1700 miles on a failed drive shaft!

[Pipen]

Well this was going to be a post about a 1700 mile trip a group of us took to the Swiss Alps, the brilliant Stevilo Pass in Italy, Furkah and Grimsal Pass in Switzerland and the high speed (well 120mph) runs on the Autobahns all covered in 6 days. But it has all ended in tears though it could have been much worse.

I was cleaning my 04 GS1200 on its centre stand when I noticed the calliper floating in and out as I rotated the rear wheel. I composed myself as I gingerly tried to rock the wheel. It rocked about 6mm from side to side. I then lost my composure when I realised where I had been riding for the last 6 days and what could have happened if it had failed during my trip.

I have also noticed the final drive casing surface finish has some crazing visible. With hindsight this is probably due to overheating. On closer inspection it appears that the final drive casing is not the same colour as the rest of the swinging arm. It seems to have a yellow tinge to it.

I am aware of previous failures of the final drive being posted on this bulletin board but can anyone tell me if there has ever been a recall for this problem, or are BMW continuing to bury there head in the sand as the have done with the ABS problems?

Also could anyone give me a useful (if one exists!) BMW e-mail address where I can vent my disgust?

 

[tricolourforever]

Tricky, Bob, any thoughts for the man here? This sort of failure in any product is unacceptable. The bike cannot be sold for such large measures of money when its been beta tested on the buying public. Why have bmw let this happen ?

 

[jeff garnett]

Well this was going to be a post about a 1700 mile trip a group of us took to the Swiss Alps, the brilliant Stevilo Pass in Italy, Furkah and Grimsal Pass in Switzerland and the high speed (well 120mph) runs on the Autobahns all covered in 6 days. But it has all ended in tears though it could have been much worse.

I was cleaning my 04 GS1200 on its centre stand when I noticed the calliper floating in and out as I rotated the rear wheel. I composed myself as I gingerly tried to rock the wheel. It rocked about 6mm from side to side. I then lost my composure when I realised where I had been riding for the last 6 days and what could have happened if it had failed during my trip.

I have also noticed the final drive casing surface finish has some crazing visible. With hindsight this is probably due to overheating. On closer inspection it appears that the final drive casing is not the same colour as the rest of the swinging arm. It seems to have a yellow tinge to it.

I am aware of previous failures of the final drive being posted on this bulletin board but can anyone tell me if there has ever been a recall for this problem, or are BMW continuing to bury there head in the sand as the have done with the ABS problems?

Also could anyone give me a useful (if one exists!) BMW e-mail address where I can vent my disgust?

Hi
Try this
Mr. Simon Wilding
Product Information Advisor
[email protected]

jeff

 

[Pipen]

Thanks for that Jeff. I will let you know how I get on.

Richie.

 

[Tim Cullis]

Sorry to hear of your problems, though it sounds like your trip still went OK??

If you don't get any joy from the email already provided, try Adrian Roderick, General Manager of GB Motorrad.

Tim

 

[tricolourforever]

nasty