Final Drive

[sirjoshalot]

I have an 82 gs650. I was cruising around my old stomping ground (in first gear) and shifted from 1st to 2nd and there was nothing. The motor was still running but the bike was going nowhere. I coasted down to a parking lot (in neutral) and turned it off. I check to see is i lost any oil and it was dry. I had been riding for about a half hour with no problems. I put the bike on the center stand and started it again. I put it in first gear and slowly let the clutch out and there was a weird noise coming from the rear and the bike would not move. If you put your hand on the final drive you can feel something moving when the clutch is released and it is in gear. I ran threw all of the gears and the noise changes with each gear. Any Ideas? Thanks!

 

[jagdriver]

Pull back the boot at the front of the swingarm and see if the u-joint is turning. If the final drive gears had stripped it would have made a horrific noise and would have jerked a lot before it stopped. The transfer gears for the driveshaft on the output side of the transmission could fail also, but it would have been noisey also. The output shaft for the transfer gears are known for snapping off where the u-joint yoke bolts on. The nut could have snapped off and the u-joint splines fail. All of which are very bad news.

 

[Steve]

The '82s were known to have a weaker spline material, and few of these machines have been properly cared for, so they are likely trashed. The good news is that splines are relatively easy to change and likely did not cause any other damage.

You can pull the boot as jagdriver suggested, but you can also simply squeeze the boot to feel if the u-joint is turning. This will save the aggravation of getting the boot back on.

To change the splines, remove the rear wheel. On the drive side of the hub, remove the six bolts that hold the three keepers in place, slide the splines out. To install new splines, simply reverse these steps.

When you install your new splines, be sure to coat them with a modest coat of Moly grease. One of the best ones that is readily available is Honda Moly 60. Don't use any "moly" lube you are likely to find at Auto Zone, a grease only has to have 3 or 4% molybdenum disulfide to qualify as a "moly" lube. Honda Moly 60 has ... you ready for it? ... 60% moly in it, which is better for the splines.

Put a post in the "parts wanted" forum, I am sure somebody has an extra set. If not, go ahead and hit eBay, but try to limit your selection to black or silver splines, the gold ones are the weak ones from '82.

.

 

[tom203]

You likely need this! Do you feel lucky? My spline looked fine last spring

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161025879773?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[JTGS850GL]

You likely need this! Do you feel lucky? My spline looked fine last spring

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161025879773?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

No, that is not what you need. What you're describing is a classic case of warn out wheel splines. You'll need the splines on the wheel side, not the final drive side. Those are the ones that wear. The final drives almost never wear out.

Looks like this:

Mounts like this:

Pull the wheel as Steve suggested and observe the splines that mesh with the finial drive. Don't depend on what you initially see on the surface. The wear patter is a little deeper into the wheel hub and leaves the splines visible on the outside but they're gone in the middle where they mesh with the final drive.

Common part used on GS650G, GS850G, GS1000G and GS1100G as current part number: 64680-45113. Look for one from an 80 model and you'll never have to replace it again. The earlier stronger version is black in color. Yours is gold. Later models were silver. Gold was the worst of the bunch. Sometimes it's easier to purchase an entire rear wheel if the shipping good. Maybe get the seller to remove it and only ship what you need. There's one on ebay right now from a 1980 GS1000G:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/80-SUZUKI-G...Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f140e7c49&vxp=mtr

Replace the splines and use a high moly lubricant when you reinstall.

 

[Steve]

That is a GREAT price on that final drive unit (and free shipping, to boot), but the splines you need are in the wheel:

This picture is from that eBay wheel. You can tell it's an '80 wheel, the splines are black.

.

 

[tom203]

Boy, you guys are nitpickers! Here you go...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1981-SUZUKI...Parts_Accessories&hash=item56426dac75&vxp=mtr

 

[JTGS850GL]

Not to be picking nits again:tongue-new:, but that wheel has the dreaded gold splined drive unit. The one I posted is the older and more desirable black spline. I would never trust a used gold drive unit. Any of the driveshaft model GS's will fit but the older black units are the best. Does not have to be from a GS650G/GL.

 

[tom203]

Well, if you are sure you ain't just looking at rust colored spline..... Other parts all say 81 but who knows...

 

[Steve]

Tom, I am going to have to agree with JT on this one. :-k

Not only does it have the gold spline, it's not an '81 wheel.
They changed the spoke pattern for '82, that wheel has the new pattern.

.

 

[tom203]

Well ,what color is this spline on 83 wheel ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-suzuki...Parts_Accessories&hash=item27eb88d3aa&vxp=mtr

 

[JTGS850GL]

I believe that, that is the next generation silver. Better then the gold but still not as durable as the original black.

 

[1948man]

A lot of times you can get a whole wheel with splines as cheaply as just the splines separately. If an ebay search for splines doesn't yield much search for rear wheels.

 

[tom203]

I believe that, that is the next generation silver. Better then the gold but still not as durable as the original black.

good info here- thanks. Last fall a local guy had 80 or 81 rear wheel/disc off gs1000 for $40. I was looking for compatible disc and never thought about the spline stuff.

 

[jsandidge]

Absolutely stay away from 82 splines. I caught mine before it went, but there wasn't much left. I have a black one now from another member. It came from an 80 model. Shows no wear.

 

[MikeS]

I first registered on GSResources years ago when I had my '79 GS850G. I let long periods go by between posting and I think the board went through some changes since, when the head gasket failed at 75K (mas o menos, can't recall exactly) I bought a showroom condition '82 and went onto GSResources to share the good news. I couldn't find any of my old posts or any record that I had ever been registered. So I registered again. This would have been 2008. Upon getting back onto the forums, tirst thing I heard about regarding my new '82 is how doomed I was to being stranded when the gold wheel driven-gear inevitibly failed. I considered just changing out that gear, using the one on my old '79, but never got around to it. Based upon the strong opinions and suggestions regarding the gold metal gear, I was expecting, those first years, to have to do this at any moment. I remember one poster who was adamant on this issue . . . that the failure of that gear was certain and soon.


At my first rear tire change I took and posted pictures of that gear and it did show a little wear. One GS'r pointed out the small degree of wear that was showing and predicted it was well on its way to failure. That picture(s) and my other posts from that period disappeared with time along with my second membership on GSResources so I re-registered for the third time in September of last year. I'll look in some camera folders and see if I can't find the picture of the splines taken at that first tire change and re-post it.

At the time of that first tire change my tire guy just used normal axle grease. Second tire change, approximately 7K miles later, I brought him some moly grease but it wasn't the really good stuff I've since learned about on these forums.


Today was my third rear tire change and my tire guy said he found no additional wear since the last time he had the wheel off. Again I brought him some moly grease (but still not the good stuff). I'll get some by the next tire change. I didn't take a picture today since I dropped the bike off and wasn't around when he did the wheel, but I have talked to him about my concern with the gold metal driven gear in the wheel and reminded him today to please take a close look at things.


So here's the stats: It had 17K when I got the '82 and today it has 34K. I'd guess 80% - 85% of my driving is daily up and down through-the-gears driving. Urban, side street stop & go heavy acceleration. I'm guessing this would be more stressful to the gears than steady-state freeway driving.

My '82 had 17K miles when I got it and today, when I put my third rear tire on, it has 34K. Tire guy says it's showing no additional wear. His theory regarding the failures is that when these bikes came from the factory they had a light vaseline-like coating of gear grease. He supposes that many new final drives did not get re-lubricated when it came time to put a new tire on so a wear pattern got well established thanks to inept maintenance. Because the gears did not have an abundance of grease from the factory , some tire changers may have assumed it didn't need much. Many may have just forgot to lubricate the gears, especially if pressed for time. Just a guess on his part, but if the gold metal is indeed weaker than the silver or black metal, any lack of lubrication may have pushed it over the edge and led to early failure. The black and silver metal gears may be able to hold up better to lack of good lubrication.

It appears in my experience so far that with good lubrication the gold gear holds up fine. I'll report back in another 7K miles when I again have the wheel off (unless I get a flat in the meantime).


Mike
'79 GS850G - parts bike
'82 GS850G - daily driver

 

[tom203]

Might depend on driving techniques, but stuff about gold splines seems based on member's experience. My 81 gs650 spline looked surprising good at 43k-I lubed it at tire change , hoping it will outlast me!
if you don't post occasionally, you get dumped! Check in more often- I'm sure you can offer help/opinions to others.

 

[LarryJ]

On my '82 1100GK (powerful & heavy), I had to replace both the rear spline & the clutch hub nut. Both are metallurgical weak points. I got the bike about three years ago, with 23K on the clock. The clutch hub was already rattling then , & the wheel spline went within 500 miles of getting it running well.
Like some have suggested, I bought a whole 850 rear wheel, on eBay, for $40 including the spline. I wanted to eventually convert to a 17" rear wheel anyway.
In 7K miles since then, I have seen no wear on my black spline.I always use a molybdenum grease too.

 

[Grimly]

My '79 (140K) and my '80 (250K) both show no spline wear at all. Both on their original rear drive units, too.
Having said that, there's now a fair bit of backlash on the '80 unit - so might need rebuilt / replaced in the next couple of years.
I was a bit hacked off to find a spare wheel I bought recently came with a gold-coloured spline - and it's well worn, enough to be scrapped.

 

[Guest]

I have one off an 80 GS1000G if it will fit.