driveshaft noise/vibration

Hello everyone, I have a problem. I have a 1985 xj700x. I have been working on carbs, last week I finally put them back on, I was going for a ride but I start to hear an annoying sound from the driveshaft, it sounds like metal hitting metal and the bike started to vibrate. When I got home, I put the bike on the center stand, I started it in neutral but it works without problems, when I put her in gear starts to vibrate and makes the sound again.

The noise is only evident when the bike is in gear.

I inspected the bike and found this:



I think it is called U-joint, it is damaged, I am going to replace it, but my question is: is it normal for the U-joint to be damaged? Is there anything that could damage the U-Joit? Should I check something else? And could this be the source of the noise?

I would be grateful for any solutions / advice etc, thanks

 

Not normal, that one is damaged beyond repair it will need to be replaced

 

The bearings in the yoke failed. Then it ground itself to death, seized, and finally snapped.
An uncommon problem, but one to look out for on any old machine.

 

How many miles on your Bike Victor ?

 

I don't know, the tach says 25000 +/- but it has no speedometer cable since I bought it so I don't know

 

It was worse than I thought, the U-joint was completely broken



I replaced it with this one that I found on Ebay



I took the bike out for a ride and it runs smoothly.

Thanks for the help

 

Yikes, that was ugly! Good thing you took it down for a look-see.....

 

Holy crap, obviously someone rode it for along time after it failed to get like that!

 

Doesn't look like it is easily servable, did you try to inject some grease into the new one or anything like that.
Was it easy to swap out, did you just remove the rear tire and swing arm.

 

Its easier than it looks like.
I didn't remove the swingarm, I did as k-moe explains in this post:

 

Easily serviceable surely means replacing complete CV joint in comparison with replacement of bearings in worn but repairable joints.

 

The XJ u-joint has no provision for regreasing, or rebuilding...well, not without some major surgery (the bearings are staked into place).
Replacement is the best option.

 

What's a drive shaft?

 

Propshaft to you.

 

there is a post from a member from Argintina his avatar is red, thats all i can remember.
he sourced a cross joint from a catalog that was for a renault and repaired his yoke.

there are lots of u joints on ebay so no need to get in deep unless you cant get one

 

I remember that thread well. He actually had the Renault u-joint modified to fit and used it instead of the OEM u-joint.

 

..it was a joke (of sorts) - the 550/600s run chains.

 

What’s a chain?

 

Chain (unit) The chain is a unit of length equal to 66 feet (22 yards). It is subdivided into 100 links or 4 rods. There are 10 chains in a furlong, and 80 chains in one statute mile. In metric terms, it is 20.1168 m long.

 

Great and accurate answer.