permanently lubed u joints??

[redrider90]

There is a nice 89 Cali III listed on Ebay. A question was asked about the u joints every being serviced. And the answer the owner gave was that the u joints were
"permanently" lubricated. Now was this just a slick way of saying they never have been replaced?  They still dry up and fail right?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moto-Guzzi-California-III-/221749026849?forcerrptr=true&hash=item33a145a021&item=221749026849

[Aaron D.]

The u joints have sealed bearings with no routine lubrication possible, short of dismantling. I can't think of any routine service for them, if/when they begin to fail they are either replaced or rebuilt.

[Wayne Orwig]

There is a nice 89 Cali III listed on Ebay. A question was asked about the u joints every being serviced. And the answer the owner gave was that the u joints were
"permanently" lubricated. Now was this just a slick way of saying they never have been replaced?  They still dry up and fail right?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moto-Guzzi-California-III-/221749026849?forcerrptr=true&hash=item33a145a021&item=221749026849

Generally speaking the u-joints ARE permanently lubed.
Splines are a different matter.

[redrider90]

Yep . And when is 63 too old to ride  ???

  Dusty

What's wrong Dusty....... gettin close are ya ;D

[Triple Jim]

The U-joints in my Dodge vans have grease fittings, and I give each one a shot about once a year.  It leaves a stripe of goo on the underside of the floor when the excess gets slung off, better than undercoating.  I haven't had to replace a U-joint since I started using the ones with grease fittings, and that was a few decades ago.  Too bad Guzzi U-joints don't have the fittings.  I'd squirt grease in every time I changed a rear tire.

[pete mcgee]

Grease nipples do make a difference.
I killed 2 uni joint in 6 months back in 1988.
Post mortem on the second one maybe 20,000 km old proved to me that Luigi was a lot sparing with the grease ie bugger all when he assembled it.
The obvious answer was more grease, but how to fit a grease nipple.
Well the only place to fit one was the flat of the bearing cap.
As I was working on UH1H Iroquois choppers at the time, they have these excellent flush mounting grease nipples on their swashplates, problem 1 solved.
Problem 2 was what to drill the hole with, into a bearing cap.
I believe it was a cobalt drill of the correct size.
Long story short.
If you grease them they will last.
The same uni I fitted back in 1988 at 60,000 km is still going now at 305,000 km.
It gets greased whenever I pull the swing arm, which isnt all that often.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Grease nipples do make a difference.
I killed 2 uni joint in 6 months back in 1988.
Post mortem on the second one maybe 20,000 km old proved to me that Luigi was a lot sparing with the grease ie bugger all when he assembled it.
The obvious answer was more grease, but how to fit a grease nipple.
Well the only place to fit one was the flat of the bearing cap.
As I was working on UH1H Iroquois choppers at the time, they have these excellent flush mounting grease nipples on their swashplates, problem 1 solved.
Problem 2 was what to drill the hole with, into a bearing cap.
I believe it was a cobalt drill of the correct size.
Long story short.
If you grease them they will last.
The same uni I fitted back in 1988 at 60,000 km is still going now at 305,000 km.
It gets greased whenever I pull the swing arm, which isnt all that often.

I can see drilling them with a cobalt drill, then what did you use for a tap?

[twhitaker]

Yep . And when is 63 too old to ride  ???

  Dusty

63 is young.  ;-T

[John A]

If I remember correctly those flush fittings are swedged.the military had ALL the tools, as did some of the operators I worked for. Would be nice to have access to some of that stuff for the far more important motorcycle maintenance
63 IS way too old for you guys to be riding. Better for you to set in the chair and remember how it was!

[dilligaf]

63 is young.  ;-T

Kids.  ;D  ;D  ;D  :BEER:
Matt

[JoeB]

 Every so often I pull the rubber boot back and squirt some heavy oil in to help protect the seals. Was recommended practice awhile back.

[redrider90]

Grease nipples do make a difference.
I killed 2 uni joint in 6 months back in 1988.
Post mortem on the second one maybe 20,000 km old proved to me that Luigi was a lot sparing with the grease ie bugger all when he assembled it.
The obvious answer was more grease, but how to fit a grease nipple.
Well the only place to fit one was the flat of the bearing cap.
As I was working on UH1H Iroquois choppers at the time, they have these excellent flush mounting grease nipples on their swashplates, problem 1 solved.
Problem 2 was what to drill the hole with, into a bearing cap.
I believe it was a cobalt drill of the correct size.
Long story short.
If you grease them they will last.
The same uni I fitted back in 1988 at 60,000 km is still going now at 305,000 km.
It gets greased whenever I pull the swing arm, which isnt all that often.

 ;-T Won't you be my neighbor?  (seeing that you are from Down Under you may not understand the origin on my comment I post this link)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4nI7AgUKwk

[jazzamoto]

Yep . And when is 63 too old to ride  ???

  Dusty

I can't even remember being 63.  ;)

[Chuck in Indiana]

I can't remember yesterday.  ;D :BEER:

[Abbienormal]

I always say some u-joints are greased for life. However, their life would be a lot longer if we could grease them.

Rudy

[Matt Story]

Just thinking...

It would take alot of digging, but if you know the dimensions of the caps, you could cross reference to some other cap that has a grease zerk.

Matt

[Triple Jim]

It would take alot of digging, but if you know the dimensions of the caps, you could cross reference to some other cap that has a grease zerk.

I think they would have to be flush grease fittings as mentioned above, because of lack of clearance around the joint.  It would be great to be able to grease them every year or two, but you'd need to modify all eight caps unless you planned to drill the crosses all the way though both ways.  And in any case you'd have to take the joints all apart, make the modifications, clean everything, and put them back together.  Of course then we'd be talking about making ports in the swing arm access to the grease fittings any time, without taking the swing arm off.  It's getting complicated.

[pete mcgee]

 ;-T Won't you be my neighbor?  (seeing that you are from Down Under you may not understand the origin on my comment I post this link)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4nI7AgUKwk

Yeah sure.
When you moving?
Leave the cardigan, you wont need it.....

Chuck,
The small nipples where a press fit, usually fitted with a brass punch and a small hammer with skill and finess.  On the iroquoise the swashplate rotated at 324 rpm, they rarely fell out, usually changed due to damage. The Guzzi uni joint spins a fair bit faster and they havent come out yet.

The ones
I used were similar to this;
http://www.saeproducts.com/flush-grease-fitting-AK18F.html
I have vague memories of the nas pt no, I have some in the shed, so safely stored I cant atm remember exactly where they are.
To grease these you need a cone shaped grease fitting on a grease gun to push in the small ball and seal (usually with a rag) against the depression on the fitting like this;
http://www.saeproducts.com/flush-fitting-nozzles.html
Hope this helps
Cheers

[Chuck in Indiana]

Yeah sure.
When you moving?
Leave the cardigan, you wont need it.....

Chuck,
The small nipples where a press fit, usually fitted with a brass punch and a small hammer with skill and finess.  On the iroquoise the swashplate rotated at 324 rpm, they rarely fell out, usually changed due to damage. The Guzzi uni joint spins a fair bit faster and they havent come out yet.

The ones
I used were similar to this;
http://www.saeproducts.com/flush-grease-fitting-AK18F.html
I have vague memories of the nas pt no, I have some in the shed, so safely stored I cant atm remember exactly where they are.
To grease these you need a cone shaped grease fitting on a grease gun to push in the small ball and seal (usually with a rag) against the depression on the fitting like this;
http://www.saeproducts.com/flush-fitting-nozzles.html
Hope this helps
Cheers

Kool. Never have seen those..