the damage to the ring and pinion gears. Here is a picture of the biggest culprit:
This condition is more the norm than the exception in my experience; too many hacks don't see the " L H" on the part and beat it with a punch or screw driver before realizing that it is a left hand thread, then beat it in the other direction. You can clean this up and return it to proper function, but don't expect your drive to last if you don't.
After all this the same hack will reassemble the rear wheel, the drive won't seat correctly and ends up being seized or buckling the drive housing.
Being lazy I simply replaced the hub lock ring (06-0317), I did polish the edges and the slots, used moly grease and will give thought to centering the drive as I torque the axle.
I hope this adds to the body of knowledge surrounding this not-so-poorly designed part that just needs a modicum of respect...
Best
