Rear Axle - double failure

[Wrider]

My 2016 ST/ES is in the shop (Ellicott city Motorsports, Maryland--great guys!) with no definite date for coming home. In short, they tried to remove the rear wheel, found that the nut had fused to the rear axle and had to be heated and forced off, shearing the thread. Compounding this failure is the fact that Yamaha USA doesn't stock the part in the U.S. and it has to be ordered and shipped from Japan--two weeks 'estimated' arrival. I called Yamaha USA customer service and they politely told me there was nothing they can do.) There goes the last rideable days of autumn. As a newcomer to Yamaha / ST after 25 years on successive BMW / GS bikes that never stranded me even once, I'm disappointed with Yamaha for not stocking the part. The ST is a great bike, as good as the GS, and I really like it, but now I understand the reason BMW charges more for their parts and service. It's cheaper to manufacture a part only when the customer needs it, but the result is a stranded - and disappointed - customer.
BTW: The tech speculated that the reason for the problem could be dust/sand on the thread or the nut when it was put on, or that the nut was tightened too hard. (The wheel wasn't put on by Ellicott City MS---not their fault) Otherwise, the axle or nut were originally defective. No way to know for sure.

 

[RonH]

Re: Rear Axel - double failure

Very unusual problem. In 47yrs riding I've never seen or heard of this happening before. Good luck.

 

[OldRider]

Tell them next time to leave the torch put up. I would have cut the nut in two with a dremel tool. That would have saved the axle and a new nut would have been easy to find. I don't think putting that much heat on the final drive was a very bright thing to do either. Rubber seals don't like heat. Good luck with everything.

 

[nondairycreamer]

I've ordered tools from Japan on Thursday and had them in hand Monday morning. No special shipping. Yamaha warehouses might add their own time but I followed by the vendor's website every move from them to Nippon postal service to JAL to Atlanta. Passed to customs and back in minutes and handed to USPS. One day from Atlanta to very rural Kentucky.

As for stocking every single part the bike has? No one does this. Only parts that show a repeatable pattern of replacement. This saves all of us markup on all parts.

Consider doing your own service or getting to know and use an experienced and conscientious tech.

 

[markbxr400]

There are a couple listed on eBay.

 

[Checkswrecks]

I also agree that this is the first time I've seen those threads stripped. The factory sure didn't put the nut on that tight, so who tightened it last?


There are 8 axles on eBay right now.


And as OldRider noted the heat may have destroyed the wheel bearing. If not the heat, then over-torquing the nut to seize it may have. I'd suggest replacing at least the one. They are common to a lot of the Yamaha bikes and here's the one:
https://www.partzilla.com/product/yamaha/93306-27212-00?ref=3e057c64d947624dae40003da977205529678b2a


If the dealer doesn't you can get them at NAPA or most auto parts stores.

 

[Squibb]

I agree - deeply inappropriate place to use that kind of heat.

The dremel idea seems good once usual means have been exhausted - I would have thought a good windy-gun or impact tool would have been the best way to start though. Sounds like the nut was way over torqued, so I guess it may have stripped the axle thread in any event.

Like the others say, I would budget for new wheel bearings & seals when the replacement axle/spindle is fitted.

 

[Sierra1]

Uhhhh....where do you think that Beemer parts come from. I know from personal experience, after being stranded, that BMW also takes two weeks travel time from Germany. The dealer I was forced to use didn't stock hardly ANY parts; not even brake pads. At the time, there were only seven BMW dealers in the entire state of Texas. Good luck.

 

[RCinNC]

This sounds like the axle galling problem that would sometimes occur on V-Stroms, where the rear axle nut would actually weld itself to the axle under pressure. It didn't help that the service manual evidently had the wrong torque setting listed for the axle nut (it was way too high). Based on my prior experience with owning a DL650, I got in the habit of putting a little anti-seize paste on the rear axle threads. Once you do that, though, you can't go by the torque settings from the service manual, so you kind of have to tighten the axle nut by feel.

 

[markjenn]

I'm sorta with the others..... unusual problem, would be better if Yamaha could get the parts in less than two weeks but expecting every part on every motorcycle to be immediately available is not realistic, and I doubt you would consistently do better with BMW for similar rare failures. I have friends who have had their BMWs down for months waiting on parts. Being down a couple weeks for an unusual problem like this is pretty much par for the course.

In general, people like to take their anecdotal experiences with any brand (Yamaha, BMW, Honda, Ford, ....) and project how it represents how good/bad the brand is in general, when it is usually just how the cookie crumbles on any given failure.

I also agree that there are better ways to remove a galled nut in this application rather than resorting to a torch.

- Mark

 

[bob dirt]

Sorry about your problems. Seems like everyone buying parts or dealing with stealerships are getting screwed lately. There are plenty of the parts you need on the Internet. Just another reason to turn your own wrenches.

 

[Don in Lodi]

I think it was Tomatocity's '16 that did the same thing.

 

[Cycledude]

Very unusual problem, I wonder what caused it to happen ? yes I agree waiting 2 weeks to get a simple replacement rear axle don’t seem right but I guess it is what it is , be thankful your not a long way from home. Seems like there’s always a few Tenere rear axles on eBay.

 

[Nimbus]

I have had several odd experiences with rear axles. I was tightening the rear axle on my SV650 one day before I left on a trip and as I torqued it to spec, all of the threads literally just uncoiled off of the axle shaft. More recently, I was adjusting the chain on my dad's FZ-06 and the nut welded itself to the axle. I had tightened and untightened the nut several times (i.e. not cross threaded) but for no obvious reason, I couldn't get the nut off. I finally (with massive effort/torque) got the nut off the axle and the threads were destroyed. New axle/nut and all is well.

 

[RCinNC]

Very unusual problem, I wonder what caused it to happen ? yes I agree waiting 2 weeks to get a simple replacement rear axle don’t seem right but I guess it is what it is , be thankful your not a long way from home. Seems like there’s always a few Tenere rear axles on eBay.

It's called thread galling (sometimes it's referred to as cold welding). Here's an explanation from Fastenal, along with some ways to prevent it: https://www.fastenal.com/en/72/galling

 

[BadNews]

It's called thread galling (sometimes it's referred to as cold welding). Here's an explanation from Fastenal, along with some ways to prevent it: https://www.fastenal.com/en/72/galling

Excellent article, thanks for posting the link.

According to the article, using high wrench speed can cause the galling. Maybe somebody used an impact wrench to spin the nut on and tighten it?
Just my 2 cents.

 

[Lutsie]

It's called thread galling (sometimes it's referred to as cold welding). Here's an explanation from Fastenal, along with some ways to prevent it: https://www.fastenal.com/en/72/galling

Holy random info Batman, great article. Thanks for sharing. Definitely something to consider when working on vehicles in general.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OldRider]

I have a feeling a lot of people over tighten their axles trying to error on the side of caution. In 45 years of wrenching on MC's I have never used a torque wrench on an axle. Just get it tight, that's it, it's not going anywhere. Also that pinch clamp on both axles is just there to hold the axle snug. Those clamps are probably the most abused parts of a MC. I've had bikes come in and the clamp had been tightened until both side of the clamp touched. On the front it really causes trouble because that clamp side bottom part of the fork needs to be loose enough in the clamp that it doesn't get pushed to the inside when the axle goes through causing the brake caliper to be out of alignment with the disc. I live in the coalfields where the mine mechanics are used to dealing with torque settings in the hundreds of ft lbs, you won't believe how bad they can screw up putting 6mm side cover screws into an aluminum engine case.

 

[Wrider]

Thanks for the link - interesting article!
And thanks to everyone for your thoughtful input and advice. I've never done maintenance on my bikes, being a 'left handed' writer, but maybe it's time to ease into it.
On another note, I see that several of you are in or near the Mid-Atlantic area. Perhaps we can put together a Super Tenere meet/ride in the spring. Cheers.

 

[RCinNC]

I have a feeling a lot of people over tighten their axles trying to error on the side of caution. In 45 years of wrenching on MC's I have never used a torque wrench on an axle. Just get it tight, that's it, it's not going anywhere. Also that pinch clamp on both axles is just there to hold the axle snug. Those clamps are probably the most abused parts of a MC. I've had bikes come in and the clamp had been tightened until both side of the clamp touched. On the front it really causes trouble because that clamp side bottom part of the fork needs to be loose enough in the clamp that it doesn't get pushed to the inside when the axle goes through causing the brake caliper to be out of alignment with the disc. I live in the coalfields where the mine mechanics are used to dealing with torque settings in the hundreds of ft lbs, you won't believe how bad they can screw up putting 6mm side cover screws into an aluminum engine case.

I tend to use a torque wrench sparingly, for some very specific applications like tightening the steering head bearings, where too little or too much can be a bad thing. Because so much stuff on a bike involves aluminum threads, I tend to go with tightening things by feel. Usually I go to the point where I meet resistance, and then just a little bit more.