2003 motortrike SA - how do I remove the driveshaft ?

according to the motor trike maintenance manual, I'm supposed to pack the driveshaft splines with grease. I just got my 2003 motor trike SA about 3 weeks ago. yesterday I adjusted the lower right rear heim joint and leveled the trike. I also sprayed all of the heim joints with silicone grease. I'd like to remove the driveshaft and pack the splines with grease, but I dont know how to remove the driveshaft. can someone help please ? cheers

abefroman said:

according to the motor trike maintenance manual, I'm supposed to pack the driveshaft splines with grease. I just got my 2003 motor trike SA about 3 weeks ago. yesterday I adjusted the lower right rear heim joint and leveled the trike. I also sprayed all of the heim joints with silicone grease. I'd like to remove the driveshaft and pack the splines with grease, but I dont know how to remove the driveshaft. can someone help please ? cheers

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remove the 4 bolts holding the drive shaft to the front of the rear pumpkin.

take a big screwdriver and pry it away from the rear, then just pull down and out. it will come right off the back of the engine.'

i would grease all splines up at the front universal.

as far as putting it back on. make sure you joints line up correctly. i think the new shaft will only mate one way to go back togather.

just push it onto the splines on the engine and keep pushing untill you can get the back section back over the front of the pumpkin.

i think the bolts holding it on are 12 mm 12 point wrench.

thanks lonerider. I'm not sure if I have the old driveshaft or the newer one. is there anyway I can tell ? cheers

abefroman said:

thanks lonerider. I'm not sure if I have the old driveshaft or the newer one. is there anyway I can tell ? cheers

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newer drive shaft will have a green painted universal joint in the front where it goes into the rear of the engine. the splines on it will only go togather one way, so if you can't get it to slide unto the drive shaft, just keep turning it around till it mates up.

the old shaft will have the stock honda universal, and the drive shaft will go into it don't matter if your universals are lined up or not.

if your not sure of the line up of the universals. look at the yokes real good before removing the drive shaft.

they are oriented to not bind up.might be a good idea to take a paint pen or maybe a peice of tape and put a peice on the shaft and a peice on the front universal and mark them before removing. if you have the old shaft.

because if your anything like me. i'd forget how it lines up.

someone had a picture of one actually lined up but can't remember who.

old shaft

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/hspencer942/Clipboard01-2.jpg

New shaft

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/07/36/8e/07368e7d8b64816a542d23aa7a573d25.jpg

3W-lonerider said:

the old shaft will have the stock honda universal, and the drive shaft will go into it don't matter if your universals are lined up or not.

if your not sure of the line up of the universals. look at the yokes real good before removing the drive shaft.

they are oriented to not bind up.

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WHOA! I am having driveline vibration. I can tell someone has been working, silicone on the cover, etc.

Searched the forum for 'Motortrike driveshaft' and got to this thread.

Read your post at work and it made me wonder.....is mine phased correctly? :shock:

Now I got home and put the trike up to get under...and mine is out of phase. :gah: Couldnt get a good pic installed, pulling it now to see if phasing it correctly helps.

LOT of knowledge on the forum...search is my friend.

Volkemon said:

WHOA! I am having driveline vibration. I can tell someone has been working, silicone on the cover, etc. Read your post at work and it made me wonder.....is mine phased correctly? :shock:Now I got home and put the trike up to get under...and mine is out of phase. :gah: Couldnt get a good pic installed, pulling it now to see if phasing it correctly helps.

LOT of knowledge on the forum...search is my friend.

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Whomever told you this " it don't matter if your universals are lined up or not."

Was unequivocally WRONG. I does matter, and you re experiencing the result of the NOT being lined up.

My advice call a motortrike dealer, and just order you a new driveshaft, trust me you are going to do it sooner or later and you might as well do it before you need it and have the old one off.

Lining up the splines can be a royal pain in the butt, its not simplistic but it can be done. ask someone can post Kj5x's excellent motortrike repair manual, it explains it very well there



But best case scenario, get the new one, you grease it up with black moly and away you go

cjmitch said:

Whomever told you this " it don't matter if your universals are lined up or not."

Was unequivocally WRONG. I does matter, and you re experiencing the result of the NOT being lined up.

My advice call a motortrike dealer, and just order you a new driveshaft, trust me you are going to do it sooner or later and you might as well do it before you need it and have the old one off.

Lining up the splines can be a royal pain in the butt, its not simplistic but it can be done. ask someone can post Kj5x's excellent motortrike repair manual, it explains it very well there



But best case scenario, get the new one, you grease it up with black moly and away you go

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No worries!

No one said the phase didnt matter, I just bought the bike like this. Pretty sure it was an issue that put the price down.

I had not considered the possibility until reading your post.

We just went for a ride, and its silky smooth to 80. Totally different ride.

Aligning the splines was easy, the %^$% spring makes it a challenge to install. Locked it down with a pair of small vice grips, and easy peasy.

Last wrench was putting moly grease everywhere like it was holy water on a possessed baby. :xzqxz: Its well lubed, and needs cleaning. Me too.

But wooooohooooo!! She is fixed.

I have a new driveshaft coming wednesday, and will put it in the spares bin. Bike is coming on 15 years old, and I plan to keep it for a while.

THANKS again for the inspiration. Made my day!

And Kj5x's excellent motortrike repair manual... Would love to see!!

Driveshaft Phaze

Correct phaze is important because if any angle is involved other than straight, there is a speeding up and slowing down twice per revolution of the driven yoke while the speed of the drive yoke remains steady. If just one U-joint is present, you just try to use it in as straight an application as possible. If two are present at either end of the shaft, you line them up back to back "in phase" so that the oscilations cancel each other out. It is also true that if not straight, this speed fluctuation increases with angle of change, so we try to cancel this out or equalize it by trying to keep angles as close as can be on a shaft, hence trying to keep out put shaft center line as near to parallel with the rear axle's pinion shaft center line.

Correct or best phase is:

engine --)-shaft-(-- rear

or it could be said that

engine -(--shaft--)- rear

where -( or )- represents a U-joint's yoke.

Ie: yokes back to back in the same plane on the same shaft.

Oh wait, here's a picture of …

… drive shafts.

cjmitch said:

Lining up the splines can be a royal pain in the butt, its not simplistic but it can be done. ask someone can post Kj5x's excellent motortrike repair manual, it explains it very well there

Click to expand...

Found this link on another thread, is this the repair manual you are referring to?

http://www.junkmaster.com/kj5ix/MTServiceManual.pdf

Thanks to Crystal Pistol! :good:

Volkemon said:

No worries!

No one said the phase didnt matter, I just bought the bike like this. Pretty sure it was an issue that put the price down.

Click to expand...

3d-lonerider did

Volkemon said:

I have a new driveshaft coming wednesday, and will put it in the spares bin. Bike is coming on 15 years old, and I plan to keep it for a while.

Click to expand...

Volkemon said:

And Kj5x's excellent motortrike repair manual... Would love to see!!

Click to expand...

pm me your email

Thank you sir!

Sending PM now.

EDIT - unable to PM you? Got this message-

""You do not have permission to correspond by personal message with:

cjmitch""



Found a wealth of info in the other one I found also. SO glad to have instructions...

We (Mrs V and I) both have the 'trike love' now! We had big rains all day, and couldnt go out riding when I got home. She (well...me a bit too...) was all pouty and we had to go drown our 'sorrows' in chicken wings and beer.

EDIT 2 - I remembered reading your signature..... and search didnt find it.

""no rake - never had it , never will""

I have never had 'rake' but was going to install a kit.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the modification.

THANKS again!

EDIT 3.... Oy... didnt realize this was the driveshaft thread, not the one I started. Maybe that question is better answered there to keep this on topic.

link - https://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/55731-2006-Motortrike-vtx1800-might-be-my-next-ride

I also thank you for your helpful post...............I just learned much, myself reading this...............

Now that winter's here and my "baby's" in hibernation mode, and jacked up off the floor, I've been getting extremely lazy, I believe it now time to crank up the wood stove in my garage, and get to work under my bike.... A few dabs of grease certainly would not hurt.....

I have already replaced oil and filter

I replaced radiator fluid with Honda's 50/50 brand

I replaced new front tire and while in there I also replaced front brakes (they were maybe 50% warn)

I replaced new battery (now on battery tender/for the winter season)

I place a rug down on floor, under the trike to keep condensation down from cement floor

and jack all (3) wheels up off floor (don't know if this really does anything to help the tires but I did it anyways)

gas stabilizer in fuel tank /and injectors

and with a good coat of wax on all the painted/and fake chrome, covered over with a nice warm blanket, she's sound asleep..Sheeeeeeeeee!

Ronnie