• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Drive splines

T

tom203

Forum Guru
Past Site Supporter
Remind me again...the wheel drive spline on the 82 shafties were weak..what color?
 
Silver are the weak ones.
I replaced mine (850g) at 27,000 miles.
 
Not to argue with Norm, but I was going to say the original 1982 ones were golden colored.
The new replacements are more silver.

ppYLz9s.jpg
 
Last edited:
Lots of info about this in the archives...

Very first generation wheel splines were recalled. Something about the studs. These were black oxide colored.
2nd version were good, also black oxide.
Goldish colored version were next. Not sure what year they came to be but 1981 maybe? Those are the worst and they were not superseded until a number of years passed.
The current service parts are silver colored and seem robust.
 
Yup, black, then gold, then silver. Avoid the gold.

The silver ones are still available as NEW. :encouragement:

.
 
I'm truly not trying to cause confusion or mislead anyone. I understand the new good ones are silver. But in my 1982 850g it had a silver one that stripped out. I replaced it with a black one from a 1979 850g. I'm not sure why I just didn't buy a brand-new one... Anyway, to the original poster. Just buy a new one from Suzuki and you'll be golden. 👍
 

Attachments

  • 20181010_061238.jpg
    20181010_061238.jpg
    96.2 KB · Views: 0
Thanks guys... I picked up a spare wheel assembly off a 83 gs650.. The splines appear to be silver, but seem to be less robust than what's currently on my bike now..though they aren't chewed up like redman's gold pic. At next tire change, I will compare .
 
It's very hard to tell the difference between the bad gold splines and a newer silver spline unless you have them both in front of you. IIRC, the new ones seem to have a more "machined" finish than a "cast" surface texture.

The part is still in production and being used on new Suzukis -- the 800cc "Boulevard" cruisers. It's up to about $150 these days, I think.

But with a little cross-referencing, you'll find it was used on tons of Suzuki shafties over the last 39 years, so it's not too hard to find good driven splines and rear wheels containing good driven spline units.
 
"But with a little cross-referencing, you'll find it was used on tons of Suzuki shafties over the last 39 years, so it's not too hard to find good driven splines and rear wheels containing good driven spline units."​

Yes, I was looking for a spare rear wheel assembly..and this caught my eye. The spline surface is nicely machined, so I probably lucked out.
 
I once bought a rear wheel on fleaBay, then messaged the seller telling him I only wanted the driven spline; I'd pay the same amount, but he was welcome to relist, keep, or scrap the wheel.

He was quite happy to remove the spline and deal with far less crap and expense shipping it to me.

No idea what he did with the wheel. There's not much market for alloy GS wheels. They're incredibly heavy compared to modern motorcycle wheels, but they're also incredibly strong and wearing high-profile tires. So GS wheels very rarely get damaged unless it's in a serious crash where the rest of the bike probably isn't salvageable either.

On most modern bikes like a V-Strom, the wheels get damaged all the time by relatively minor impacts so you'll get top dollar quickly if you have a good wheel to sell.
 
Old gold, new black is what I did a few years ago. Check out the razorthin edge on the gold (on the right)!

 
Kerry, the gold one would be the original 82 one that was superseded by the current silver (more machined looking) ones. Good that you changed that out. Razor thin edge remaining, you say, I cant see it, would think is completely stripped out.

But, I think that black looking one would be an older one like 79-80(?)-81(?), like Steve said above.
 
Last edited:
I keep a spare rear drive, complete, on the shelf, wrapped up in a towel. I'll most likely never need it.
 
Redman said:
Kerry, the gold one would be the original 82 one that was superseded by the current silver (more machined looking) ones. Good that you changed that out. Razor thin edge remaining, you say, I cant see it, would think is completely stripped out.

But, I think that black looking one would be an older one like 79-80(?)-81(?), like Steve said above.
Click to expand...
I harvested the replacement part out of a wheel I bought on ebay for $30, and that included the shipping! Can't beat that!!

Here's the story: https://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?165766-Engine-won-t-engage
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top