83 440 LTD Belt - Output shaft moves end-to-end.

2.The output shaft (i.e. secondary shaft of the transmission). As you can see, the splines are in good condition. I have not cleaned up the area and you can see the greasy residue that makes me think that it would be a good idea to swap out seals at some point

That could just be from the chain
Pete

It has a belt but it could be just build up. Tighten it down and see what you have.
Steve

After looking at it again, it looks like you have to split the cases to change the seal.
Steve

swest wrote: After looking at it again, it looks like you have to split the cases to change the seal.
Steve

Maybe, maybe not. I was looking at the photos of a KZ440 engine case someone has on ebay, and I didn't see any sort of lip that would necessitate splitting the cases to replace the seal. I have not been losing enough oil to notice, though, so I'm not really motivated to try fishing out any oil seals yet. There's also an o-ring on the parts diagram that should be easier to fish out and replace for now.

First things first, I'll get the sprocket in and on the bike. If the bearing is shot, I've gotta' split the case anyway.

Finally got the new output sprocket installed. The end-to-end movement went away.

It looks like I will need to replace the seals sometime, but i was already planning that within the next few years anyway, The bike is 33 years old after all. At the slow rate that I'm losing oil (none while parked, very slowly while riding) and slow rate that I put mileage on the bike, I'm going to wait to do that until I finish up some projects on my dirt bikes and have a little more work space in the garage.

For the purposes of this thread though, my question was answered. The end-to-end movement on the output shaft with the output sprocket removed is OK. The output sprocket helps to hold the shaft in place. The end-to-end movement goes away when the new sprocket is installed.