Bad U joint & drive shaft

Hello everyone! I have been lurking on this site for quite some time now as I have been looking for a trike for a while. I found a '99 motor trike with just over 17,000 miles on it. It appears to be in excellent condition and well taken care of. I took it for a ride and felt a little bit of vibration on acceleration. The owner has had it checked out and just told me that it has a bad universal joint and so they are going to replace the joint and the drive shaft to be sure everything is okay. Wouldn't it be pretty unusual for a u joint to go bad with that low mileage on a Trike? The bike was triked when new by the way. Could this be an indication of poor maintenance? The trike sounded good and looked immaculate. Should I turn and run? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

wdy41 - there are several things that could have effected the u-joint. Hard accelerations, lubrication, rough roads are a few. Test ride it again after the repair. If it still has the vibrations then I would seriously reconsider. Hard to make a call without seeing it. I'm sure some of the guys here have experienced this and will chime in.

I don't know about motor trike but I have a cal side car conversion and it has a greese zerk in the back ujoint and it needs greese al the time like every2000 miles or it will squeek. !!!!

We had a 94 1500 motortrike with 17000 miles on it. The u-joint felt a little loose when we first got it, but we rode it another 6000 miles and it had to be replaced. That and the alternator went out, but other than that, it was a great trike. We went to the 1800 because we got a good deal on it, but the 1500 was still a good trike when we traded it.

imho a ujoint should not be effected by hard accel, bad roads, the elements, etc etc. unless the joint is too small for the aplication, how many mile do you get on a car or truck befor they go?? and many dont have a grease fitting!!

no grease and to much of an angle are the worst enemies for a u joint
and the certainly should go more milage than 17k

i have over 40k on my v max original u joint and over 20k of that was after i made a trike out of it!

and i run the snot out of it, i pull a camper, and seldom run less than 70 - 75 on the highway

my 2 cents

stace

wdy41. welcome aboard. You do not mention what the MC was. With a drive shaft I'm thinking Honda GW but a 1550 or 1800? I have heard and read that they have to have the shaft installed a certain way for alignment or they will vibrate. If they due vibrate it will cause wear. If you replace the joint and the shaft is installed correctly the issue should be resolved. If the price is right I would not be stopped by the situation.

good point the knuckles must be phased or timed right or they WILL vibrate

the "u" on the end should line up or "be timed" exactly the same as opposite end

Thinking it is a goldwing 1500, the driveshaft comes out on the right side of the engine, and the pumkin on the MotorTrike GW conversion is in the middle of the trike. This gives an angle to the driveshaft, and there will be a vibration if it is "out of time". For more detailes, check out this most excellent work by TT member kj5ix, a MT manual. Driveshaft vibration is covered under Preventive Maintenance

[url]http://www.junkmaster.com/kj5ix/MTServiceManual.pdf[/url]

Keep the shaft lined up right, splines and u-joints lubed with Moly 60 from Mother Honda (semi hard to find elsewhere) and you will have a happy driveshaft.

Thank you all for the replies. It is a 1500 Goldwing with a Motor Trike Conversion. Being new to the trike world, I'm not sure what to look for as far as wear on the conversion. Everything else seems clean and nothing looks worn or abused. I was actually surprised to hear it was a universal joint. I'm ready to take the leap, but don't want to buy a bucket of problems and have my first experience turn sour. We love our wing, but we're ready to try 3 wheels for a number of reasons. Thanks for the welcome by the way.

You are wise to be sure before you buy. Triking is great fun! You will love it :D.
Welcome to TrikeTalk!!!!

wdy41 If you are all ready a wing owner then you are used ti what is ging on from the seat forward. All a trike conversion is a normal mc with the rear wheel and rear body work removed. A sub-frame is attached to the mc and in it is a straight axle a modified auto rear end is attached to the subframe and then covered with body work. The diring of the differential from the mc is what can be tricky up it's not that complicated. Use your mc esperience to evaluate the basic bike as you would if you were buying it as a motorcycle. The trike part look the subframe and body over real good. It's basic so if it looks good it probably is. If they is a shop around see if it can be taken there for an expert opinion.