I have just done my recall work, but yet to ride and confirm any noticeable difference.
First of all, the reason for the recall.
This is because they discovered that the UJ at the front of the shaft can have a problem. In the production process, the main/outer body of the UJ is staked over the bearings which keeps the entire assembly together. But the staking (pressing the metal over to fix the bearings in) pressure was too high and crushing the needle bearings too tightly, causing a high risk of failure.
What they did.
The recall was issued and bikes checked. Any that had a suspect UJ had a new drive shaft assembly - just the same part.
Meanwhile they were redesigning the part and production process, with lower staking pressure to prevent bearing damage and also for good measure, slightly larger bearings. As these 'countermeasure' parts became available, bikes were to be checked again and suspect shafts replaced (with the countermeasure part). But bikes that showed no problem were NOT to have the new shaft.
Then finally when the countermeasure parts were in good supply in sufficient quantities, ALL bikes that had not yet been fitted with the countermeasure part will have that done, no question.
Personally, I can't see how Honda could have handled it any better. It's unfortunate that they had the problem, but FFS there's a lot of parts involved and Honda's technical prowess and manufacturing abilities ensure such recalls are VERY rare.
The downside for me is that I had a spare driveshaft which I thought would be handy to have, long term. But this recall now makes it junk, worthless. There's no way I can get it swapped as it's not in a bike and recalls are done by the VIN. So I'm stuffed there.
However, I took it in to the dealer for him to check. There was NO play in the UJ. In fact it seemed almost too new, still being slightly stiff. Aha said the dealer tech. This is already on the way out. The test for failure is either slack in the UJ or excessive stiffness and that really means any stiffness. So it's actually pretty easy to check, although no longer necessary as it'll get replaced anyway. But in this case, stiffness was irrelevant as the main UJ body was in fact cracked. Yes, an actual hairline crack running across and so in danger of flying to pieces under load. Phew, at least that was never in my bike.
I soon received the countermeasure replacement and I can confirm that the new part looks identical, so no obvious way to tell the difference. There probably is a way, but it's not obvious.
I was keen to remove my original as I was sure there would be a lot of slack in the UJ because the bike is dreadful at low speed on a neutral throttle. If under even very slight acceleration or on the overrun, no problem, but as soon as there is no actual drive, it rattles like a bastard. Must be a failing UJ I've been telling myself while awaiting the replacement. But no, the old shaft has no slack whatsoever. The backlash is actually all within the gearbox. If I rotated the output shaft (onto which the shaft/UJ fits) back and forth by hand, the loud clunking seems to emanate from the clutch area. As if the entire basket is loose. I doubt that it is though, it's just normal backlash in a gearbox. All bikes have it.
So why is my bike so bad? On further examination of the original UJ, it is not stiff as much as notchy, like badly pitted and worn steering head bearings. What I'm surmising from this is that when under even slight load, this notchyness wouldn't be noticeable, but on a neutral throttle with no actual drive though the shaft, it will manifest itself as rapid fluctuations in speed of the shaft and gearbox, causing the gearbox to rattle more than if the UJ were completely and uniformly smooth.
Well that's my theory, but not had a chance to check it out. It is however interesting to read here that several owners say their bike is smoother after the recall, which backs up my theory. Some other things to do first, but then I'll be finding out if there's any improvement.
If replacing the shaft yourself, some advice. Follow the procedure in the manual. This states that the shaft should be fixed onto the final drive unit (so the snap ring has snapped into place) and then insert that whole assembly into the bike. However this means holding the final drive unit with one hand while trying to push aside the rubber boot and feed the UJ onto the gearbox output shaft, while holding the snap ring at this end open with a pair of circlip pliers. Well if you've been counting, that's 3 hands at least, not to mention the impossibility of holding the final drive unit up with one hand. Man, it's heavy.
So I took the obvious alternative method of installing the drive shaft shaft into the swingarm and onto the gearbox shaft first, then pushing the final drive unit onto the CV joint output spline and finally onto the swingarm studs and avoid having to manhandle the final drive unit and shaft together as one assembly. Ha... I thought.
Don't bother even trying.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to push the final drive unit onto the shaft spline. Even with plenty of good grease, it simply won't go on and just pushes the shaft into the swingarm instead. There is no way to hold the CV joint to stop it all disappearing into the S/A as soon as you try to push on the final drive unit. If only they'd put a small step in the CV joint or shaft to hold it while pushing on the final drive unit...
But they didn't. So after pulling it all out again, if fitted the shaft into the final drive unit and then installed it all together as one assembly. A box, or something similar onto which the final drive unit could rest approximately in position, while working on getting the UJ onto the gearbox output shaft is I'd say essential, but then it wasn't actually as bad as I expected. The rest is a piece of cake anyway, so overall it's not a particularly hard job - if you follow the manual :wink:
Well, it all helps to pass the time while it rains outside :sad: