2008 GSA final drive

philg

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Can anyone give me advice on GS final drive? I took my bike into a BMW garage to get a few recall jobs done for free, they said the bike was in very good condition with about 30000 miles on clock, but there was a faint noise from the final drive when turning the wheel. They didn't say fix it now but mentioned it, so I did the North Coast 500 and put another 2k on the mileage. I had it Mot'ed and the tester passed it, but also said there was a faint bearing noise. There's no play in the wheel and he passed it, but he said to keep an eye (or ear) on it. To be honest when I spin the wheel I can't hear anything and there's no play. I've replaced the final drive main bearing in older BMWs which was fairly easy. This version looks much nicer with the big hole through the drive, but appears to need specialist tools (and more skill) to pull apart and replace the bearings. So has anyone had a similar problem? I'm thinking I should let the BMW dealer fix it, but every time I've gone to a main dealer I've been relieved of an amount ranging between £300 and £800 (was a while ago but still pains me). With no obvious problem it's also quite tempting to put it off until there's some sign something is wrong. I'm about to ride a couple of thousand miles through France and the thought of a bearing failure is making me slightly nervous, should I be nervous...? One more question, has anyone had the FD rebuilt by a UK BMW dealer and if so, what was the cost?

Thanks PhilG
 
Last edited:
philg said:
Can anyone give me advice on GS final drive? I took my bike into a BMW garage to get a few recall jobs done for free, they said the bike was in very good condition with about 30000 miles on clock, but there was a faint noise from the final drive when turning the wheel. They didn't say fix it now but mentioned it, so I did the North Coast 500 and put another 2k on the mileage. I had it Mot'ed and the tester passed it, but also said there was a faint bearing noise. There's no play in the wheel and he passed it, but he said to keep an eye (or ear) on it. To be honest when I spin the wheel I can't hear anything and there's no play. I've replaced the final drive main bearing in older BMWs which was fairly easy. This version looks much nicer with the big hole through the drive, but appears to need specialist tools (and more skill) to pull apart and replace the bearings. So has anyone had a similar problem? I'm thinking I should let the BMW dealer fix it, but every time I've gone to a main dealer I've been relieved of an amount ranging between £300 and £800 (was a while ago but still pains me). With no obvious problem it's also quite tempting to put it off until there's some sign something is wrong. I'm about to ride a couple of thousand miles through France and the thought of a bearing failure is making me slightly nervous, should I be nervous...? One more question, has anyone had the FD rebuilt by a UK BMW dealer and if so, what was the cost?

Thanks PhilG
Click to expand...

Hi I have just finished rebuilding FD
To get all the bearing done you need special tools !
cost for all the bearings and seals £305. you can safe your self 40 if you get big bearing 6013 2rs elsewhere.
I've made a video about all the work if you fancy watching it
https://youtu.be/M77NgNnALrg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Mikeyboy is who you want to contact if you don't fancy the job yourself. Forum is littered with this problem unfortunately.
 
+1 for Mikey -

My drive had side to side play big time :(

highly respected & reccomended :thumb
 
Avoid a rebuild with the dealer as it will cost you an arm and a leg.

Mikeboy does a brilliant rebuild so contact him via pm and have a chat. Should be around £400 mark and you will get a proper job done.

If you are slighyly nervous about it, get it done.
 
Denz0 said:
Hi I have just finished rebuilding FD
To get all the bearing done you need special tools !
cost for all the bearings and seals £305. you can safe your self 40 if you get big bearing 6013 2rs elsewhere.
I've made a video about all the work if you fancy watching it
https://youtu.be/M77NgNnALrg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thanks for the video link, I watched it and it's a much more difficult job than it used to be. I've got gear pullers, but that puller you used at first looks custom-made for the job, when I seen the press to remove the bearings, that convinced me someone else is better doing this than me :) Good video though, would definitely help others get it done themselves.
 
Thanks to all that replied, I'll PM MikeyBoy and see if can do it. My France trip is fairly soon, so might have to risk it as is, but with no play, I'm not too stressed as long as I have Europe-wide breakdown recovery. The GS does seem to have a few design issues such as this, but it's still one of the best bikes I've owned. I met a guy on a Harley up in Tyndrum last week. Just the two of us out on bikes, I was warm with hand guards and heated grips, he was less comfy :) I was appreciating the GS that day.
 
Marki_GSA said:
Mikeyboy is who you want to contact if you don't fancy the job yourself. Forum is littered with this problem unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Santa-2512 said:
+1 for Mikey -

My drive had side to side play big time :(

highly respected & reccomended :thumb
Click to expand...

Sgt Bilco said:
Avoid a rebuild with the dealer as it will cost you an arm and a leg.

Mikeboy does a brilliant rebuild so contact him via pm and have a chat. Should be around £400 mark and you will get a proper job done.

If you are slighyly nervous about it, get it done.
Click to expand...

As per above....Mikeyboy is your man :thumb2
 
Mike did mine at 50K miles he said all internal bearings were “ready”.
At 30K mikes, I would just fit a new wheel bearing then have a full overhaul at 60K.
 
philg said:
Thanks to all that replied, I'll PM MikeyBoy and see if can do it. My France trip is fairly soon, so might have to risk it as is, but with no play, I'm not too stressed as long as I have Europe-wide breakdown recovery. The GS does seem to have a few design issues such as this, but it's still one of the best bikes I've owned. I met a guy on a Harley up in Tyndrum last week. Just the two of us out on bikes, I was warm with hand guards and heated grips, he was less comfy :) I was appreciating the GS that day.
Click to expand...
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