33K, Driveshaft Replacement

[JoseyR3Wales]

Took my 06 Classic in for it's annual inspection for more state sponsored revenue stealing.

Since my dear friend Jay had a catastrophic failure of the shaft/rear drive components I asked the dealer to crack it open, have a look and grease it again as it was done at 20,000. Grease was still in there but the splines at the rear of the drive shaft were showing NOTICEABLE wear and when we inserted back into the rear driveshaft housing there was a noticeable "lash" back and forth. Another Blue/ White Classic is sitting there completely DISASSEMBLED, engine, tranny everything and I may go back and get pics of that, took that driveshaft (used) and inserted it into my rear drive unit with no "lashing", so I had a new driveshaft ordered today with u-joint, spring, to get it back to tight.

OK, hang on there TriumphPhil, I asked if PERHAPS the extended contact patch of the Riken Raptor and quick acceleration/deceleration and the amount of torque from said tire might have contributed. They did not wish to bring it up as they know I like Dark Sidin but they said it was what they thought might be the root cause.

Then I was speaking with the service manager and mentioned that I had a like new rear wheel(complete) and might have to buy a Metz to replace the one on it. He said that considering the mileage one gets from a rear Metz and the cost, compared to what appears to be three times the mileage for the Riken for $130 he thought it would be more cost effective to replace the $300 drive shaft every 30,000 miles. Good point.

Total bill from the dealer including inspection fee is $556. Still cheaper than the Metz. Mechanic and I went over the removal procedure so once I move to the hills I can do the next one.

Check Your Driveshafts, they do not hold up and may leave you stranded.

 

[JoseyR3Wales]

On an unfortunate note, Noel the mechanic and a darned good one too said he is getting pretty handy at cracking Rocket III's open as he has been doing it a lot. One dealer, one town. How widespread are severe Rocket problems? The Blue/White one exploded transmission gears. Case still good.


This looks bad when the dealer is Ray Price H-D and Triumph and two Rockets are in there in various states of disassembly surrounded by Harleys and their mechanics.

 

[muleskinner]

After reading the posts here regarding the spline failure on some of our Rocket drive shafts, I think EVERYONE should remove their final drive unit, clean and re-grease the shaft splines with a high Moly content grease. Regardless of mileage. Triumph may have a heat treating problem with some of their drive shafts on the Rockets.

I posted earlier when I replaced my rear tire I removed the final drive unit and cleaned and greased my shaft using Honda M/C "Moly 60" paste. There was a light blue colored grease on the shaft splines from the factory. High Moly content or regular grease I'm not sure.

I know there are higher Moly content greases out there, but the Honda M/C shop is close to me and I've not heard of any shaft spline failures on Honda shaft drive motorcycles. What say you?

 

[rainman]

this sht sucks

 

[sweettennbabe]

Think I will trade my rocket for something more reliable like a Yamaha!

 

[JoseyR3Wales]

I said exactly the same, trade for something else. I thought, Thunderbird because its belt drive ? Some power difference but I haven't seen one cracked apart at the dealer yet. Then I thought, Honda ? BMW ? Having just bought the house and the fact that the Rocket is paid for except for these big repair expenses I'll just stick it out but one more of these disappointments and I'll change like having been married twice before .

 

[JoseyR3Wales]

After reading the posts here regarding the spline failure on some of our Rocket drive shafts, I think EVERYONE should remove their final drive unit, clean and re-grease the shaft splines with a high Moly content grease. Regardless of mileage. Triumph may have a heat treating problem with some of their drive shafts on the Rockets.

I posted earlier when I replaced my rear tire I removed the final drive unit and cleaned and greased my shaft using Honda M/C "Moly 60" paste. There was a light blue colored grease on the shaft splines from the factory. High Moly content or regular grease I'm not sure.

I know there are higher Moly content greases out there, but the Honda M/C shop is close to me and I've not heard of any shaft spline failures on Honda shaft drive motorcycles. What say you?

I'll see about picking up some for the Triumph dealer to use, or some other brand.

 

[CanberraR3]

My Rocket is the most reliable vehicle I've owned - even better than a couple of German cars I've had and every bike. BUT, I will certainly be getting the driveshaft checked and greased before I head off to Hervey Bay. I think I'd be blaming Triumph if these things were failing after, say, 30,000kms on unmodified bikes but otherwise it sounds more like a good reminder to be fastidious about maintenance.

 

[JoseyR3Wales]

I have asked for the old drive shaft and will take pictures of the deterioration and post em here.

On the far rear end of the rear splines the spline was actually gone on a few of them. This would leave me to believe as Muleskinner said, to an issue with Triumph problem with the manufacturing and annealing process or an issue with the engineering of applying the amount of power of these bikes at that point in the drive line. Mechanic said maybe another 2K miles if I was lucky .

 

[JoseyR3Wales]

My Rocket is the most reliable vehicle I've owned - even better than a couple of German cars I've had and every bike. BUT, I will certainly be getting the driveshaft checked and greased before I head off to Hervey Bay. I think I'd be blaming Triumph if these things were failing after, say, 30,000kms on unmodified bikes but otherwise it sounds more like a good reminder to be fastidious about maintenance.

Agreed but I am fastidious about maintenance to the point of an obsession. I will admit that perhaps the tire is the issue but, BUT, I have modified plenty of things since the 70's from cars to trucks with tires that should wring the axles out of a vehicle and no problems with their drive shaft splines. Are the Rockets designed to the edge of the metals capability ? That would be ireesponsible.

I am not bashing Triumph as a whole, just components that seem to be failing in greater numbers than would be attributible to be normal wear and tear.