After working on aircraft for decades, one tip before removing a Drain Plug is to FIRST remove the Filler plug. This ensures you can refill it after draining.
You can fill the rear end through the speed sensor hole. In fact, on some models, that is the ONLY way you can fill it. There is no dedicated fill plug.
My 2017 GSA with about 16k miles and full service history had a final drive shaft with seized splines at the bevel box end. Poor design and service schedule. Seemingly no grease from new and not considered a serviceable item. Was a nightmare to separate. Could all have been avoided with 10c worth of grease. Screw BMW.
Well apparently they haven’t learned i had the same problem in 1971 r75-5 had to haul the bike 600 miles home and no there wasn’t any warinty covera. Got rid of the bmw got a cb750 put 100000 miles on it with very little trouble just keep the chain and sprockets in good condition
My 2017 GSA made it to 36,000 and BMW of Grand Rapids, Michigan replaced the drive line without even doing the inspection / test. I had just bought it - but the full service history was on file, so perhaps that helped.
I bought a used 2015 R1200GSA with 4000 miles on it. I then stumbled on a bunch of videos showing dry splines on the driveshaft. I got so paranoid I went ahead and ordered driveshaft fluid and grease for the splines. I watched enough videos and finally decided to tackle the job. Mine was perfect and I really didn’t need to do anything. I went ahead and cleaned everything, installed new grease and fluid. I at least got piece of mind.
Been riding for over fifty years. Bought new in 1980, my Suzuki GS850G shaft spun for over 200 000 kilometers - still own it, still works. However, I was shafted by my RT - the cost of ownership of that bike made me rethink final drives . . . and BMW. At 71, I also own and ride a Honda VFR, Africa Twin and a ‘Strom - chain ‘n sprockets are, for me, the way to go.
My bought new 1997 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 with shaft drive has 118,000 miles, and still runs fine. I tear apart the rear drive assembly and lube the driveshaft splines with a 60% Moly paste every 10,000 miles. The U joint itself is sealed, and is still working fine. It's usually the splines on Japanese bikes that grind themselves up if not lubed on a regular basis.
Been riding chains my whole life. My daily last four years however is Yamaha Super Ténéré. Have to admit the joy of not cleaning or oiling or riding with a dirty chain.
Great video, mine had a catastrophic failure at 44,000 miles and damaged the swingarm and final drive. Fortunately, it didn't get any worse and it is now repaired and ready to ride again. Your video was an excellent guide to do the repair by myself. Cheers from Mexico.
Replaced the driveshaft on my 1990 ‘old airhead’ GS. 120k miles. I grease the splines every year and the failure was the gearbox end universal bearings which are ‘sealed for life’ and can’t be greased - very much the same as what you have here. The newer bike is certainly far easier to work on, so BMW appear to have made some progress over the last 30 years!
Holy tree - I just looked up the price of a replacement shaft. The job seems easy enough, but $1500 ? That takes a large bite out of the convenience of a final drive...
The BMW mythology machine would have us believe that the "sealed" final drive shaft design will last forever - so why worry about the $1500 cost! A BMW shop would likely charge $500-$750 in labor to replace an out of warranty shaft.
@@davidrsmith2417 This should have a permanent spot on the service checklist, inspection and greasing. There are more reports in the comments. Wow. Not how I used to think about that transmission.
Shame you DID NOT wipe the rear brake disk with an alcohol cloth, to remove the spline lube you accidentally pasted on it. Rear brake disk won’t like lube on it. Wiping the disk with alcohol will remove all oil, sweat, and lube so the brake works as it should. No platinum membership required for my tip. Otherwise… awesome demonstration and explanation. Thank you very much.
2009 BMW R1200 GSA bought new. Owned for 5 years and 76K miles: 3 final drive shaft bearings at 1 year 19K miles, 18 months 29K miles and 4 years 72K miles including final drive housing bearing. Many friends had similar failures with one acquaintance having a catastrophic failure on a motorway (freeway) with hot metal bits being thrown out from the shaft housing. Fortunately his son was following him and signalled him to pull off the motorway. As you can imagine both I having had a significant number of other faults as well as the final drive faults and many of my friends no longer ride modern BMWs.
I had a rear joint on my 1996 R1100gs go out this summer. Hauled it home 540 miles in a uhaul truck. I guess I can’t complain it has 136000 miles on it. But since I got it 5 years ago it’s always had a click when you let the clutch out in neutral. Since I replaced the driveshaft I no longer notice this. I also have a 2016 R1200GS with 21000 miles I’ll have to make sure and check the shaft on that one. Thanks for the video
This has been a problem on BMW's for many years. The moral of the story is either get the extended warranty, or get rid of it before it before it expires. This is good advice for BMW cars or motorcycles.
I was a new product design engineer for 35 years before retirement. My wife drives a BMW 530i and I have an E46 M3. I was a BMW junkie. For my 24th motorcycle, I purchased a beautiful new 2018 R1200GS, my first BMW bike. It was an awesome bike for sure, almost perfect - for about 300 miles. After the newness wore off, I started feeling slight roughness in the rear drive that varied depending on if the bike was leaned over in a right hand turn or a left hand turn. I could not imagine a brand new BMW bike of a mature model line would have design flaws! I tried changing the final drive oil 3 times to different weights and brands. Amsoil Severe Gear 75W-140 was the smoothest and quietest but I could still feel a subtle roughness in hard turns. My Motorrad dealer seems to be sworn to some oath to always tell the customer "Oh that? They all do that. Don't worry, its just part of its personality." I sold the almost-perfect bike at 10k miles, having never figured out the issue. I think I just learned what the source of the roughness was, this non-optimum U-joint and spline shaft arrangement. I would bet money that BMW knew that U-joint was a weak design but it was agreed by management to let the occasional u-joint fail and get repaired quietly. That's better than a nationwide or worldwide recall program or even offering an "upgraded" driveshaft replacement. And for the coup de grâce, to deflect blame away from BMW, a properly indoctrinated Mottorad service rep might suggest that with regularly scheduled maintenance service visits the driveshaft usually lasts the life of the bike. The hapless owner is now on the back foot.
The Police in the UK use a large number of R1200 RT and now R1250 RT. I heard recently, that they are to change the drive shafts at 30k miles. I wonder if they are worried that they'll have the same situation, as with their cars engines failing and so are worried they may lose the Police bike market as well. I had an FJR 1300 Yamaha which had done over 90k miles and no problems at all.
Bought a new R1200RTW in 2014, just done 100,000 miles checked the driveshaft recently all good. There's a circlip inside the splines at the upper (gearbox) end thats not mentioned, it locates the driveshaft properly, when you insert the new shaft and after engaging the upper splines make sure you push the shaft towards the gearbox, it should "click" onto the circlip. I found if you don't do that you can't get the wheel end to engage because its sticking out too far,
Between this issue and the crappy Hayes brake callipers, BMW has paid out a fortune, but don’t worry, they will up all prices to ensure we pay for it. They replaced the shaft on my 2019 R1250GSA Exclusive TE with 2,500 miles on it. WTF
I would like to question the quality of BMW drive shafts in their modern day fleet. Is it the case that the older bikes had far less power and therefore less stress on the drive shafts compared with their modern day counterparts.Thus, they simply lasted! Or is it that in the quest for reducing weight to gain performance, they design the strength out of certain components! I just think back to the subframe failure I had on a late 1990's R1100RS. The tubes under the seat fractured and BMW would not acknowledge design failure. The dealer replaced the subframe for me because he had a conscience. When I saw the replacement item, it was chalk and cheese compared with what was on my bike. The beefed up subframe was obviously BMW's response to numerous claims from owners about subframe failures without its accepting any fault. Note I still ride BMWs but I always felt the drive systems were bullet proof. Your vlog makes me question my own belief now.
The Smaller Engined BMW's had softer Power Strokes and were reliable and long lived at up to 800 CC these 1200's probably cause severe Driveline shocks and shorten Component life.?
I don't know if you have access to AIR (or if you even use that system in the US?). Interestingly they have just recently (October 2023) published a bulletin about the cardan shaft in ALL of the K5x bikes. It's quite long winded, but the gist is that they now recommed an inspection and lube of the splines every 20.000km (same time as the rear oil), which is voluntary and not a required part of the servicing. This inspection and lube the customer has to pay for. Every 60.000km the cardan shaft has to be outright replaced. And here's the kicker - BMW will pay for the shaft and replacement of it for the lifetime of all of the K5x (So all models of watercooled R1200 and R1250) bikes! Curiously the exhange interval of the new R1300 is 80.000km and is not free of charge for the customer. Their reasoning being, that the cardan shaft was touted as completely maintenance free when they sold the old bikes, and they wish to honour that promise and not retroactively inflict a higher maintenance cost upon existing customers. New customers however should be aware that this is a cost they must expect. Please note that all of this is only valid in the European market, and might well be different in the US. It's really interesting that BMW have not acknowledged there was a problem here. Now suddenly they are issuing recalls and addendums to the servicing intervals after these bikes have been on the market for 10 years.
My local dealer are a bunch of boneheads. Do you have a link to this for those of us that don't have access to service bulletins? I had a 24K service performed a month ago and the dealer didn't say anything about it.
My Triumph service manual will sometimes word procedures in the same way. It is almost like the old world mechanics are expected to be mechanics and not need every minute detail of every tool and procedure spelled out. You used exactly the correct tool - the one that does the job without damaging the parts.
Helpful vid - Thanks. However, it looks like when you lifted the rear hub back in place you smeared some spline lube on the rear disk. Not good for brake friction, so I would recommend spraying and wiping brake cleaner on the disk before fastening the caliper back on.
I buckled a PTO shaft on a John Deer Brush Hog they would only sell a whole new Drive shaft for like $800.00 .. I bought some new thicker tubing and two new Yokes.. John Deere had a 22 spline shaft exclusive to John Deere, do I had to buy a common yoke with 13 splines.. Total cost of all my parts was like $120.00 and I ended up with a much thicker drive shaft.. The Gear box has a slip Clutch on it that is supposed to protect the shaft.. It actually buckled during PTO engagement.. You must drop the engine down to a slow idle and engage very slowly .
2015 R1200GSAdv with over 50k miles(very hard offroad) creek crossings, mud rocks, etc. Mine is all good! On my fifth shaft drive BMW with well over 200k miles and just seem to never have these issues.
I own a Guzzi V11 with an open (!) drive shaft with greasable u-joints. Italian style, the zerk fittings are out of reach for a normal grease gun so I take the trouble to regularly take the thing apart and check and lube the splines and u-joints which is a pain in the ass but saves a summer of riding.
BMWs are nice bikes but damn they need a lot of maintenance. Had a 16 RT1200. Went through two water pumps in first 5k miles. Warranty covered but damn. Had an 07 FJR went 105k miles zero issues.
My 2019 gs 1250 has had the shaft replaced under warranty. At the time, there were 10,000m on the clock. The head gasket failed, leaking oil, and both replaced.Last week the shock failed, leaking oil, with 11,000 miles, no off-road. Bmw dealership wanted 2,500 Euros to replace. Will be getting it re-conditioned. My first and last bmw
@@pawelwis7215 In case you are paranoid about clicking links, Yamaha recalled every single 2015 R1 and R1M to replace the gearboxes. Every single unit sold, worldwide. Let that sink in....
2008 R1200GS adventure 68,000 miles driveshaft failed , replaced with BMW motorworks driveshaft with grease zircs on the universal joints so happy days but £500 poorer just for the part 😂
Great vid thx! When re-installing the shaft to the engine output spline,, does the shaft slide only to a certain point naturally? How do you know how far along it engages? Is there a collar or a seat to set the total length? Thanks!
That is why I bought a 2017 used R1200GSA. It's past it's infant mortality stage and all service is complete since it has 18k miles. Saved $10k to boot versus new price.
Great video. Did the driveshaft inspection myself a couple of times and even bought a "spare" shaft for my 2016 RS. Do you recall the mileage on this bike with the broken shaft? Mine has 60+ k miles, and the original is still solid (knock on wood 🤞🤞🤞)
BMW had a recall in 2022 for at least 2016 and forward to drill a water drain hole in the rear drive housing. The issue was water getting into the housing with nowhere to escape causing corrosion and/or seizing. Protocol for mine, being sufficiently old - a 2016, called for drilling the hole and replacing the drive shaft. Sweet! I got a new driveshaft after 48k+ miles. At least that's what the paperwork says.
I have few "why not" questions, since all of them are stated in the bmw repair manual, which I have.. Why not lube the rubber boot front and rear for water pervention? Why not apply some force to get the shaft further/over the secure lock at the front? Why not replacing one bolt holding rear drive and bolts for calipper? And why not use some tread locker? In the manual it is written so.
anytime I remove the rear caliper on a disk brake bike (like for a tire change) I take a piece of string and tie the brake foot lever up to something above to keep me from bumping into it and actuating it (driving the pistons out).
I can’t believe that they are still dealing with this issue in 1971 i had a R75. Drive shaft splines failed had to haul it home 600 miles got rid of it and bought a Honda never looked back put over 100000 miles on a cb750 with very little trouble
I'd bet they have renewed this item several times and if you do work with BMW's you will know how many transfer numbers there are on this item or not. I've worked at a BMW dealer myself with parts, and if you have access to BMW Powerweb(if that's still in use) you will easily see the list of part numbers listed for any part you choose, and the amount of numbers says how many times they have done changes to that part. This is why it's obviously important to know which generation of the part that was destroyed, and which one you are replacing it with. To me it just doesn't say a whole lot if someone just says this is a common issue. Then I would need the variables placed on the table to gain a better understanding.
I know BMW recently had a recall on the driveshafts where they checked the runout with some type of test rig bolted in place of the rear wheel. If it was beyond a certain limit, you got a new driveshaft. Hope this will prevent some of the premature failures.
Not correct. You all get a new drive shaft (FREE) at every 70.000km when you have an r1200gs starting from 2013. On the new r1300gs you need a new driveshaft every 80.000 at your own cost. That’s what the bmw dealer told me.
I bought a used 17 R1200GSA in July 2022. 47,000 miles on it. BMW replaced the drive shaft on it and added a drain valve to the swingarm. IIRC, the service bulletin stated inspect all from 2013 on, replace shaft if bike has over 25,000 miles.
@@motorcyclistfromholland8856a new driveshaft every 70.000 or 80.000 km? Why? Is this true or a joke? I own a crappy shitty Guzzi Stelvio 1200 m.y. 2010 and zero problems. Only the oil in the cardan-box every 50.000 km.
@@giuliobuccini208 no joke. Been at the bmw dealer in the Netherlands last week. This comes from bmw factory Germany. So I get one every 70.000km for free. But when you buy the new 1300gs you can pay it yourself every 80.000,
Same with the Yamaha XS1100. Had over 60,000 miles on mine with zero issues. Bought a new GS 1100 for a trip from Key West to Alaska. The final drive was leaking oil after 17,000 miles. BMW warranty covered it , only took 3 days. It is hard to believe that all these years later they are still having issues with driveshafts / final drives.
Never had driveshaft problems because they had several other engine problems very early. My first was a R1100RS, bought new im1994. After 1k kms there were too many noises inside the engine and in the clutch. Got reed of it. In 1995 I just thought they had solved the problems and bought a new R1100GS. Same problems again. Oil consumption was 1 liter every 600kms. And distribution and clutch noises were awfull with just 1.500kms. After almost 30 years I still don´t have confidence in BMW's.
Nice work, I am really shocked that BMW can have such a major issue on such a major part, I have a RT1200LE I think it will be up for sale soon as I have seen so many BAD issue videos on RUclips on BMW Bikes , I think I will stay with Kawasaki from my Z1 to my Versys 1000, I also have an Z1100 shaft wich I carried out an engine rebuild last year, the bike has done over 23 thousand miles , drive shaft looks fine , no issues so it was cleaned and greased up and re-installed . I think BMW really need to take along hard look at the enineering design and reliability. Looks very POOR. Cheers - Gary's Practical workshop
Thanks, the mileage on the bike was my question. Can you elaborate a bit on what you felt when it went? Anything other than the new/stronger vibrations in the foot pegs mentioned in the video?
I have the same software purchased with my 2014 R1200GS LC that shaft went bad on 80 mile round trip everyday for work. Started making noise one day on the way home so I milked it to get there. By the time I got there it was considerably worse.. It broke one of the yokes on the transmission end on the last 2 miles in that scared the crap out of me. I purchased & installed one for $1200 00. Haven't had any issues since. After the fact I found out that there is a recall on these. If not sure, contact your BMW dealer with VIN and they can verify your covered. I cant give the bike up for that long so whatever's cleaver.. PEACE!
Does the shaft have the rubber like cush in the shaft? I believe that the rubber deforms and the u-joint become out of phase, alinement. Causing stress on the joints.
I am perplexed. I love the way the bikes with the boxer engine ride. I love they way they look too. However, everyone I know that rides a BMW has very expensive repairs very often, unless they have mechanic skills like you. Why do these bikes have so many problems compared to their Japanese competitors? Thanks!
We should reward brands that make reliable bikes (japanese brands) and boycott those who are "milking" us for our money, making disposable parts and selling them at the price of gold...
Thanks for this video. How many miles has this bike done? Also isn’t it possible not to take off the rear speed sensor if you unclip the cable for slack?
It is not possible. However if you want to retain the final drive fluid without draining (eg you just changed it recently) you can plug the hole with an earplug while the drive is flipped down
Good video. With small flaws. I have an R1200 RS (2018) with 32,000 km. I haven't had any problems so far, but I'll check this one of these days. Prevention is better than cure.🙂
Right?? So any advantage the shaft drive bikes might have had over belt or chain driven units is negated because the driveshaft is apparently non serviceable. Ridiculous.
The rear caliper bolts are encapsulated and are defined as single use. If you replace either use the specific encapsulated bolts or apply some medium thread lock. Your customer won’t thank you if the rear caliper works loose and shreds the rear wheel. And you should have lubed both boots before reassembly to prevent water ingress. In fact the boot near the output shaft looked in poor condition and could have been replaced.
'Single use' is a manufacturers 'get out of jail' clause. If you inspect the bolts properly and ensure their is no 'necking' where the head joins the shaft, and all the previous thread lock is removed, you can safely reuse the bolts.
@@thewoodster8607Single use bolts are mostly ones that are torque to yield. You’re relying on a certain stretch of the bolt for proper torque on reassembly. If the torque spec of the bolt doesn’t have an angle to turn after an initial torque, it should be reusable. As long as it wasn’t over torqued and stretched before. The bolt can be bad well before it necks down or visibly stretches.
I've been thinking about buying an r1200r, shaft seems a simple job but £700 approx for parts is nuts, though maybe they'll be a cheap bike when they all have drive shaft issues!
Well done, especially regarding explaining every step. Might want to mention that after touching the brake disk with greasy fingers, a thorough cleaning is required. Did this bike have the drain plug installed at the bottom of the swing arm? It should get one, if not. (The absence of it might be one reason for u-joint failures. Though probably for the bottom u-joint mostly, not the top one like here...)
This is new history. I used to own a K1200S, known issues on clutch basket and timing chain, in Mexico BMW never honored any kind of warranty. This is just the beginning of a long story, fuel pump, coils, brake module, final drive (sold as maintenance free, yeah right), suspension, you name it, it was like buying an experimental bike from your neighbor. 9 recalls besides all earlier mentioned issues. My third and last BMW. BMW is a great marketing company. Now I could not be happier with my KTM Superduke GT.
Its quite funny, been running Bmw bikes since i was 26, I’m now 62....never needed to change a drive shaft yet, but one of my last bikes a R1150RT, needed it as i was getting slight vibration from the foot peg area, bike had done 74k I did mention to the new owner. I think its due to how the rider uses his bike, ie, if they like popping wheelies.... My K1300GT had a front suspension ball joint go after 8k miles, and bmw did it under warranty.
Did you knock the drive shaft onto the gearbox output shaft ??? As there’s a spring clip inside the female spline that locks onto the gear box output shaft. If this is not done you will be doing it again in a couple of weeks.
Fantastic! Would you know where I can find any documentation about this? I’d like to show something to my dealer. I asked about it before and they were clueless…
I just had the drive shaft replaced on my 2014 RT with 55k miles on it and it was done under warranty. Talk to your service adviser about the specifics, but mine went to bat for me.
I just had my 2023 R1250 GS in for a 1200 mile UK service, £535. They replaced the driveshaft free of charge and said that they check it every 3200 miles. They said that they will replace it free of charge for the rest of the bikes life. They also reformated the computer to stop the gearbox blowing up, put a moisture valve in the swinging arm and renewed the footpeg circlips thankfully all under warrantee.
My BMW mechanic fucked up during drive shaft recall a month ago. The boot between the transmission and the swinging arm isn't holding. The problem is on the swinging arm side. It just won't hold in place. I realize I've been driving like this under rain and in muddy terrain for 800km. Could it be damaging to the bike? I'll go there on tuesday but since Iost the trust, should I make sure they clean everything on the inside to remove wetness and probably mud?
Question-- on inspection my driveshaft appears to be twisted. As in the Carden Joints don't line up like you would expect . Normal ?? The U joints are fine at this time . Automotive guy but do all my own bike work.
If you have it serviced by the main dealer they will have changed it for you I think the ones fitted came off that boat that sunk off the coast of Devon UK not sure but mine was changed as a recall on my GSA 2016
Even the best grease will break down with water ingress and aluminium housings will condense any moisture in the air inside the housing every time they cool down particularly in winter ( the reason behind the new drain hole ), basic physics, exactly the same as when you just run engines up in the winter, you contaminate the oil with the condensed water which can corrode the belly pan when it mixes with the additives in the oil. This is the main reason behind oil changes at timed intervals on modern engines lots of short runs and ally blocks so over time the oil even fully synthetic will get contaminated with moisture due to condensation.
I think You are on to something here. The driveshaft on my K1100 snapped at the U-joint, and upon inspection the needle bearings was severely rusted, I suspect water or moisture ingress from the rubber boot not properly greased at the mounting face
Thank you. Excellent. R1200GS, '16 model, shift assist. Hit and miss going up the box, always good going down. I suspect the activator switch. Annoying moments, it just refused to upshift. Cold, no problem, once warm, ? then it stops now and then....!... Is this an easy fix? Full workshop facilites and brains to go with it? help please.........
Oh yes my 07 RT at 90 plus thousand miles my drive shaft had to be Replaced with one Wallet ,with about a Thousand Bucks and a weeks wait..Now she has over 120 k miles and we jus finished a 2500 mile trip,,One wife,One Life One BIKE !
Would this be the same for 1995 r1100gs? Mine makes that noise when a decelerate. When I pull the clutch in it stops clanging. It rides fine other wise.
Thank you for the video. If I could ask a general question as I feel you know what you are talking about. Of all the bikes I want to buy a GS, it is going to be the first bike I buy in my life, specifically a stock 2011 R1200GS 30th anniversary model. It has a boxer engine with a drive shaft, very much like the RS. The bike is owned by a guy who did not make high mileage as it was used for short commutes, he put around 10k kilometers on a bike that has 118k kilometers (73k mikles) now and he says that he did a service not long ago and replaced the two rubber seals which you just held open to get the shaft out and in. If you could spare a few words I would like to ask you is if there is a way of telling if there are issues with the shaft joints, shaft, clutch and transmission without taking it all apart? I think I got a reasonably good deal on the bike, around 6k euros (taking the relatively high mileage in account, but it has some aftermarket protection and a rear case) but would not like to find myself in a situation that would cost me a limb as I hear that these a potentially the most expensive repairs. I did ride the bike a little and it felt and sounded good, but what do I know, I'm a total newb. Thank you very much.
I am surprised that you didn’t grease up the knuckle joints to help with lubrication before re-assembly? This has got to be one of the reasons for the part failure as those joints are dry and do not have any lubricant to help extend their life?
As an old Technical Writer, that BMW replacement procedure would have gotten some serious red ink on review in our shop. That's not shade tree - it's sloppy writing!
![BMW R1200GS [2010] VALVE CLEARANCE CHECK.. The Old Mechanic his own R1200GS 👨🔧---🏍](/img/1.gif)
After working on aircraft for decades, one tip before removing a Drain Plug is to FIRST remove the Filler plug. This ensures you can refill it after draining.
You can fill the rear end through the speed sensor hole. In fact, on some models, that is the ONLY way you can fill it. There is no dedicated fill plug.
My 2017 GSA with about 16k miles and full service history had a final drive shaft with seized splines at the bevel box end. Poor design and service schedule. Seemingly no grease from new and not considered a serviceable item. Was a nightmare to separate. Could all have been avoided with 10c worth of grease. Screw BMW.
Well apparently they haven’t learned i had the same problem in 1971 r75-5 had to haul the bike 600 miles home and no there wasn’t any warinty covera. Got rid of the bmw got a cb750 put 100000 miles on it with very little trouble just keep the chain and sprockets in good condition
Use Moly G 77 paste on the splines.
My 2017 GSA made it to 36,000 and BMW of Grand Rapids, Michigan replaced the drive line without even doing the inspection / test. I had just bought it - but the full service history was on file, so perhaps that helped.
I bought a used 2015 R1200GSA with 4000 miles on it. I then stumbled on a bunch of videos showing dry splines on the driveshaft. I got so paranoid I went ahead and ordered driveshaft fluid and grease for the splines. I watched enough videos and finally decided to tackle the job. Mine was perfect and I really didn’t need to do anything. I went ahead and cleaned everything, installed new grease and fluid. I at least got piece of mind.
bmw is now replacing the driveshaft, free of charge, on liquid cooled boxer engines
Been riding for over fifty years. Bought new in 1980, my Suzuki GS850G shaft spun for over 200 000 kilometers - still own it, still works. However, I was shafted by my RT - the cost of ownership of that bike made me rethink final drives . . . and BMW. At 71, I also own and ride a Honda VFR, Africa Twin and a ‘Strom - chain ‘n sprockets are, for me, the way to go.
I have had 5 bmw boxers with drive shaft. Zero issues
It shows you drive them very gently then.@@motorcyclistfromholland8856
My bought new 1997 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 with shaft drive has 118,000 miles, and still runs fine. I tear apart the rear drive assembly and lube the driveshaft splines with a 60% Moly paste every 10,000 miles. The U joint itself is sealed, and is still working fine. It's usually the splines on Japanese bikes that grind themselves up if not lubed on a regular basis.
Been riding chains my whole life. My daily last four years however is Yamaha Super Ténéré.
Have to admit the joy of not cleaning or oiling or riding with a dirty chain.
The Japanese sang the Germans an American song: “Anything you can do, I can do better… cheaper a waaaay more reliable”…
Great video, mine had a catastrophic failure at 44,000 miles and damaged the swingarm and final drive. Fortunately, it didn't get any worse and it is now repaired and ready to ride again. Your video was an excellent guide to do the repair by myself. Cheers from Mexico.
Sorry to hear that
Replaced the driveshaft on my 1990 ‘old airhead’ GS. 120k miles. I grease the splines every year and the failure was the gearbox end universal bearings which are ‘sealed for life’ and can’t be greased - very much the same as what you have here. The newer bike is certainly far easier to work on, so BMW appear to have made some progress over the last 30 years!
Holy tree - I just looked up the price of a replacement shaft. The job seems easy enough, but $1500 ? That takes a large bite out of the convenience of a final drive...
The BMW mythology machine would have us believe that the "sealed" final drive shaft design will last forever - so why worry about the $1500 cost! A BMW shop would likely charge $500-$750 in labor to replace an out of warranty shaft.
@@davidrsmith2417 This should have a permanent spot on the service checklist, inspection and greasing. There are more reports in the comments. Wow. Not how I used to think about that transmission.
Shame you DID NOT wipe the rear brake disk with an alcohol cloth, to remove the spline lube you accidentally pasted on it.
Rear brake disk won’t like lube on it.
Wiping the disk with alcohol will remove all oil, sweat, and lube so the brake works as it should.
No platinum membership required for my tip.
Otherwise… awesome demonstration and explanation. Thank you very much.
2009 BMW R1200 GSA bought new.
Owned for 5 years and 76K miles: 3 final drive shaft bearings at 1 year 19K miles, 18 months 29K miles and 4 years 72K miles including final drive housing bearing.
Many friends had similar failures with one acquaintance having a catastrophic failure on a motorway (freeway) with hot metal bits being thrown out from the shaft housing. Fortunately his son was following him and signalled him to pull off the motorway.
As you can imagine both I having had a significant number of other faults as well as the final drive faults and many of my friends no longer ride modern BMWs.
Need to get a Pan am. These bmws are way to much trouble. Geez. Good luck
my collegue had the similar problem with these expensive shit they guess to be a motorbyke: he’s in wheels chair…
Honda
@@fulvioplatania3091
In a wheelchair from a crash cause by driveshaft failure?
@@lanesaarloos281 until few times ago yes…he was in highway
I'll just oil my chain, thanks...😂
Excellent video!
I’d love some K bike content. I ride an 87 K75.
Thanks for all you do !
Very good video, very well done. Love to see abs fluid change on R1200gs
Done a few of these myself. You explained and demonstrated it excellently. Thanks for the video
Glad it helped
@@TheBMWGuy Need to get a Pan am. These bmws are way to much trouble. Geez. Good luck
Good stuff, I'm not a BMW owner, but the video was very instructive. Thank you.
New R9T owner, a 2016 though, so happy to find this channel.
I had a rear joint on my 1996 R1100gs go out this summer. Hauled it home 540 miles in a uhaul truck. I guess I can’t complain it has 136000 miles on it. But since I got it 5 years ago it’s always had a click when you let the clutch out in neutral. Since I replaced the driveshaft I no longer notice this. I also have a 2016 R1200GS with 21000 miles I’ll have to make sure and check the shaft on that one. Thanks for the video
Good video. I don't even ride a BMW, but it was interesting to watch how an expert works on bikes.
Great video! Thanks for the straightforward explanation.
Nice clean shop. Always a confidence builder for watchers/customers. I don't bring my vehicles to messy shops full of detritus.
Got to love the reliability of those German machines.
Thank you, looks straightforward enough.
This has been a problem on BMW's for many years. The moral of the story is either get the extended warranty, or get rid of it before it before it expires. This is good advice for BMW cars or motorcycles.
I was a new product design engineer for 35 years before retirement. My wife drives a BMW 530i and I have an E46 M3. I was a BMW junkie. For my 24th motorcycle, I purchased a beautiful new 2018 R1200GS, my first BMW bike. It was an awesome bike for sure, almost perfect - for about 300 miles. After the newness wore off, I started feeling slight roughness in the rear drive that varied depending on if the bike was leaned over in a right hand turn or a left hand turn. I could not imagine a brand new BMW bike of a mature model line would have design flaws! I tried changing the final drive oil 3 times to different weights and brands. Amsoil Severe Gear 75W-140 was the smoothest and quietest but I could still feel a subtle roughness in hard turns. My Motorrad dealer seems to be sworn to some oath to always tell the customer "Oh that? They all do that. Don't worry, its just part of its personality." I sold the almost-perfect bike at 10k miles, having never figured out the issue. I think I just learned what the source of the roughness was, this non-optimum U-joint and spline shaft arrangement. I would bet money that BMW knew that U-joint was a weak design but it was agreed by management to let the occasional u-joint fail and get repaired quietly. That's better than a nationwide or worldwide recall program or even offering an "upgraded" driveshaft replacement. And for the coup de grâce, to deflect blame away from BMW, a properly indoctrinated Mottorad service rep might suggest that with regularly scheduled maintenance service visits the driveshaft usually lasts the life of the bike. The hapless owner is now on the back foot.
2005 GS, 70 thousand miles. No problem. One thousand mile days. Piece of cake. I wish I could say that about my Harley.
The Police in the UK use a large number of R1200 RT and now R1250 RT. I heard recently, that they are to change the drive shafts at 30k miles. I wonder if they are worried that they'll have the same situation, as with their cars engines failing and so are worried they may lose the Police bike market as well. I had an FJR 1300 Yamaha which had done over 90k miles and no problems at all.
Yep, me too. FJR is a more reliable machine.
@@michaelp761 Sure, just ignore the transmission gear exploding on 6yrs worth of FJRs🤣
Mine was replaced at 12000 miles.
Bought a new R1200RTW in 2014, just done 100,000 miles checked the driveshaft recently all good. There's a circlip inside the splines at the upper (gearbox) end thats not mentioned, it locates the driveshaft properly, when you insert the new shaft and after engaging the upper splines make sure you push the shaft towards the gearbox, it should "click" onto the circlip. I found if you don't do that you can't get the wheel end to engage because its sticking out too far,
Between this issue and the crappy Hayes brake callipers, BMW has paid out a fortune, but don’t worry, they will up all prices to ensure we pay for it. They replaced the shaft on my 2019 R1250GSA Exclusive TE with 2,500 miles on it. WTF
I would like to question the quality of BMW drive shafts in their modern day fleet. Is it the case that the older bikes had far less power and therefore less stress on the drive shafts compared with their modern day counterparts.Thus, they simply lasted! Or is it that in the quest for reducing weight to gain performance, they design the strength out of certain components! I just think back to the subframe failure I had on a late 1990's R1100RS. The tubes under the seat fractured and BMW would not acknowledge design failure. The dealer replaced the subframe for me because he had a conscience. When I saw the replacement item, it was chalk and cheese compared with what was on my bike. The beefed up subframe was obviously BMW's response to numerous claims from owners about subframe failures without its accepting any fault. Note I still ride BMWs but I always felt the drive systems were bullet proof. Your vlog makes me question my own belief now.
The Smaller Engined BMW's had softer Power Strokes and were reliable and long lived at up to 800 CC
these 1200's probably cause severe Driveline shocks and shorten Component life.?
I don't know if you have access to AIR (or if you even use that system in the US?). Interestingly they have just recently (October 2023) published a bulletin about the cardan shaft in ALL of the K5x bikes. It's quite long winded, but the gist is that they now recommed an inspection and lube of the splines every 20.000km (same time as the rear oil), which is voluntary and not a required part of the servicing. This inspection and lube the customer has to pay for. Every 60.000km the cardan shaft has to be outright replaced. And here's the kicker - BMW will pay for the shaft and replacement of it for the lifetime of all of the K5x (So all models of watercooled R1200 and R1250) bikes!
Curiously the exhange interval of the new R1300 is 80.000km and is not free of charge for the customer. Their reasoning being, that the cardan shaft was touted as completely maintenance free when they sold the old bikes, and they wish to honour that promise and not retroactively inflict a higher maintenance cost upon existing customers. New customers however should be aware that this is a cost they must expect. Please note that all of this is only valid in the European market, and might well be different in the US.
It's really interesting that BMW have not acknowledged there was a problem here. Now suddenly they are issuing recalls and addendums to the servicing intervals after these bikes have been on the market for 10 years.
Interesting but not surprising.
My local dealer are a bunch of boneheads. Do you have a link to this for those of us that don't have access to service bulletins? I had a 24K service performed a month ago and the dealer didn't say anything about it.
Had an old Honda CB900 shaft drive. Never any problems. C’mon BMW, drive shafts have been around long enough to have the science worked out. WTF?
My Triumph service manual will sometimes word procedures in the same way. It is almost like the old world mechanics are expected to be mechanics and not need every minute detail of every tool and procedure spelled out. You used exactly the correct tool - the one that does the job without damaging the parts.
I just did this on my 2009 RT. I bought shaft from Beemer shop. I had to remove the swing arm because the shaft wouldn't come out the back.
I dont ride a BMW, but it is a really good and instructive video, so I just want to comment and like for the sake of it.
Cheers!
So, with a BMW, you're shafted?
Repeatedly, in my experience.
The 2 peice drive shaft on my URAL lasted 50,000 miles. It got replaced with a 1 piece one , more work but more reliable in the long run.
Helpful vid - Thanks.
However, it looks like when you lifted the rear hub back in place you smeared some spline lube on the rear disk. Not good for brake friction, so I would recommend spraying and wiping brake cleaner on the disk before fastening the caliper back on.
Yep
Yes. You are correct , I saw that too !
I buckled a PTO shaft on a John Deer Brush Hog they would only sell a whole new Drive shaft for like $800.00 .. I bought some new thicker tubing and two new Yokes.. John Deere had a 22 spline shaft exclusive to John Deere, do I had to buy a common yoke with 13 splines.. Total cost of all my parts was like $120.00 and I ended up with a much thicker drive shaft.. The Gear box has a slip Clutch on it that is supposed to protect the shaft.. It actually buckled during PTO engagement.. You must drop the engine down to a slow idle and engage very slowly .
2015 R1200GSAdv with over 50k miles(very hard offroad) creek crossings, mud rocks, etc. Mine is all good! On my fifth shaft drive BMW with well over 200k miles and just seem to never have these issues.
I own a Guzzi V11 with an open (!) drive shaft with greasable u-joints. Italian style, the zerk fittings are out of reach for a normal grease gun so I take the trouble to regularly take the thing apart and check and lube the splines and u-joints which is a pain in the ass but saves a summer of riding.
BMWs are nice bikes but damn they need a lot of maintenance. Had a 16 RT1200. Went through two water pumps in first 5k miles. Warranty covered but damn. Had an 07 FJR went 105k miles zero issues.
My 2019 gs 1250 has had the shaft replaced under warranty. At the time, there were 10,000m on the clock. The head gasket failed, leaking oil, and both replaced.Last week the shock failed, leaking oil, with 11,000 miles, no off-road. Bmw dealership wanted 2,500 Euros to replace. Will be getting it re-conditioned. My first and last bmw
You can avoided all of this by buying Yamaha :)
@@pawelwis7215 In case you are paranoid about clicking links, Yamaha recalled every single 2015 R1 and R1M to replace the gearboxes. Every single unit sold, worldwide. Let that sink in....
Yes Yamaha did the recall to PREVENT failure. BMW just crosses their fingers then tells you to bend over after they fix it. Let that sink in lol.
And to clarify, it is not used off-road and I have not used it in the sea! Yet the black paint bubbles and the exhaust is corroding.
@@guy7670 Sure mate 😂
Great how-to video!!!
2008 R1200GS adventure 68,000 miles driveshaft failed , replaced with BMW motorworks driveshaft with grease zircs on the universal joints so happy days but £500 poorer just for the part 😂
Great vid thx! When re-installing the shaft to the engine output spline,, does the shaft slide only to a certain point naturally? How do you know how far along it engages? Is there a collar or a seat to set the total length? Thanks!
V helpful video, thank you!
That is why I bought a 2017 used R1200GSA. It's past it's infant mortality stage and all service is complete since it has 18k miles. Saved $10k to boot versus new price.
Great video. Did the driveshaft inspection myself a couple of times and even bought a "spare" shaft for my 2016 RS. Do you recall the mileage on this bike with the broken shaft? Mine has 60+ k miles, and the original is still solid (knock on wood 🤞🤞🤞)
Don't jinx it mate
BMW had a recall in 2022 for at least 2016 and forward to drill a water drain hole in the rear drive housing. The issue was water getting into the housing with nowhere to escape causing corrosion and/or seizing. Protocol for mine, being sufficiently old - a 2016, called for drilling the hole and replacing the drive shaft. Sweet! I got a new driveshaft after 48k+ miles. At least that's what the paperwork says.
I have few "why not" questions, since all of them are stated in the bmw repair manual, which I have..
Why not lube the rubber boot front and rear for water pervention?
Why not apply some force to get the shaft further/over the secure lock at the front?
Why not replacing one bolt holding rear drive and bolts for calipper? And why not use some tread locker? In the manual it is written so.
I also noticed no mention of reapplication of weather sealant when the boots are re-fitted?
Hard to believe BMW are still having these issues. I wonder how many miles this one had done. :(
anytime I remove the rear caliper on a disk brake bike (like for a tire change) I take a piece of string and tie the brake foot lever up to something above to keep me from bumping into it and actuating it (driving the pistons out).
I can’t believe that they are still dealing with this issue in 1971 i had a R75. Drive shaft splines failed had to haul it home 600 miles got rid of it and bought a Honda never looked back put over 100000 miles on a cb750 with very little trouble
I'd bet they have renewed this item several times and if you do work with BMW's you will know how many transfer numbers there are on this item or not.
I've worked at a BMW dealer myself with parts, and if you have access to BMW Powerweb(if that's still in use) you will easily see the list of part numbers listed for any part you choose, and the amount of numbers says how many times they have done changes to that part. This is why it's obviously important to know which generation of the part that was destroyed, and which one you are replacing it with.
To me it just doesn't say a whole lot if someone just says this is a common issue. Then I would need the variables placed on the table to gain a better understanding.
I know BMW recently had a recall on the driveshafts where they checked the runout with some type of test rig bolted in place of the rear wheel. If it was beyond a certain limit, you got a new driveshaft. Hope this will prevent some of the premature failures.
Not correct. You all get a new drive shaft (FREE) at every 70.000km when you have an r1200gs starting from 2013. On the new r1300gs you need a new driveshaft every 80.000 at your own cost. That’s what the bmw dealer told me.
In the UK, the Police are changing them at 30000 miles/50000km.@@motorcyclistfromholland8856
I bought a used 17 R1200GSA in July 2022. 47,000 miles on it. BMW replaced the drive shaft on it and added a drain valve to the swingarm. IIRC, the service bulletin stated inspect all from 2013 on, replace shaft if bike has over 25,000 miles.
@@motorcyclistfromholland8856a new driveshaft every 70.000 or 80.000 km? Why? Is this true or a joke?
I own a crappy shitty Guzzi Stelvio 1200 m.y. 2010 and zero problems. Only the oil in the cardan-box every 50.000 km.
@@giuliobuccini208 no joke. Been at the bmw dealer in the Netherlands last week. This comes from bmw factory Germany. So I get one every 70.000km for free. But when you buy the new 1300gs you can pay it yourself every 80.000,
Yeah, I don't think there has ever been a recorded instance of the Kawasaki GTR 1400 drive shaft failing in the field. Ever.
Actually, I can't think of any Japanese shaftie having a problem and I've had a few.
Same with the Yamaha XS1100. Had over 60,000 miles on mine with zero issues. Bought a new GS 1100 for a trip from Key West to Alaska. The final drive was leaking oil after 17,000 miles. BMW warranty covered it , only took 3 days. It is hard to believe that all these years later they are still having issues with driveshafts / final drives.
japanese bikes are so the best ! hands down !
My Honda Drag Star 650 chewed the wheel bearings at a silly low mileage, but shaft undamaged. I think that's the only event I had with it at all...
Can I ask for a video about the change of transmission oil (R1200R/RS)? Thank you, for all the informative videos you are creating. Great job.
Never had driveshaft problems because they had several other engine problems very early. My first was a R1100RS, bought new im1994. After 1k kms there were too many noises inside the engine and in the clutch. Got reed of it. In 1995 I just thought they had solved the problems and bought a new R1100GS. Same problems again. Oil consumption was 1 liter every 600kms. And distribution and clutch noises were awfull with just 1.500kms. After almost 30 years I still don´t have confidence in BMW's.
Nice work, I am really shocked that BMW can have such a major issue on such a major part, I have a RT1200LE I think it will be up for sale soon as I have seen so many BAD issue videos on RUclips on BMW Bikes , I think I will stay with Kawasaki from my Z1 to my Versys 1000, I also have an Z1100 shaft wich I carried out an engine rebuild last year, the bike has done over 23 thousand miles , drive shaft looks fine , no issues so it was cleaned and greased up and re-installed .
I think BMW really need to take along hard look at the enineering design and reliability. Looks very POOR.
Cheers - Gary's Practical workshop
Need to get a Pan am. These bmws are way to much trouble. Geez. Good luck
@@greenrush4313 Now that funny! Did you actually suggest a Pan Am?!
That's my RS in Kevins video, it's got 46k on odometer. Wint out all of a sudden, about 200 easy miles to get home. Marty out.
Thanks, the mileage on the bike was my question. Can you elaborate a bit on what you felt when it went? Anything other than the new/stronger vibrations in the foot pegs mentioned in the video?
Great video, extremely well explained.
Glad it was helpful!
Need to get a Pan am. These bmws are way to much trouble. Geez. Good luck
I have the same software purchased with my 2014 R1200GS LC that shaft went bad on 80 mile round trip everyday for work. Started making noise one day on the way home so I milked it to get there. By the time I got there it was considerably worse.. It broke one of the yokes on the transmission end on the last 2 miles in that scared the crap out of me. I purchased & installed one for $1200 00. Haven't had any issues since. After the fact I found out that there is a recall on these. If not sure, contact your BMW dealer with VIN and they can verify your covered. I cant give the bike up for that long so whatever's cleaver.. PEACE!
Does the shaft have the rubber like cush in the shaft? I believe that the rubber deforms and the u-joint become out of phase, alinement. Causing stress on the joints.
I am perplexed. I love the way the bikes with the boxer engine ride. I love they way they look too. However, everyone I know that rides a BMW has very expensive repairs very often, unless they have mechanic skills like you. Why do these bikes have so many problems compared to their Japanese competitors? Thanks!
Poor design, poor materials, poor quality.
Because people are buying what the think is cool and not what works.
We should reward brands that make reliable bikes (japanese brands) and boycott those who are "milking" us for our money, making disposable parts and selling them at the price of gold...
50 year BMW rider / wrench here answer to question- BMW' suck giant done
ky dicks
Be glad you don’t own a hardly ableson. Or a massi Davidson. Or a Harley Ferguson.
Thanks!
Thank you!!!
Thanks for this video.
How many miles has this bike done?
Also isn’t it possible not to take off the rear speed sensor if you unclip the cable for slack?
It is not possible. However if you want to retain the final drive fluid without draining (eg you just changed it recently) you can plug the hole with an earplug while the drive is flipped down
I have 44,000 miles on my 2009 R1200RT. So far, so good.
Good video. With small flaws. I have an R1200 RS (2018) with 32,000 km. I haven't had any problems so far, but I'll check this one of these days.
Prevention is better than cure.🙂
Back in the day there were grease fittings on u-joints! An occasional service pumping in grease would prevent this for a long time.
Back in the day, the drive shaft was bathed in oil.
Right??
So any advantage the shaft drive bikes might have had over belt or chain driven units is negated because the driveshaft is apparently non serviceable. Ridiculous.
The rear caliper bolts are encapsulated and are defined as single use. If you replace either use the specific encapsulated bolts or apply some medium thread lock. Your customer won’t thank you if the rear caliper works loose and shreds the rear wheel. And you should have lubed both boots before reassembly to prevent water ingress. In fact the boot near the output shaft looked in poor condition and could have been replaced.
I’m sure the folds in the front boot are filled with metal shards.
'Single use' is a manufacturers 'get out of jail' clause. If you inspect the bolts properly and ensure their is no 'necking' where the head joins the shaft, and all the previous thread lock is removed, you can safely reuse the bolts.
Are you sure? Most of these one time use bolts are because they stretch by design and are not suitable for re-use.
@@thewoodster8607Single use bolts are mostly ones that are torque to yield. You’re relying on a certain stretch of the bolt for proper torque on reassembly.
If the torque spec of the bolt doesn’t have an angle to turn after an initial torque, it should be reusable. As long as it wasn’t over torqued and stretched before.
The bolt can be bad well before it necks down or visibly stretches.
Really useful video thank you. Not good for potential bmw owners to see this😕
I've been thinking about buying an r1200r, shaft seems a simple job but £700 approx for parts is nuts, though maybe they'll be a cheap bike when they all have drive shaft issues!
I've had my full of BMW shaft issues, and moved to a VFR1200, not heard a squeek since
Well done, especially regarding explaining every step. Might want to mention that after touching the brake disk with greasy fingers, a thorough cleaning is required.
Did this bike have the drain plug installed at the bottom of the swing arm? It should get one, if not. (The absence of it might be one reason for u-joint failures. Though probably for the bottom u-joint mostly, not the top one like here...)
This is new history. I used to own a K1200S, known issues on clutch basket and timing chain, in Mexico BMW never honored any kind of warranty.
This is just the beginning of a long story, fuel pump, coils, brake module, final drive (sold as maintenance free, yeah right), suspension, you name it, it was like buying an experimental bike from your neighbor. 9 recalls besides all earlier mentioned issues. My third and last BMW.
BMW is a great marketing company.
Now I could not be happier with my KTM Superduke GT.
Oh dear, 'from the frying pan into the fire' comes to mind.
Exactly@@RichardASK
Interesting, thanks for that. Are the old oil head's shaft joints, R850/R1100/1150 as unreliable as the water cooled?
All BMW driveshafts are rubbish
50000 miles on my 2007 gs , I do all my own servicing and greased the shaft (giggle) myself as I heard about the issue. It’s an easy job to grease it.
Its quite funny, been running Bmw bikes since i was 26, I’m now 62....never needed to change a drive shaft yet, but one of my last bikes a R1150RT, needed it as i was getting slight vibration from the foot peg area, bike had done 74k I did mention to the new owner. I think its due to how the rider uses his bike, ie, if they like popping wheelies.... My K1300GT had a front suspension ball joint go after 8k miles, and bmw did it under warranty.
My '98 stripped the crank splines at 70 on the freeway. Had to dump it for salvage.
Did you knock the drive shaft onto the gearbox output shaft ??? As there’s a spring clip inside the female spline that locks onto the gear box output shaft. If this is not done you will be doing it again in a couple of weeks.
Years ago zerks ( grease nipples) were part of the uj…….not anymore!
Have a k1200s with 60k miles on original driveshaft no issues. Must be certain years where they switched manufacturers?
BMW is warranting drive shafts for life now on all bikes prior to 2024 year models.
Thanks for posting. Do you know if this also applies to the North American market?
@@RG-500 It applies to all markets for bikes 2013 model year and up through 2023.
Fantastic! Would you know where I can find any documentation about this? I’d like to show something to my dealer. I asked about it before and they were clueless…
I just had the drive shaft replaced on my 2014 RT with 55k miles on it and it was done under warranty. Talk to your service adviser about the specifics, but mine went to bat for me.
I just had my 2023 R1250 GS in for a 1200 mile UK service, £535. They replaced the driveshaft free of charge and said that they check it every 3200 miles.
They said that they will replace it free of charge for the rest of the bikes life. They also reformated the computer to stop the gearbox blowing up, put a moisture valve in the swinging arm and renewed the footpeg circlips thankfully all under warrantee.
My BMW mechanic fucked up during drive shaft recall a month ago. The boot between the transmission and the swinging arm isn't holding. The problem is on the swinging arm side. It just won't hold in place. I realize I've been driving like this under rain and in muddy terrain for 800km. Could it be damaging to the bike? I'll go there on tuesday but since Iost the trust, should I make sure they clean everything on the inside to remove wetness and probably mud?
Question-- on inspection my driveshaft appears to be twisted. As in the Carden Joints don't line up like you would expect . Normal ?? The U joints are fine at this time . Automotive guy but do all my own bike work.
Did you have to replace the whole shaft? how about just the u-joint?
should have greaseable U Joints you should make a video and change them out .
Nice and inspiring work 😊👍
Thank you! Cheers!
If you have it serviced by the main dealer they will have changed it for you I think the ones fitted came off that boat that sunk off the coast of Devon UK not sure but mine was changed as a recall on my GSA 2016
I note you didn’t install a split ring to the gearbox shaft end groove? Does it need one
Even the best grease will break down with water ingress and aluminium housings will condense any moisture in the air inside the housing every time they cool down particularly in winter ( the reason behind the new drain hole ), basic physics, exactly the same as when you just run engines up in the winter, you contaminate the oil with the condensed water which can corrode the belly pan when it mixes with the additives in the oil. This is the main reason behind oil changes at timed intervals on modern engines lots of short runs and ally blocks so over time the oil even fully synthetic will get contaminated with moisture due to condensation.
I think You are on to something here. The driveshaft on my K1100 snapped at the U-joint, and upon inspection the needle bearings was severely rusted, I suspect water or moisture ingress from the rubber boot not properly greased at the mounting face
I'd love to see a fork seal replacement on 2015+ ESA forks on R1200R/RS or S1000 series ESA forks...
Need to get a Pan am. These bmws are way to much trouble. Geez. Good luck
@@greenrush4313you keep spamming this comment but the Pan America has had its share of problems and has already been recalled.
Muchas gracias...
Thank you. Excellent. R1200GS, '16 model, shift assist. Hit and miss going up the box, always good going down. I suspect the activator switch. Annoying moments, it just refused to upshift. Cold, no problem, once warm, ? then it stops now and then....!... Is this an easy fix? Full workshop facilites and brains to go with it? help please.........
Oh yes my 07 RT at 90 plus thousand miles my drive shaft had to be Replaced with one Wallet ,with about a Thousand Bucks and a weeks wait..Now she has over 120 k miles and we jus finished a 2500 mile trip,,One wife,One Life One BIKE !
Would this be the same for 1995 r1100gs? Mine makes that noise when a decelerate. When I pull the clutch in it stops clanging. It rides fine other wise.
Great job well done
Thank you for the video. If I could ask a general question as I feel you know what you are talking about. Of all the bikes I want to buy a GS, it is going to be the first bike I buy in my life, specifically a stock 2011 R1200GS 30th anniversary model. It has a boxer engine with a drive shaft, very much like the RS. The bike is owned by a guy who did not make high mileage as it was used for short commutes, he put around 10k kilometers on a bike that has 118k kilometers (73k mikles) now and he says that he did a service not long ago and replaced the two rubber seals which you just held open to get the shaft out and in. If you could spare a few words I would like to ask you is if there is a way of telling if there are issues with the shaft joints, shaft, clutch and transmission without taking it all apart? I think I got a reasonably good deal on the bike, around 6k euros (taking the relatively high mileage in account, but it has some aftermarket protection and a rear case) but would not like to find myself in a situation that would cost me a limb as I hear that these a potentially the most expensive repairs. I did ride the bike a little and it felt and sounded good, but what do I know, I'm a total newb. Thank you very much.
I am surprised that you didn’t grease up the knuckle joints to help with lubrication before re-assembly? This has got to be one of the reasons for the part failure as those joints are dry and do not have any lubricant to help extend their life?
Those joints are fully sealed
Which in your opinion is the best GS model to own?
I’m 6’3” with long legs, I look a twit on most bikes.
Great job
As an old Technical Writer, that BMW replacement procedure would have gotten some serious red ink on review in our shop. That's not shade tree - it's sloppy writing!