Spline Lubrication - No HondaPro 60 Moly Available!

Pulled my rear wheel off for the first time to have the dealer mount a new tire this weekend. I figured while i had it off I'd do the rear spline and shaft lubrication mentioned on the FJRTech site. It specifically mentions using the HondaPro stuff is the best for the job so I figured I'd pick some up at the dealer when I dropped the tire off.

Of course they were out of it. I really wanted to do the service and put it back together this weekend. I talked with a tech and asked if I could just use some wheel barring

grease. He said it would be fine so that's what I used. Seems to run smooth.

Question for you guys who may be more in the know... Does using wheel barring grease sound ok? Is the other stuff really that much better?

Should I make a point of pulling the tire off again and re-doing when I can get the HondPro grease?

Thanks for any insight on this.

Mike

Question for you guys who may be more in the know... Does using wheel barring grease sound ok? Is the other stuff really that much better?

Should I make a point of pulling the tire off again and re-doing when I can get the HondPro grease?

Yes, immediately! You should set up caution tape, notify your regional HazMat response team, and wear a Tyvec suit until it's changed!

The point is to have a light bit of lubrication to prevent rusting. I'm sure most any grease will work do the job.

Anything is better than nothing. I just use lithium grease from walmart and it seems to work great. I've never heard of a failure in that area of the bike on this forum ever so the fact that the vast majority of FJR's out there that have never been lubed are working fine makes me think it's not a huge issue what brand of grease we use.

ONLY USE THIS:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/LUC-10484

The Honda Moly 60 paste is recommended because it stays put under heat and pressure.

As bullet proof as the Gold Wind final drive is, there are those who didn't mind their splines and eventually ended up with costly repairs (not just rust). With generations of the bike and decades of experience behind the design, there's a reason that specific spline lube has become the gold standard. Failing to maintain your equipment may work fine for 30k miles. It may even get by for a many with double that mileage and neglect. But if you want a shaft drive system to be trouble free for 200k miles (or even the 400k that I know 1 or 2 people who did) then caring for your equipment is vital. Then there's the old school position that spending that kind of money on your bike and neglecting it is poor stewardship and wasteful of your investment. How many months do you have to work to pay for you bike? Why throw it down a rat hole when routine maintenance is so well documented?

Certainly something is better than nothing. But the high-moly content paste is even better and is available on line. Plan ahead for your next service and have some on hand.

https://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=honda+moly+60&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&gbv=1&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=12298376996554914989&output=nojs

or

https://tinyurl.com/c3cb4qm

Thanks all for the feedback...

I use a Valvoline Moly grease I bought at AutoZone for probably half what the Honda Moly costs.

I'm not sure what I use... it's a molly paste 70% or so they say.

Great for higher end "spring type"airguns though.. keeps the wear down and adds a few feet per second.

Actually It's the same stuff crinkle dik zilla uses.

HotRodZilla said:

I use a Valvoline Moly grease I bought at AutoZone for probably half what the Honda Moly costs.

Click to expand...

+1; I bought a tube of moly grease at my local Napa store for ~$5. I figure that'll last until my wife settles the estate....

We have debated this here before if you do a search. Splines generate a lot of heat, and Honda ST's and Goldwings definitely require moly 60 lube at tire changes. I got ugly pictures of worn splines. The FJR's maybe have harder metal or slightly different design, however, I would not think twice about lubing the rear splines with Moly 60. Regular greases or greases with only 3% moly aren't good enough IMHO. Spend the $11 for the good stuff and check at every tire change. The tube will last you a lifetime as you only need a coating......

SECA_to_FJR said:

Thanks all for the feedback...

Click to expand...

Next time you lube the splines, take a few minutes and do the front end splines too. Some say it's overkill but WTH, why not?

Getting in there and cleaning up the u-joint can't hurt either.

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/ujoint/uj.html

I know just the ticket. I bet the guys on the BMW forum know a thing or two about spline lube so here is how they answer the question. :yahoo:

Reading these forums is a great way to get edumacated on the best way to maintain our beloved Feejers, but sometimes a person can get pretty alarmed from some of the horror stories. I just finished my 16K service on my '11 (she's 10 months old now). I had a new set of PR3s installed, and while the back wheel was off, I pulled the driveshaft to clean & lube the splines that are so wretched looking on the FJRTech site. The splines on my bike were very nicely lubed, and so were the driven splines in the pumpkin. My thought is maybe someone at Yamaha has been reading these threads and made corrections along the way. Also, I sprayed the shaft with Boeshield T-9 as a rust preventive measure. It works wonders on my cast iron tablesaw tops, and won't pick up dirt like grease will. Bottom line, those of us with newer models can breathe a little easier when reading about all the 'gotchas' from the older bikes. Guess Yamaha made most of their mistakes on Gen 1s.

I use this, Loctite Moly Paste. Some stores have it but I got mine online.

https://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=loctite+moly+paste&gbv=2&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=4501232368241099444#

The data sheet[1] says it's 65% moly which means it's at least as much as the Honda Moly 60[2] Paste. That means if it's cost-competitive and at least as easy to find/order as the Honda stuff[3] we appear to have a good option out there now.

Good find.

[1] https://tds.us.henkel.com//NA/UT/HNAUTTDS.nsf/web/A1A6CD26FBD6F879882571870000DBB5/$File/MolyP-EN.pdf

[2] Which clocks in at 60%

[3] Assuming the carrier base (the remaining 35%) is as beneficial/inert as Honda's (40%)