Refinishing the differntial

[delling3]

I want to refinish the differential on my 76. I know many of you have done this. Going to paint - Sunnbobb's polished diffs are pretty but too much bling will draw attention to the other less than perfect aspects of my ride!

Going to paint with the same duplicolor paint used for the engine. While the diff is off the bike, should I do anything else (other than changing the gear lube)? Haven't had any issues, but if some maintenance is in order, please let me know. Also, is it best to mask off the differential for paint, or is it easier to simply disassemble?

[Whiskerfish]

I would not do anything else. It is one of those items that has a failure rate in the millions of hours I think. I suspect more have been thrown away due to spline wear because improper lubrication than anything else.

[CYBORG]

i agree with Whiskerfish. Mask off the splines, and be sure they are clean and lubed good when it goes back together

[Norbert R]

I've just done mine. Used paint stripper on the old clearcoat then wire brushed the casing. Then polished the shock mount and oil cap. Nice contrast I thought, not too bling

image.jpg (78.81 KiB) Viewed 384 times

[sunnbobb]

I wish more folks would do this. I hate polishing finals!! Been working on one the past week.. Tired arms!

[Kroosa]

If you are talking about the one my buddy sent you, all I can say is that I really really tried to talk him out of it. Sorry about the tired arms man!

[Kroosa]

And more to the point Norbert, that rear diff sure looks great.

[Sidecar Bob]

I hate to sound picky when everything else I would have wanted to say was already said but this is something that really bugs me: Bikes have final drives, NOT differentials. A differential is a device that allows driven wheels on opposite sides of a vehicle to rotate at different speeds while the vehicle is turning. A final drive is just a set of gears that alters the direction of rotation by 90 degrees.

[CYBORG]

Point taken sidecar. And finial drive is easier to spell then differential

[Sidecar Bob]

Yeah. That too

[robin1731]

How about, rearend?

[Sidecar Bob]

I don't know about that. In my mind the rear end includes everything from the swingarm back. Besides, Honda and most other manufacturers call it Final Drive.

[robin1731]

I don't know about that. In my mind the rear end includes everything from the swingarm back. Besides, Honda and most other manufacturers call it Final Drive.

yeah, I think of the whole thing pretty much past the swingarm pivot point when I hear rearend too. Final drive is probably the easiest to remember. And to spell too.

[CYBORG]

I agree, finial drive is the correct name.