box of neutrals and cogging noise

Exile

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Well just my luck! lovely weather, nice ride on saturday, decided to make a pig of myself and go out sunday aswell, snicked the bike into gear, and the most god awful noise, and then bugger all, no drive in any gear! Th bike is an 05 GS1200, I bought it with 30k on it, I've done about 4k, (3 of them touring spain two up) it's been well looked after, and I've done all the fluids plugs, and some general fettling. I disconected the gearlever, as I had moved it on the spline to accomodate the new boots. and even tried engaging the gear by moving the input lever, but nothing! I did the final drive oil, and greased the spline on the prop at the diff end, which I have to say was a bit dry, and lacked lube, any ideas folks, prefferably that don't invilve me ebaying a kidney!!!!!!
 
I'm no mechanic, but I'd hazard a guess it's your shaft drive. :tears
 
If you want possible explanations - apart from the failed drive shaft (possibly the coupling..?), I know of one case where the gearbox mainshaft broke in half at 43K miles. I'd investigate the drive shaft first and if that's ok I suspect it's going to be a case of splitting the bike and removing the gearbox.
 
If you are doing it yourself then start from the back and work your way to the gearbox. You are going to be digging deep so position the bike well if you have limited space. You will also need props or stands to support your bike so have some 4 x 2 available.

I did some work on my gearbox HERE.

I didn't find any specific fault and my gearbox is fine after 1200 miles or so. The clutch is another matter. :augie

If your gearbox input or output splines are stripped you will see that quite quickly. If an internal shaft has broken you will have to look inside to see which one. Either way, it means splitting the gearbox and opening your wallet. :comfort
 
Thanks for getting the ball rolling, I'm going to get a similar setup as yours going, and hope for the best. It is a real mystery, as the previous day it was fine, perhaps it was just waiting to let go. still on the brightside.........better outside my house that on a trip, as we've got France and Eastern europe pencilled in for this year. is it common for the drive shaft to fail at the gearbox end, as the more I think it through, the more it seems feasble, all the gears register, and it has that sound as if something is lumbering around inside the housing. hoefully if anything failed, it won't have done any casing damage. cheers for your help.
 
Check the driveshaft...

My ripped the end joint off with no warning (at 73000 miles). sounds awful as the shaft is rubbing inside the housing. The shaft was very rusty once I had it out.

I pried the rear driveshaft housing rubber back and could see the broken joint. So I sould move the rubber covers (front and back)and have a look, you may need a torch.

Is a quick fix once you have got another shaft as you just drop the FD down. I bought a second hand shaft from Sherlocks for £180.00. Looked brand new to me.

I was quite glad to find out it was the shaft and not the FD or gearbox!

Alex
 
Mate of mine had this happen His was the clutch splines disappearing and the input shaft having bad wear

P4190042.jpg


P4190053.jpg
 
Cheers gents, keep the options coming, did someone say S/H drive shaft for £180? that's a damn sight better than £400 I've been quoted!!!!!!!!! I'm just going to work back and see what I find. When I bought the bike I did some general servicing, rear diff oil, cleaned and greased the drive splines (they were pretty gummy, just brown residue of grease) so I'm thinking the front may be goosed!!!
any info on S/H parts or pattern? much appreciated.
 
Good luck :D I had my gearbox casing crack on me locking the bike into 6th gear, give me a chain final drive any day!
 
You can remove the final drive and swingarm in one bit to allow you to look at the shaft properly

Undo the shock top and bottom slip it down ready to lift out you may need to remove the end can to get at the lower bolt

Remove mudgaurd, calliper and trace the sped sensor wire to the under seat box and get it out and free (Saves draining FD oil and refilling again) cable tie the calliper to the rear foot hanger outta the way

You will probably need a puller or a slide hammer to bump the right hand pivot pin out but the three wee torx bolts hold it in

The other side a 30mm 6 sided socket and a 12 mm allen bit Heat gun and decent pull bar
 

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I suppose it depends on which end of the driveshaft has gone. If it is the FD side you get get to everything by dropping the FD down out of the way as you would for an oil change.

There is plenty of space to clean out any debris and insert the shaft (£180.00 from James Sherlock).

If the top joint broke then taking the whole swing-arm out would be wise as there is no space to clean out any debris.
 
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Have made a few calls, James Sherlock, have to say, they were really helpful, and have suggested similar possibilities, I am going to start ripping down tonight, hopefully it will be the drive shaft, as Input shaft + Clutch will seriously hurt!
 
If it's the gearbox it'll probably be cheaper to get a used low-miler from Sherlocks and swap out. Less hassle too.
 
Oh yes! why am I celebrating? it's only the splines at the hub end :D could have been worse after some of your posts, my next question, do I have to drop the swing arm to get the shaft out? thanks all.
 
Exactly the same as mine then! I think this is how it goes:

Put the bike on the sidestand
Remove the rear wheel
Unbolt the rear caliper and abs sensor (plug the hole)
Undo the bolt holding the FD to the parellel link(?) and drop the FD down (just be careful that the very smelly oil does not leak out)
You should now see your driveshaft carnage
At the gearbox end of the driveshaft is a rubber gaitor, pull it toward the front of the bike (leave the cable-tie alone) and with a large screwdriver prise the shaft backwards and it should go with a click.
Pull the shaft out backwards
Clean out the debris and reverse the procedure to put it back together remembering to grease both end of the driveshaft.
Getting the rubber gaitors to slot home can be a challenge, I found the front one would only seat completely after the bike was back on its wheels and I was sat on it. I could then push it all the way till it clicked home.

I have dropped the FD a few times before so the hole job is less than an hour.

Good luck

Alex
 
Thanks Gents, unfortunatley the front rubber gaiter is badley perished, so I have to replace it also, which meens S/Arm out! are ther any tips around for that? thanks all
 
Seems a lot of work to replace the rubber. Will it not come out between the rear housing and gearbox when you remove the drivershaft?
 
I must be having a real Homer day!!!!!! pressure of work, stress, overtired? I thankyou for obvious wisdom :D
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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