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Moly Paste

2K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  VN750Rider/Jerry 
#1 · (Edited)
While doing a little basic research today I ran across this website:

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Shaft.html

I am not making any claims but rather offering this site for its discussion of why moly paste is needed. It also offers another lubricant called Krytox as an alternative and includes several sources for both products.

I will be replacing both tires very soon and will include a spline lub with moly paste at that time and therefore the reason for the research. I have had similar experiences as mentioned on the website when questioning several different (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki) dealerships as to what they use for spline lube. None of the service shops actually use moly paste and that includes the Honda shops which does not seem to be consistent with the fact that they maybe the best source for the product. I understand that the big money is in repairs but why have your professional race team and other sponsored professionals give statements as to the importance of using a specific product and then not offer it for the regular customers that are spending the money on repairs in your shop? They will sell you a tube to use yourself but most do not use it in their own shops when doing repairs.
 
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#2 ·
I'll continue to use Honda 60% moly lube bought at my dealer for $8.95 a tube. They sell Honda,Kawasaki,Suzuki and Yamaha bikes and use the Honda lube on all their shaft drive bikes in the shop. Why go cheap when you can do it right for $8.95 ? JMO
 
#3 ·
I agree that it is actually cheap at that price and knowing that you can get multiple spline lubes done with just one tube using anything else would be foolish. If that dealership does use it then I commend them. I have had numerous "stealerships" tell me they do not use it and as I stated before this included Honda locations. I guess my business training and education that stressed, "Take care of the customer and they will take care of you." is long gone. Maybe that is just another reason for the high business failure rate in today's economy.
 
#5 ·
Don't know for sure but they both have 60% moly so they should be very similar and work the same.
 
#6 ·
The AS60 should be no problem at all. All Ma Kaw calls for is a "high temp" grease. As for me, I'm using the Honda moly, it's good stuff and I have assess to it locally.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for reposting that link, been awhile since it showed up here.

Another good moly is Guard Dog moly:
http://guarddogmolylubricants.com/gd570.shtml

Not sure how good their synthetic is. I know a few folks that spent the extra coin and use Krytox.

My local shop uses a moly made by Bel-ray.... Although I have not found a listing for it, I'm sure it will be fine until this spring when I check it. Not sure what I'll use, I'm leaning towards Krytox myself.

I may have already mentioned this, but when I bought my 06 FJR there were several folks reporting they did not use the right lube for the splines. (at least they used something..)

When I took my bike in for it's mandatory 600 mile service, I asked them to check the lube. The shop manager said that it was not something covered under the service plan, and I'd have to at least pay for the labor to remove the wheel and check the splines.

I countered with "if there is no lube in there or it is obviously not a moly, you guys should pay for it. If however it is lubed correctly...I will pay the labor costs" He agreed.

When I went in to pick up my bike, there was no labor charge for the line "check and lube driveshaft rear splines with moly paste if not present"

So, Kawasaki is not alone when it comes to missing the boat on moly.

Any bike that has shaft drive is susceptible to this and if your are not sure what's in there, walk away from your computer right now and go check......
 
#9 ·
I use the Guard Dog 570, 73% moly. It is NOT cheap, but considering the consequences, I use it anyway. I ordered the 8oz jar, and it will last a long time. It would easily outlast the bike, but I have an '85 Goldwing I also used it on. Despite having 93,000 miles on it when I got it, the splines were perfect. Perfect splines on an old Goldwing are priceless, as new parts are not available at any price, and not to many in that condition still exist. I could most likely get $500 or so out of just the final drive, shaft, and U joint, and the buyer would consider themselves lucky. These parts are well worth taking care of.


The Krytox stuff is SUPER expensive, is probably the best stuff out there, but the price was too much for me. I do my splines every 10,000 miles anyway, and even the GD570 is less than half the price of that stuff. I consider it overkill. I'd probably use it if I were rich.
 
#10 ·
If spline lubes on all shaft drive bikes were performed at the correct intervals, it probably wouldn't matter if moly was used, but considering the advantages of using moly, and if it were available to you, why wouldn't you try and use the best? The difference in cost is only a few dollars, and just maybe, the difference in protection could be hundreds of dollars.
I still believe that the lubing of the joint on shaft drive bikes is the most overlooked and ignored maintenance item by both dealerships and owners, not counting the few thousand who know about it and keep spreading the word!
 
#11 ·
I don't think shaft drives should need to be lubed at all. They don't on cars, why should bikes be different? I think they should be designed so the rear spline is lubed by the gear oil in the final drive, and the front spline is lubed by the engine oil in the transmission. In fact, until I got my '93 Vulcan 750, I thought that's the way they were. It just seemed so obvious. I had owned 3-4 shaft drive bikes before, and never did any maintenance other than changing the final drive oil. Fortunately I found out about the spline thing in time on the Vulcan, but I still consider it a design problem, same as the uncontrolled output stators used on motorcycles vs the controlled output alternators used on cars.

One of my main reasons for buying my first Vulcan was because it needed very little maintenance, with it's shaft drive, hydraulic valves, spin on oil filter, etc. But I spend just as much time maintaining it as any other Japanese bike.
 
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