33K, Driveshaft Replacement

[9Ball]

I hvae bypassed the ignition switch after it failed, my fault and I know that. I have had the "paint can rattle" repaired, Triumphs fault, I am now replacing a driveshaft at 33,000 miles and the fault of that lies somewhere between us. What do you folks that pull trailers think about this ? How much does the additional pull contribute to shearing off the splines on your driveshafts ? Are you going to check ? Any other Dark Side riders experiencing this issue ?

The bike is still on Craigslist and may hit FleaBay soon. I do not respond well to piss poor peformance. If this was a truck, it would be gone too. A woman.............well been down that road, and if I got the piss poor service I have with Triumph from a restaurant I wouldn"t go back.

First Bonneville in 1973. That was 33 years and several other Triumphs before I bought this Rocket. I stayed with them, they left me.

...and unfortunately for us, THEY don't care.

 

[muleskinner]

Yea I'm sure if I called my dealer he would say the same thing he has said about every other problem we have discussed,,,,,"I've never seen a Rocket with that problem." I think Triumph indoctrinates the dealers on how to deny they have seen these problems.

 

[hegels]

uhh... I knew about greasing the splines but i was not aware of the driveshaft needing greasing. is there a writeup on this?

 

[TriumPhil]

Any way you look at this that rainman and the outlaw have had, it's a sad situation. Triumph absolutely did put out a service bulletin to all of their dealers on the necessity to grease the splines and the driveshaft on a regular basis. What each and every authorized Triumph dealership does or does not tell their customers is another story altogether.

The long and short of it is that Darksiders must be aware that their car tires should be removed at least every 8-10K miles for these parts to be lubricated. I'm not saying this to rub any salt into an already open wound, but these facts dispel much of the touted money-saving incentive to go to the Darkside. IMO, that's a pennywise and pound foolish decision, esp[ecially since we now have motorcycle tire choices that cost about the same as premium directional tread car tires.

 

[JoseyR3Wales]

I forgive you because Jesus tells me too and my parents raised me with some manners anyway. Now if we should ever meet................................just kidding Phil.

I went to the Honda/Yamaha dealer today and bought the 60 Moly grease,they will install it when they put the driveshaft in. The splines were greased at 20,000 and again at 30,000 kind sir. I will let this die on the vine but while at the Yamaha dealer I have scheduled a test ride on a 2012 Super Tenere for this weekend . Nice bike.

I am going to post some pictures of the splines on my draftshaft with NO COMMENTS and also some pictures of an exploded Rocket III Classic with 8,600 miles. Please feel free to form your own opinions. I shall also think about test riding a Tiger 800 XC but someone will have to kiss my arse before I buy that.

 

[JoseyR3Wales]

Dang, whats that red S**t clinging to it after getting a work over on a wire wheel?

 

[JoseyR3Wales]

There's a real piece of crap on the other end of this cam chain

 

[mexican]

Josey,what part is that and how did it break? what caused it?

 

[muleskinner]

That appears to be RUST on the drive shaft splines. Is that yours? If so, was there any grease on the splines when the axle was removed? I would question if your dealer EVER took the shaft out and greased it when they say they did! Did they charge you? Did you see them take the shaft out and grease it? If the splines were greased there should be no rust on the shaft splines. Have you ever had the bike in deep water?

 

[warp9.9]

You can see the I grease my shaft well and fill the bottom of the cup in the differential before assembly. It squeezes out and is a little messy but the splines are holding up well.