spare final drive - any storage requirements?

[blackie1]

hi guys
i bought a good 2nd hand final drive approx 6 months ago and it is currently residing on my garage shelf until it is required. it is empty of oil.

my question is. is it ok to be stored dry like this or should it have oil in it to prevent rust etc or to keep any seals in there moist (if there are seals in there)
cheers

[Martin]

Without oil in it the seals will dry out and any moisture inside will turn to rust. Best possible way I can think of is to fill it up with as much oil as possible. Store it in a warm dry place after spraying the outside with along lasting non drying lubricant and wrap in plastic then periodically rotate the gears. We used to store V12 Meteor engines by heating up special blocks of grease until it was liquid then the liquid was pumped into the engine right up to the brim. I still wonder how in hell did they get it back out again when they wanted to use the engine. :dunno
Regards Martin.

[blackie1]

thanks martin  :2thumbup:

[Martin]

Blackie you will have to plug the speedo sensor hole and also remove the breather and plug it. You used to be able to get rubber plugs from Clark Rubberif you have them in Kiwi land. You should also be able to just about completely fill the drive.
Regards Martin.

[Chaos]

Best bet would be ship it to me, I'll exercise it regularly on the back of my bike   :riding:

[blackie1]

yeah good try Chaos.
Martin, do you think i could fill it with any clean engine oil i had laying about, or would it have to be gear oil. after all its only keeping moisture out and the seals pliable.

[Martin]

I'd just use any left over oil, it doesn't have to be gear oil. Just remember to swap back to gear oil and reduce the level. If you've got a bad memory put a label on it.  :2thumbup:
Regards Martin.

[blackie1]

sweet. thanks for that

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Having stored a final drive for a couple years, if I were doing it again I would build a fixture to hold it upright.  Nothing fancy, just enough to keep it from falling over and spreading gear oil all over the place.  Then I would fill it with fresh gear oil and put a plastic bag over it to keep dust off.  I might want to stick a spare speed pickup in it to keeep that handy and keep dirt out of that hole.

[johnny]

greetings...

i hauled a spare around for years... filled with mobil 1 engine oil... paper towel in sensor hoe... tied up in plastic bag... in box which held it upright...

never gotts the failed one rebuilt... oughtta do that...

put it on about 6 years ago... been 100%...

j o

[blackie1]

thanks Gryph and Johnny
i will follow those instructions this weekend
the final drive came with a spare speed sensor so that hole will be plugged

the box it is in at the moment will need only a small modification to  hold it firmly in the normal position
 :2thumbup:

[blackie1]

i changed the oil today in my transmission and final drive on my bike.
the transmission oil that came out was golden as, so i used this to fill up my spare final drive as recommended above and now have it covered and tucked away in the shed and hope to never have to need it.

when i refilled fresh gear oil in my bike i also added 35ml of "liqui moly gear protect" to transmission and 10ml to final drive.
I highly recommend this. previously used in my K1100 as well.

smoother gear changes instantly
 https://products.liqui-moly.com/gear-protect-3.html