Rear end problems

Valker, I think your right about the moly paste, I change my own tires and the last rear tire I did, the splines seemed dry. I had the tire put on by the dealer so I changed the Rubber "O" ring that is around the base of the spline.  The mechanic at the dealer ship then proceeded to lube up the splines with moly grease not paste as the shop manual calls for. He told me they use it on all their final drives and it sticks well. I had both paste and grease at my house as the first time I lubed the splines myself I used grease due to not reading the manual so well. When I got home I used the moly grease on the shaft side of the final drive and put her back together.  I will see what she looks like the next time I change the tire.  I really don't think it makes a huge difference what you use as long as the splines get some lube at each tire change.

Ok, I just got a call from the guy working on my bike, it was the driveshaft that went bad. He said it had absolutely no grease what-so-ever and it more than likely came from the factory like that. Next I asked him about scheduled maintenance, he said lubing the final drive splines every 10k is a must for these bikes and suggested the driveshaft splines be done about every other tire change. Duh, that's something you guys have been preaching to me from the very beginning.

If you detect a note of happyness it's because the bill was less than $300 dollars, I figured I'd end up having to shell out close to three times that much before I'd see my bike again. Now it's time I get in contact with Honda to see what they have to say about all of this.

KC, Mr. Wizard, Peter, Valker, Valkmc, Vman, I'd like to personally thank everyone for their help, their opinions and their postings, this has been a real learning experience for me.

`99CT/blk&orange.......and it runs now!

Mac

[Valker]

Now that yours is working...let's go for a ride!:D

........can we wait until the weather warms up a bit, and what's half way between Texas and California?
Mac

[Valker]

...between Houston and Los Angeles is El Paso. Halfway between Texarkana and San Diego is Odessa.
Of course, halfway between Amarillo and LA is Gallup, NM....we may not WANT to eat!:eek:
I am supposed to be working in CA some this summer. I'll let you know as the summer nears.

I don't want to tie the forum up, or get off topic so I'll keep this short.
Valker, e-mail me when you know for certain what days you'll be out this way, I'll take some time off and hopefully we can hook up. I'm registered with this site, but I haven't gotten my e-mail yet to confirm so there's certain things I can't access (member's e-mail addys)
Mac
mccmax@aol.com

[Valker]

Valker1(at sign)hotmail.com

Big Mac here.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays, and with that said here's what I found out when the weather finally cleared long enough for me to pick my bike up at the shop.

It was the splined end of the driveshaft that fits into the rearend and the piece that connects that end of the driveshaft to the rearend, the pinion joint, both had to be replaced. We talked maintenance after that and he said he doesn't know who was working for Honda between the years of `98 & `99 but in his words they must have been afraid of grease because mine was bone dry and he said that's been a common site for Valks & Goldwings around those years.:wasntme:

Now that the holidays are over starting next week I'll be calling Honda's  customer service dept. to see what they have to say about all this. Could there have been some bulletins sent out concerning this problem that maybe a few of us weren't informed of?

I'm hoping they'll reimburse me for the price of the parts, but if anything I'll at least get to voice my opinion about how I feel when a component is only good for 17k miles because it left the factory, and the dealership without proper prepping. And speaking of dealers, how I was treated by "An Authorised Honda Dealer" is going to be another topic of conversation, and it won't be in a complementary manner either.

Anyway, the bike's home, it runs as good as ever and the rearend is tighter now than when I first bought it. I'll post again when I find out what Honda has to say.

Motor easy............Mac

Hello everyone, Big Mac here.

I just thought I'd bring all those interested up to date as to how I've been making lately.

I called the Honda Corporation on 1-5-04, talked to a man named Mike and right off the bat he told me a couple things I didn't know....
1). my Valkyrie had a 3 yr. warrantee, unlimited miles.
and,
2). Honda has the right to refuse service to anyone regardless of warrantee or not.

We talked a bit, I pleaded my case, he said he had no explanation for the way I was treated by the Honda dealer, he took down some information, then said he'd get back to me.

Two weeks later he called me back to say as it looks right now it's definitely a warrantee issue, but he's having a problem getting an OK because the work wasn't done by (here we go again) "An Authorized Honda Dealer". I refreshed his memory about what had happened when I did "I tried, they kept it almost two weeks, then told me to come get it because they didn't have room to work on it", he said for me to fax him the bill and he'd take it to his manager and get back to me.

OK, this morning (another two weeks later) I got curious so I called to make sure they'd received the fax I'd sent and this is what I was told. Mike said he talked to the district manager for my area, he's familiar with the place that ended up doing the repair work on my bike so now the district manager's going to talk to the Honda dealer I originally took the bike to to see what their side of the story is, then he'll get back to me.

On an up note, the bike is a real beauty and I can't wait for some warmer weather so I can put on a few miles......are you listening Valker?

[Valker]

I still haven't heard about working out there yet-i will keep you posted as I am READY for some miles.

['KC']

Well, with all the talk of drivelines, I had a slight vibration in mine last week, I went to the dealer with it.
I told them that I was thinking maybe it was the wheel bearing. They gave me a look like (yea, right). The wheel bearing went out on my '99 at 48-49K and it had a horrible klunk, I thought that I had dropped a tooth on the final drive.
This '00 has almost 42K on it, and after a quick inspection, the said that they found metal bits near the rear axle, and thought that it was the wheel bearing.
Turns out that the problem was the small bearing on the left side, it was the thrust bearing on the right side that went on my '99.
They replaced both bearings, and had it ready about 5hrs. after I came in.
The bill was nada; all covered under warranty. Sweet.

You just gotta love it when a plan comes together, you have a problem, they take care of it not only in a timely mannor, but at no charger, it doesn't get any sweeter than that. :yougo:

Big Mac

Today I received what I think will be my last and final call from Honda.

The district manager for my area is familiar with Wing Nuts, the shop that did the work on my Valk, said they have a reputation for doing quality work, then when he found out the bill was under $300 dollars he said for Honda to cut me a check for the full amount. Not bad considering I offered to pay for labor if Honda would cover the price of parts.

On a down note, Mike, the guy handling my claim, said today was going to be his last day working for Honda, he's accepted a position with Toyota.

I thanked Mike several times for all his help, then wished him good luck with his new job.:rockon:

Thanks again to all those that posted and hopefully in the future my posts will be on an up note.

Big Mac