It's a 2003 and since I bought it in 2005 there was grease oozing slowly from the rear hub and streaking on the left side of the rear wheel. My friend/mechanic scared the crap out of me when he first noticed it and told me that my rear wheel might bind up and throw me out of control. So I asked him to repair it. He took it apart and resealed it so a bunch of money later, it's no different than it was. It's not leaking fast but enough to make a mess and the grease is a bitch to clean off.

Does anyone know the issue and have a cure? :doh:

When you mechanic friend resealed it (new O-ring?) did he clean & re-lube the splines/final drive with moly60?
My first guess is there is just regular grease in there and as it heats up and thins out it works it's way to the wheel due to centrifugal force.

My very same thought, he probably used hi-temp disc brake grease. You can buy the o-rings at Home Depot 12 to a pack for a couple bucks but you have to get the Moly 60 from a Honda or Kawasaki dealer or order it on line.

Thanks Hyper and Cliff, not sure what he used but it may have very well been regular grease. Will have to ask him.

I did call Kawi on this and the tech told me that sometimes there is too much grease in there and eventually it would stop on it's own. Didn't say anything about Moly 60. So I have been waiting and every time I look at my rear wheel with the streaks on it, it pisses me off all over again.

Thanks for the tip guys, will probably get it taken care of this spring.

Gemguy :beerchug:

I wouldn't ride it until you get it fixed. I just did my splines and packed them pretty good, put about 100 miles on the bike since then and no leaking and don't expect to see any. Not so sure you can have too much gease in that area. If it's the right kind, it won't break down and leak out.

It's a 2003 and since I bought it in 2005 there was grease oozing slowly from the rear hub and streaking on the left side of the rear wheel. My friend/mechanic scared the crap out of me when he first noticed it and told me that my rear wheel might bind up and throw me out of control. So I asked him to repair it. He took it apart and resealed it so a bunch of money later, it's no different than it was. It's not leaking fast but enough to make a mess and the grease is a bitch to clean off.

Does anyone know the issue and have a cure? :doh:

My guess is that the grease is comming from the third member (rear driver.) That grease is about a 80W90 gear oil.

I a, having the same issue. Did you find out what yours was? Is it black and running from the seal?

Hey Cliff,
If I go to Home Dumpo and look for the O rings, what size do I need? Packing the splines, is that the same job or does that require removing the drive shaft? If I look to buy the Molly 60 grease, how much of it do I need for this job? Sorry about all the questions.

Getting tired of the grease streaks on the rear wheel. Each cleaning of the bike I got to get the degreaser and wipe the rear wheel and tire off. Enough is enough.

ViVa, seems you have the same problem. Will let you know how mine turns out when I get it done which should be soon.

Two things can cause what you are seeing. One, the final drive oil can be leaking from a bad seal. Not likely since the bike is an 03 but it's possible I guess. If it was over filled that could cause the leakage. Second is that grease or even moly might be leaking past the o-ring where the rear splines from the drive shaft coupling to the final drive meet. The o-ring is pretty much what keeps the moly from leaking beyond the coupling. O-ring could be flat or torn, or missing.

Now, it could be that the final drive was replaced because of the dry spline issue and it could be from an older bike and have leaky seals. My bike was one that had the dry rusty splines and I had to replace my final drive with one from an 86 bike. The seals leaked just as you describe, and there were constantly black streaks on the inside of the wheel, mostly on the left. I finally bought another final drive off ebay and this one is clean all the time.

Thanks Fergy,
Maybe it is a bad seal. The drive is original. I bought the bike from a neighbor who got it new from the dealer. Maybe it was a bad seal but what are the chances that the guy who fixed it for me put in another bad O ring. I have been dealing with the black streaks since I got the bike in 06. It had been used for one year and then it sat in a garage for 2 years before I bought it. I hear all the good advise but not sure exactly what to do next. Everyone has good intentions but they are not guaranteed solutions.

Thanks for your help.

I'm glad i read this post. I missed the part about needing to replace the o-ring. I woulda left the old one in there. Somebody said something about getting some at HD, but nobody has said which size yet.
Also do I need a gasket or make a gasket to go between the swingarm housing and the final, where the four nuts are at?
Also should I put moly on the gears that are on the hub also?

Thanks Fergy,
Maybe it is a bad seal. The drive is original. I bought the bike from a neighbor who got it new from the dealer. Maybe it was a bad seal but what are the chances that the guy who fixed it for me put in another bad O ring. I have been dealing with the black streaks since I got the bike in 06. It had been used for one year and then it sat in a garage for 2 years before I bought it. I hear all the good advise but not sure exactly what to do next. Everyone has good intentions but they are not guaranteed solutions.

Thanks for your help.

Here's what I would do. I'd pull the rear wheel and final drive and inspect closely. You should be able to tell where the gunk is coming from. If you see that a ton of grease is getting past the o-ring on the spline of the final drive, then I would inspect it and probably replace it. (the o-ring, I mean) Of course I would inspect it anyway. You can see both o-rings in my writeup in my sig and can tell one is flatter than the other. Plus, if it looks like there is no grease coming from there, I would clean up the final drive and see if you can see seepage from around the seals where maybe the gear oil is getting out of the final drive.

Jace Bror, to answer your questions, you can get the o-rings from bikebandit.com or ronayers.com. Don't know about a HD equivalent. Also have never checked at Home Depot but if someone has the exact size, I'm sure it would work.
You can wipe some moly around the hub gear where it meshes to the wheel hub, and I like to wipe a thin layer around the axle bolt before I re-install. And no, you don't need a gasket between the swing arm and final drive. Just make sure to torque the nuts to spec. (specs are in my writeup also)

Hope this helps!:beerchug:

I bought my o-ring at Home Depot, $1.99 for 12. I took the old one with me and sized it up. They are in the plumbing department with the faucet repair kits. I believe it's a number 15 but don't quote me on that. I'm in Hawaii this week or I'd check it for you. But just take your old one and match it up.

OK. ill check it out. what about getting grease into the front spline in front of the u-joint. Should i just use white lithium spray?

OK. ill check it out. what about getting grease into the front spline in front of the u-joint. Should i just use white lithium spray?

Moly 60 for the spline and spray lithium for the u-joint.:beerchug:

Yeah its number 15. the inner thief in me had a hard time not "accidentaly" putting my o-ring back in the box and leaving.

how do you get grease on the front spline well enought when you can't pull it out very far? or do you just worry bout coating it?

You don't get any real movement back and forth in the front splines, so just coat what you can, rotate the shaft so you can get the other side, then button it back up and you'll be fine. If you aren't scared, you can slip the u-joint off the front spline and spray it better, but it's a little bit of a challenge getting it back on with very limited access. Mine came off accidentally the first time, so I figured might as well get it coated good before I struggle with it. Somehow it just popped right back on for me, like I knew what I was doing.:smiley_th

actually i tried to pull it all the way off and it won't go. it goes pretty far, but not all the way. maybe its right at the end anyhow.