V11 sport drive shaft

[nsmith]

2000 V11 sport, changing rear tire so I figure its U-joint lube time. How the hell do I get the shaft out? Looks like the whole swing arm has to come with it.

[2dogs]

Yep, my advice would be to join the hive at V11lemans.com

[nsmith]

the "hive" at V11 LaMans  didn't help

[Motormike]

The V11 I used to own had zerk fittings on both universal joints, plus the slide coupling.  The front one was a pain to get to. Had to remove the wheel and used a rigid grease extension.

[Littlefield]

I Googled ‘remove v11 sport driveshaft’ and quite a bit of stuff came up.

[Chuck in Indiana]

the "hive" at V11 LaMans  didn't help

You must have done something wrong. I searched driveshaft on V11lemans.com and got 657 results. As far as I know, there is not a V11 sport problem that hasn't been solved there.

[Motormike]

Still not sure why you want to remove the shaft.  Doesn't your V11 drive shaft have grease fittings like the one I owned did.  Never once pulled the shaft on mine and I greased the u-joints several times.  Like I said, that front one was a PITA to get to, but could be done with the rear wheel off so you could reach it from the rear of the bike.

[john fish]

No need to remove the drive shaft.  Use this for the forward grease fitting:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/CARBYNE-4-inch-Grease-Gun-Needle-Nozzle-Adapter/586753940?classType=REGULAR&adsRedirect=true

Or a bent one:

https://tinyurl.com/Bent-needle-thingy-link

It can spin out a lot of grease if you're messy.  IIRC (I sold my 2000 V11 Sport a while ago), some people will put some duct tape around the guard to check the grease.  I could be wrong about that.  :)

On a positive note, the V11 Sport was the last Truly Great Goofy Guzzi.  The last one designed in Mandello, I think.

[Motormike]

On a positive note, the V11 Sport was the last Truly Great Goofy Guzzi.  The last one designed in Mandello, I think.

On occasion, I miss mine.  But I was totally over the whole nylon fuel tank/ethanol gas thing. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Nope. You can't grease the front without pulling the driveshaft on the 2000 V11S.
The Kid said he couldn't do it on his Greenie at the time, so I tacked it with a grin. After all, I had done it on the 02 Scura many times.
I couldn't do it either. 

[john fish]

Nope. You can't grease the front without pulling the driveshaft on the 2000 V11S.
The Kid said he couldn't do it on his Greenie at the time, so I tacked it with a grin. After all, I had done it on the 02 Scura many times.
I couldn't do it either. 

Nope.  I've done it.

[Aldo]

Nope. You can't grease the front without pulling the driveshaft on the 2000 V11S.
The Kid said he couldn't do it on his Greenie at the time, so I tacked it with a grin. After all, I had done it on the 02 Scura many times.
I couldn't do it either. 

I have done it successfully without removing the driveshaft on both 00' V11 Sports I've owned.

[pressureangle]

the "hive" at V11 LaMans  didn't help

I didn't see any query there.

V11lemans.com

There are 2 bolts on each end yoke securing them to the splined shafts. Remove them with a straight 6mm allen, evenly rather than one all at a time. When they go back in, you have to be very careful to start the threads correctly; they're fine thread, hard to reach, and easy to cross-thread. Be certain the joint phasing is aligned after separating the halves and lubing the splines- the zerk doesn't do a good job alone. iirc they torque to ~35 lbs-ft, but verify that. There are a number of driveshaft-related threads on the V11 forum.

[nadab_sardar]

Neil, you can lube that front joint without pulling the shaft, but it's fiddly. Aldo and John have both done it on their 2000 V11 Sports. Pull the rear wheel (you're already doing the tire) and use a long needle-nose or bent grease fitting adapter to reach the forward zerk from the back. Go slowly with the gun, because it will push grease out if you overdo it.

If you'd rather pull the shaft anyway, pressureangle's steps above are right. Just be careful starting the fine threads on those end yoke bolts, and check the joint phasing when you put it back together. While it's apart you can lube the splines properly too, which a zerk alone doesn't do well.