Drive shaft grease

[bofler]

This grease sitting here when you pull off the rear wheel, does it need to be cleaned out? Should I put more in, and if so, is it just a multi-purpose type of grease? Or is this the grease that gets pumped in through the zerk fitting?

[OldguyGlen]

The pic shows the PO did a good job of greasing the splines. That's a good sign. The safe recommendation is clean it out and apply high moly grease - Honda M77. The grease you put into the zerk nipple can be normal grease, which does NOT flow into this spline area.

[bofler]

Thanks for the reply! Well, that pic is one I snagged from the rear wheel removal page here, haha. But my splines also look like they're in really good shape still, thankfully. The grease sitting where the arrows are pointing, I guess that is old "normal" grease that was pumped into the fitting before. The moly paste seems to be much heavier than this soft stuff. Do you clean out the old soft stuff? It's pretty deep in there and don't want to muck around in places I can't see very well if not necessary.

Another related question, the o-ring you can see in the photo, mine is looking kinda rough. I think this is #36 on the parts diagram sheet. Have you ever swapped out this o-ring? It's actually flat on the inner side, and seems to be hard to find these days. I'm thinking to try to locate a similar sized ring at an auto parts or hardware store, but probably won't have the flat side. Just wondering if OEM on this ring is really necessary or not.

[OldguyGlen]

If the old grease is the soft, brown or bluish, or redish regular grease then clean it out. You don't need to go overboard, some residue in the cavity would be ok. Clean the splines carefully and apply the hi-moly grease.
The o-ring is hard to find. I just did my '80 GL1100. Factory spec is 47 mm x 2.5 mm. They are hard to find. Ace Hardware has 1-7/8 " x 3/32 " SAE dimension for under $2. Close enough... works well.
I have seen other threads claim the spec is 60 mm vs. 47 mm...confusion. Must be different year variations. Measure the actual O-ring groove to be sure.

[bofler]

I think you're right. The o-ring is 47mm. I measured my mangled one and it's definitely smaller than 60mm. Thanks!

[bofler]

OldguyGlen, did you perhaps own a 1983 regal brown GL1100 in the past? The reason I ask is that I have a sort of "diary" for my bike that was kept by the PO and he notes that the original owner was from Mound, Minnesota. Saw your location and a little light went off in my head. Or maybe everyone in Mound owns a Goldwing...

[OldguyGlen]

No, I didn't own a '83 GL1100. But Mound is a relatively small town west of Minneapolis, around 8000 people. If you have a name, I might know the original owner. There are some Wings... I got mine from a neighbor. I'm not surprised you noticed the possible link. Just shows Wingers are a bit brighter than the general population. There are more Dark Side riders in Mound. But they are friendly and willing to talk to me... so long as I don't bug them about wearing a helmet.