Final Drive - Noise

tjmouse · May 23, 2018

Hi all

Collective wisdom sought.

Had my bike serviced by Cotswolds BMW the other week and they flagged that they could hear noise when rotating the rear wheel which suggests the final drive bearing need replacing. I use the bike every day so am looking for a local shop that could do the job for less than their £400 but Stourd MC Company won’t be able to look at it for a while. Does anyone know of another BMW mechanic near Cirencester?

Also (and here I need your wisdom) how fast can I expect it to deteriorate? Do I need to book it in tomorrow or should I be ok riding it for a few more weeks? There’s nothing noticeable when riding so it’s just the sound flagged at service.

Cheers

Pukmeister · May 23, 2018

I'd be tempted to remove the rear brake pads then spin by hand myself. The driveshaft will make a noise when wheel is spun anyway. Maybe drop the final drive oil into a jamjar and inspect for colour and wear particles.

Is there any play in the rear wheel, or oil leaks from final drive. ?

Maybe contact mikeyboy here on the forum for a full rebuild??

tjmouse · May 23, 2018

Pukmeister said:
I'd be tempted to remove the rear brake pads then spin by hand myself. The driveshaft will make a noise when wheel is spun anyway. Maybe drop the final drive oil into a jamjar and inspect for colour and wear particles.

Is there any play in the rear wheel, or oil leaks from final drive. ?

Maybe contact mikeyboy here on the forum for a full rebuild??

Cheers

Planning on replacing the rear disc and pads next week so will test it myself then. BMW replaces the FD oil at service but didn’t comment on contaminates or colour of it.

First choice would be mikeyboy but he’s a bit far away for me unfortunately and I need to keep mobile so can’t just ship him the FD.

fs996 · May 23, 2018

Like Puk has said, I would investigate more before deciding to drop 400 notes on 'a noise'. Some noise is normal, you'll be able to make the call when you change your pads. Personally having rooted around all that area the other week on my hex its a pretty simple job to rotate the FD back, see how the input looks, check for noises and maybe drop the oil.

timeandtide · May 23, 2018

Pukmeister said:
I'd be tempted to remove the rear brake pads then spin by hand myself. The driveshaft will make a noise when wheel is spun anyway. Maybe drop the final drive oil into a jamjar and inspect for colour and wear particles.

Is there any play in the rear wheel, or oil leaks from final drive. ?

Maybe contact mikeyboy here on the forum for a full rebuild??

He’s on his hols at the mo!

jags · May 23, 2018

tjmouse said:
. BMW replaces the FD oil at service but didn’t comment on contaminates or colour of it.

did they??

tjmouse · May 23, 2018

jags said:
tjmouse said:

. BMW replaces the FD oil at service but didn’t comment on contaminates or colour of it.

did they??

Click to expand...

They replaced the oil but no comments other than the noise.

Bikes done 30000 miles so expect a FD service wouldn’t go amiss soon.

I’m going to check for the noise when I replace the disc and if I’m not happy get it serviced otherwise I’ll wait a while longer then get it serviced anyway.

Santa-2512 · May 23, 2018

tjmouse said:
Cheers

Planning on replacing the rear disc and pads next week so will test it myself then. BMW replaces the FD oil at service but didn’t comment on contaminates or colour of it.

First choice would be mikeyboy but he’s a bit far away for me unfortunately and I need to keep mobile so can’t just ship him the FD.

You wont be mobile either way,

did the dealer say what he wil do for his £400?

they wont touch the pinion gear , if that has play your loooking at £1200

Mikey on the other hand can do the pinion gear if its that.

In terms of riding, my had about 1-3mm sideways play, i rode it for 6 months before sending it to Mikey

The hardest part of getting it done was getting it off, Haynes manual made it easy i have to say

BTW i had no particles in my FD oil, but it smelt like shite

Pukmeister · May 23, 2018

After a few oil changes with fresh Syntrax it smells fine, I believe it is just the original lubricant that causes the sulphur smell.

milleplod · May 24, 2018

Mikeyboy did my 1200ST's rear drive a few weeks ago, I'd taken it to him for a once-over prior to a trip to Spain through France. When he dropped the unit, I heard that horrible, sharp intake of breath that folk do before giving you bad news!

There was very obvious play in the pinion, and the oil that he drained out of it, which was only 2-300 miles old, was full of grey swirls....metal particles.

He got the unit rebuilt by the next day - glad I went to see him! :bow

Pete

Bendy toy · May 24, 2018

Mike did my FD at 50,000 miles when the main wheel bearing failed. He said every bearing was at end of life so I was glad to have got it done. The cost was little more than BMW charge to simply replace the wheel bearing and the biggest proportion of that was BMW parts.

milleplod · May 24, 2018

Forgot to add that my ST was on 30k miles and, fwiw, has led a fairly easy life. The drive oil has been changed every year in my ownership, since about 10k miles.

Pete

buncobooth · May 24, 2018

Just had this issue on my 50,000 miler and had it all replaced under extended warranty

Non dealer stuff I use Jim at Superbike Surgery (he is down Gloucester way), he comes out to your place and he is highly recommended:

http://www.superbikesurgery.co.uk/

Final Drive - Noise

tjmouse

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Pukmeister

Well-known member

tjmouse

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fs996

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timeandtide

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jags

feckin amatuer

tjmouse

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Santa-2512

Omnipotent one

Pukmeister

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milleplod

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Bendy toy

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milleplod

Well-known member

buncobooth

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