Took the driveshaft off today and discovered there was no grease on the splines. Nada, zilch, nothing but a light coat of oil. Factory never put a dab of grease on it. Fortunately, there was no damage, probably due to the low number of miles. Hope to get the Pirellis mounted and balanced tomorrow and be able to ride again!

Which model Pirellis did you get?

Whew! Glad you checked them. It's always good to know.

Which model Pirellis did you get?

The route 66.

Whew! Glad you checked them. It's always good to know.

Yeah, I used your excellent write up. Thanks. I was so paranoid after reading the horror stories on the forum that I bought a replacement on ebay before I ever took mine apart. Guess what? Yep, that one wasn't lubed either, but all the splines on it are in great shape.

Took the driveshaft off today and discovered there was no grease on the splines. Nada, zilch, nothing but a light coat of oil. Factory never put a dab of grease on it. Fortunately, there was no damage, probably due to the low number of miles. Hope to get the Pirellis mounted and balanced tomorrow and be able to ride again!

Word of another bike with dry splines is making me paranoid. My bike is only 2 model years newer, and the PO didn`t have any service records for me when I bought it last May. I know that I am at least the third owner. I didn`t notice any bad noises from anywhere on the bike during my short riding season last year. Hopefully I will be able to find and service all the problem prone areas before anything major breaks. I`m glad that I found this forum and info on all the maintenance items that I need to do, before piling on many more miles. :smiley_th

fc I`m curious what factors caused you to choose Pirellis for the scoot, ie. price, expected longevity, water handling capability, cosmetics (like white lettering or a particular tread design) etc. I am starting to look around for tires and am not sure what I want yet. Up here in the Palliser Triangle it is really a semi- desert, and I don`t need to worry about rain as much as a lot of members here ride in. Time to spend a little time in the tire forum , I guess.

Word of another bike with dry splines is making me paranoid.

fc I`m curious what factors caused you to choose Pirellis for the scoot, ie. price, expected longevity, water handling capability, cosmetics (like white lettering or a particular tread design) etc. I am starting to look around for tires and am not sure what I want yet. Up here in the Palliser Triangle it is really a semi- desert, and I don`t need to worry about rain as much as a lot of members here ride in. Time to spend a little time in the tire forum , I guess.


Make that two bikes with dry splines; mine, and the one my backup shaft came off of. Neither one had a speck of grease, and my ride's PO had the stealership go over it with a fine tooth comb right after he bought it. Kept it four months and cost him $1,300 but they never touched the splines. On my first bike, I read up on tires and decided the Avons and Metzlers were a little pricey for my taste. Read several reviews of the Pirelli Route 66 tires and folks really seemed to like 'em. They are plain blackwalls, and, while the tread pattern is attractive, it wasn't a deciding factor for me. While I don't plan to ride in the rain, several folks said they did well on wet pavement. Don't remember anyone saying anything negative about them, so I put Pirellis on my Honda Rebel 250. They felt better than the original tires, and seemed to handle the road well. Remember I've only been riding since last August, so I don't have a lot of experience with different types of tires. When I realized my 750 tires were 10-20 years old, I ordered Pirelli replacements.

Check your splines as soon as you're able. The how to is in Fergy's signature. You don't want to have the leg ready to go and have your scoot stranded on the side of the road!

I have the Pirelli Route tires on my KZ750LTD. Perhaps the road surfaces here are different than yours but I've found them to skid easily on wet roads under heavy braking. I leave more stopping distance and lean less in rainy weather. On the plus side they handle well on dry roads and wear slowly.

I have the Pirelli Route tires on my KZ750LTD. Perhaps the road surfaces here are different than yours but I've found them to skid easily on wet roads under heavy braking. I leave more stopping distance and lean less in rainy weather. On the plus side they handle well on dry roads and wear slowly.

Good info, antiq. Thanks