Always pull the spline hub to inspect

[twr1776]

I was prepping my 1100 for the Fennimore rally last night and had not had the tire off for about 10K. (Elite 3's wear like iron BTW ) I pulled the tire and the spline appeared to have some wear but it was hard to see while still attached to the wheel and from the outside looked like this. I was figuring I could make the last big trip of the year and replace it over the winter.



I left it overnight and this morning thought what the heck I only have six more bolts to remove to give it a real inspection. This is what I found.




BWringer loaned me his rally spare (almost new silver one) last weekend just in case mine was bad so needless to say I have already installed it and am now ready to go. (Thanks Brian) The 83's had the gold color hubs that were the softest of the three types Suzuki used and as near as I can tell the one I replaced was the OEM gold colored one. 37K is not bad but from now on I will pull the hub out every time I have the tire off to give it a full inspection.

[bwringer]

Glad you decided to take a closer look!

And all you shaftie people with 81-83 bikes... CHECK YER SPLINES! FOR REALS!

I talked to Tim on the phone before he took the splines out, and I think he would have sworn in a court of law that they were fine.

[bonanzadave]

Shoot ! I thought you had found a great deal on a new Bike garage.

[twr1776]

I am not sure if was the reflection or the garage lighting but they sure did not look that bad from the outside. All you need is some blue loctite on hand to re-assemble and you will at least know what you have left on them.

[TheCafeKid]

You HAVE TO TAKE THEM OUT to properly inspect them. The visible side when the wheel is removed never contacts the teeth in the final drive. Therefore, they'll always look great. And you cant really see deep enough or at enough of an angle to see the rest of the tooth, so, again, to inspect it and be SURE of what you're seeing, you need to go through the trouble of removing it.

[Steve]

I ... had not had the tire off for about 10K. (Elite 3's wear like iron BTW )

I would be interested in hearing how long the E3s last on your bike. I was going to put some on my wife's 850L last time, but the budget was tight and I went with another set of Hi-Max tires.

By the way, I have run THREE sets of E3s on my Wing, getting 21,000-23,500 on each set.
The set that got 'only' 21,000 was the last set, and I pulled them early because I did not think they would last for the duration of the trip I am on now.
They would have had to go another 4,000 miles or so, and only had 3/32" of tread left.

.

[twr1776]

Steve, I will let you know when I "finally" change them. Even with the 10K on them now, they look great and other than being slightly squared off because of the roads in my area I have been extremely happy with them. My guess is I will get at least 15K from them if I run them a fourth season but I would think they could go at least 18K easily on an L.

[Steve]

I would hope that they go longer than that. We got 14,xxx miles out of a set of Cheng Shin HiMax tires on my wife's 850L.
I would not expect tires that cost 3 or 4 times as much as them to last 3 or 4 times longer, but they should go more than 15-18,000.
And, ... I have gotten over 21-23,000 miles with them on my Wing.

.

[tomcat24551]

Is it just the splines in the wheel that wear in the affected models? How about the splines in the final drive in these models? Do they wear abnormally, too?

Tomcat

[twr1776]

Tomcat, it is usually the wheel hub splines only. I am pretty sure they were always "softer" than the final drive side and intended to be the sacrificial side since they are more easily replaced.

[tomcat24551]

Tomcat, it is usually the wheel hub splines only. I am pretty sure they were always "softer" than the final drive side and intended to be the sacrificial side since they are more easily replaced.

Thanks for the info. I'll check carefully next time wheel is off my '83.

Tomcat

[49er]

Thanks for the info. I'll check carefully next time wheel is off my '83.

Tomcat

You need to check both sets, if you are new to the bike. The pumpkin gears don't wear at the same rate as the wheel gear, but if a PO has been remiss with their gear lubrication for long periods, the driven gear will wear too. This is more likely on the later model diffs. I have repaired one of the late model high ratio 1100G diffs for the 850 and it has some wear on it's driven gear.