Universal Joint Maintenance

Servicing the U-Joint for the FJR1300 is very straight forward. It's easy to access when servicing the driveline splines and, because of that, ought to be considered part of that job. You're already in that area anyway, so why not. The following steps are shown on a 2003 model (non-ABS). There may be some differences between ABS and non-ABS when removing the wheel (consult your shop manual if you have questions), but the rest should be the same. In the photos I have the mufflers removed because I was doing other projects. You do not have to remove them to service either the drive shaft or the u-joint.

The detailed steps are:

1. Remove the rear wheel

2. Pull the final drive assembly - As described in Drive Shaft Splines maintenance

3. Remove dust cover (#3, 2 fasteners hold it) and dust seal (#4, 1 quick fastener)

the dust cover in my hand and the dust seal still in place over the u-joint
(as you can see, the dust cover is a little different than show in the diagram)

 

The arrow points to the u-joint with the dust seal still in place

 

The u-joint with the dust cover and dust seal removed

 

4. Slide the u-joint off the output shaft

- No special tools required; just slide it off the output shaft by hand

The u-joint removed; covered in 25,000 miles of road grime (why wait this long?)

 

5. Clean the u-joint with something that won't attack the bearing seals

I use WD-40, a tooth brush, and cotton swabs

The internal splines litterally shined when clean

 

6. Clean the output shaft splines and the surrounding area (as in #5)

7. Clean the dust cover and dust seal (as in #5)

8. Lube all splines with an appropriate high-pressure moly grease

I personally recommend Honda Moly 60 Paste

9. Reassemble in reverse order

The final drive assembly, with proper torque specs is detailed here
The rear wheel re-installation is detailed here