I was wearing out my drive shaft worry beads concerning my 116k mile 2003 R1150GS. Nothing weird going on, just figures it would be a good idea to be proactive and get it rebuilt. I saw MSI mentioned in an older thread http://www.machineservice.com/ I sent mine to the Green Bay facility and I am very happy with what I got back. First off they did it fast(one day turnaround), they did it much cheaper than Brunos ($260 versys $390) and the shipping was only $12 one way vs $38. The u-joints have zerk fittings so are greasable. I've put 200 miles on it now and running smooth with no issues. They even marked it so it's easy to line it up to stay in phase during install. Nice to support the USA.
Sweet! Wish I had this info before tackling my own rebuild. Well, at least I got some experience out of the deal.
looks as if the caps are spot welded instead of swedged. thats how I had planned to rebuild mine, but the joints are like $80 each. heck at that point Ill just pay the $260
Take a close look, the caps are not welded. I didn't see it the first time either. Machine Service welds in spacers to retain the caps. <BR>
ah yes thats a good idea. so does that mean the replacement joints have shorter cross sections? or the yokes have enough material to allow for the depth of the spacer I guess. I need to dig my spare shaft parts out of the shed and do some measuring.
That's how I did it in my shop at home. The 1/4" flat washers drop right in the recess and it's a simple tack weld to hold it in place. Minor job to dig the washers out for future replacement. We get hosed pretty hard for the crosses here($130 each I think) but the local drive guy stocks them. Rear cross wore out first. About 80k miles. Front was notchy around 100k miles. I'm going to do a quick inspection prior to a trip but expect everything is good to go. Not sure why they painted it. drcool
Well I had to dig into the bike after experiencing some vibrations through the pegs. I found the front u-joint ready to self destruct with only 20k miles after being rebuilt. They did recommend I grease it every 15k and I was 5k over that. Just glad I found it before it took out the driveshaft/swingarm tube and maybe me with it:eek1 Just spoke to them on the phone and they said they'll work with me on fixing it. It had a 1 yr warranty (now past) but I still don't understand how the stock joints made it for 116k with no grease and the replacements can't make it 20k??
were the joints full of grease initially? perhaps they thought you would grease them, and you assumed they would grease them? - leaving them NOT full of grease upon install? because, otherwise, I understand your wondering why they wouldnt make it 20k miles
I asked them before I put it in and they said there was no need to grease it upon initial install. I'm thinking this time I'll grease it no matter what.
Hey, I'm sorry to hear that. I had the exact same thing happen to a drive shaft that Machine Services rebuilt for me. At almost the exact same mileage. Lots of people speak highly of them so I figured it was a one-off. Maybe not though. Bummer.