Right. ..PO woes..welded the drive shafts. .. anybody seen this before?

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Thunderdome74
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Right. ..PO woes..welded the drive shafts. .. anybody seen this before?

#1

Post by Thunderdome74 »

Hi everyone.

I have a 76 gl1000, only 38000km on the clock. She's got everything there and untouched just in derelict condition.(so I believed).

So during an engine removal for a restore i went to loosen the circlip by the drive knuckle but some numpty welded the splined part of the drive shaft onto the output shaft of the engine (inside the knuckle).

I remembered amongst the extras I got with the bike an exploded and torn knuckle.

So I have the engine out now with the drive shaft still attached.

Questions for you guys
Have you heard of this happening before? What would cause it?
2 up over a speedbump in high revs?
(Wheel catches and strips/explodes knuckle)

Do you think it stripped the output shaft of its splines?
Is the drive shaft supposed to move along the engine output splines as the suspension does its thing?
Can I leave it welded?
(To get it it's gonna mean removing the rear casing)
and I would love some opinions on this?

Sigh... but I should count myself lucky everything else has been pretty good

Thanks guys

Thor
1982 GL1100 (sold), 1976 GL1000 , 1977 GL1000 Bobber , 1978 CB750 cafe racer , 1969 CB750 , 1953 BMW R25/3 , 2006 VFR 800(sold) ,2005 St1300(sold),1979 CBX 1000, 2014 Triumph explorer 1200
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Re: Right. ..PO woes..welded the drive shafts. .. anybody seen this before?

#2

Post by Shadowjack »

Can't see how that could have failed at that low mileage. I doubt there was a stress-induced failure, but it could have had a flaw. Doubt if it stripped the splines; there's no movement there.
If he had a welder but no snap-ring pliers....people have done some strange things.
If it's working all right, you might just leave it alone. You can get replacement output shafts cheap, but you can only get used driveshafts with ujoints of unknown condition.
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Re: Right. ..PO woes..welded the drive shafts. .. anybody seen this before?

#3

Post by Whiskerfish »

I suspect they destroyed or lost the cir clip and did that just to get the bike rolling again. Forward and afterward movement of the coupling on the output shaft is very small. The main flex occurs at the back end that goes onto the final drive. Early shafts did have some failure history. Here in the States where used parts are easy to come by I would replace both the driveshaft and the output coupling, but I think you would probably be OK to use that setup the way it is.
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Thunderdome74
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Re: Right. ..PO woes..welded the drive shafts. .. anybody seen this before?

#4

Post by Thunderdome74 »

Fantastic, i will keep an eye out for spares but will reassemble the way it is.

I have been riding it (albeit not enough) and she has been running like a champ. So if i can avoid engine disassembly and just do the cosmetics that is welcome news indeed.

Thanks again guys

Thor
1982 GL1100 (sold), 1976 GL1000 , 1977 GL1000 Bobber , 1978 CB750 cafe racer , 1969 CB750 , 1953 BMW R25/3 , 2006 VFR 800(sold) ,2005 St1300(sold),1979 CBX 1000, 2014 Triumph explorer 1200
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Re: Right. ..PO woes..welded the drive shafts. .. anybody seen this before?

#5

Post by ericheath »

I know others who’ve left the circlip off, found out it is needed as the knuckle will come off the output shaft in the right conditions.

I’m wondering if the PO got a 1200 output shaft, thought it was the same at first glance, but doesn’t have the groove for the circlip. Their way of holding it together was a little weld.
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77 WING, 1200 engine with 77 heads, cams, gl1100 foot pegs, Magna V65 front end, 764A carbs, [-gone Suzuki M109 monoshock--, replaced with gl1100 shocks] gl 1200 swing arm, gl1500 final drive, wheel and rear brakes Valkyrie seat, Meanstreak tank, Sportster pipes, Power Arc ignition off crank.
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