fd refurb

[Dr.KC]

my wow wow was speed related started at about 30 and got loudest at about 45 mph at about 4000 rpm,clutch out...

OK, this is just the crown main grooved ball bearing that starts to give away.....

This is a grooved ball bearing (double rubber shield) type 6013-2RS. The particular bearing is outside the area that is full of lubricant and it is "easy" to replace. Usually the particular bearing is getting exposed to the environment conditions (rain, water jet, dust, brake pounder etc) so it is matter of time and pure luck when it will die.....of course it is one of the BMW design faults. Max play for this bearing is 1mm....I have seen bikes with 6mm play still going....but it is good when someone checks the "play" and finds some, to go asap and replace the bearing.

The other three bearings inside the crown are not easy to find in the market...and have BMW P/N identification.

The complete F/D has too many design faults......and is a ticking bomb.

 

[autogs]

no its not im afraid,complete final drive was swapped by dealer no change watsoever.my take on the noise is,and im not sure if its the right terminology,some sort of harmonic noise.
i dont think even bm fds wear out at circa 1000 miles.

 

[Rasher]

on the drain plug i thought it would be nice to change the oil ever couple of thousand miles an didn't like the thought of taking the wheel off all the time and replacing seals

Even with drain plug the wheel needs to come off as you have to refill it from "behind" the wheel. I have started doing mine on each tyre change as the wheel is already off and it only takes ten minutes to drain the oil & syringe some new stuff in (goes in through the speed / abs sensor hole)

Still think a drain plug helps a lot otherwise I assume you need to take the FD entirely off the bike and shake it about for ages to try and get oil out, I just remove wheel, undo drain plug and when I get back from tyre fitters all the oil will have drained.

 

[Kenny Rodkiss]

OK, this is just the crown main grooved ball bearing that starts to give away.....

This is a grooved ball bearing (double rubber shield) type 6013-2RS. The particular bearing is outside the area that is full of lubricant and it is "easy" to replace. Usually the particular bearing is getting exposed to the environment conditions (rain, water jet, dust, brake pounder etc) so it is matter of time and pure luck when it will die.....of course it is one of the BMW design faults. Max play for this bearing is 1mm....I have seen bikes with 6mm play still going....but it is good when someone checks the "play" and finds some, to go asap and replace the bearing.

The other three bearings inside the crown are not easy to find in the market...and have BMW P/N identification.

The complete F/D has too many design faults......and is a ticking bomb.

The bearing on final drives with a breather are a different part number and not shown as 2rs which makes me think that it is now open to the final drive lube.
Might help to make it last a bit longer.

 

[Rusty Bolts]

Yes the wow wow is speed related and happens above 40ish clutch in or out.

 

[Dr.KC]

Yes the wow wow is speed related and happens above 40ish clutch in or out.

So is it normal?

I have this wow wow from day one, but lately I get a small play, about 1mm...

 

[Rusty Bolts]

So is it normal?

I have this wow wow from day one, but lately I get a small play, about 1mm...

Don't know if it is normal but when warm you can feel a small amount of play.

 

[slydog]

play

they all have a small bit of play . i must have checked 50 different gs and everyones the same when warm . 5 of my mates have them and there all the same . and all of the rear whees aint true either lol . put it on the center stand put it in gear and slowly let the clutch out i bet ya wheels all over the place . i was worried so took mine to hagens wheel builders where they took the tyre off and told me it was a shite bit of welding on the rim and i could buy another 10 of them and prob all be the same lol . ive given up worrying now and just enjoy riding it lol

 

[oldnfat]

The bearing on final drives with a breather are a different part number and not shown as 2rs which makes me think that it is now open to the final drive lube.
Might help to make it last a bit longer.

I think you are right. Was in Vines last weekend getting my 08 serviced...talking to a mechanic (sorry...service technician) he confirmed that the very latest FDs had a fundamental redisign where the bearings have been beefed up and are running in the FD lube.

Whilst there was looking at a new GSA and sales guy pounced...tong firmly in cheek I said I would only consider a new BM IF he could give me a written guarantee that when my FD went (with a full BMW Service history) they would replace it FOC....and anyway...wanted to wait to see what Triumph and KTM come up with before making a decision.

You could have knocked me down when he said they were looking into this issue and were cindiering an unconditional exteneded warranty on the FD and that he would get back to me!!!!!!!!

Is this a final realisation at the mighty BMW that they have a problem.....is competition finally starting to have an impact....or is it sales bo%$ocks? Wait for the next thrilling instalment.

 

[Dr.KC]

You could have knocked me down when he said they were looking into this issue and were cindiering an unconditional exteneded warranty on the FD and that he would get back to me!!!!!!!!

FD issue is a common secret.....everybody knows that there is a design and tolerance problem in there.

 

[oldnfat]

FD issue is a common secret.....everybody knows that there is a design and tolerance problem in there.

True, but this is the first time I have heard anyone in a dealership acknowledge this or indeed any of the other little problems associated with the joys of GS ownership.

 

[Rasher]

But if they do offer such a thing it will tie you in to paying £400 a pop for each service, I think I would rather save £200 a service using a good indie and put the other £200 into a savings account.

Perhaps some fixed price servicing may help as well (And by fixed I don't mean BMW insist every dealer charges £500 per service to cover the extra warranty expenses)

£200 per service and a good 5 year / 100k FD warranty would get my vote.

 

[oldnfat]

But if they do offer such a thing it will tie you in to paying £400 a pop for each service, I think I would rather save £200 a service using a good indie and put the other £200 into a savings account.

Perhaps some fixed price servicing may help as well (And by fixed I don't mean BMW insist every dealer charges £500 per service to cover the extra warranty expenses)

£200 per service and a good 5 year / 100k FD warranty would get my vote.

+1 - I can't quite work out why my Merc E class costs £290 for a 12000 mile service and by that time I will have spent over £600 on a bike that has less than a quarter of the components....

....my conspiracy theory is that BMW had a brilliant idea which goes something like this...

Kurt

Yes Hans

How do we screw the dumb Britishers for every penny they have?

Easy Hans....we charge a lot more for our bikes

That won,t work...no one will buy them

Hmmm.....let me think, I know...we will charge them a fortune for servicing.

That won't work either....under new EU rules they will simply go to a dirty traitorous independent.

.....Got in himmel how could I be so stupid...think, think think!

Got it....we make sure something really expensive breaks after the warranty expires BUT we will only give them a good will fix if they have a full BMW service history...


Brilliant....but hold on...won't people just take out the extended warranty.

Ja....und we make a fortune out of that too...

Even more brilliant..pass me the bier und sausage...this call for a celebration...

The rest as they say...is history...QED

 

[ironandsteel]

three of the the four bearings are bmw part only so i would guess that they are of the same quality as the originals,regarding retro fitting a drain point it only takes ten mins to drain and refill any way so no point really.on the breather side of things the later ones dont seem to be any better than the earlier ones so again is there anything to be gained.when you say your fd has failed what is wrong with it?is it play in the wheel ?or has the pinion bearing collapsed?if the fd has not suffered from a big failure i can refurb all new bearings and seals £320, or £360 ride in ride out, my workshop is in trowell ,notts.07786 340692.mike

A big thanks to Mike for sorting my fd bearings out this week - an extremely competent chap, very professional and he turned it round in a day for a very resonable price considering what a pita job it is.

I would have no hesitation in recommending him - nice chap, great workmanship.

 

[Yellow Peril]

Would a redesign be the reason behind the change of sides on the new watercooled gs

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Think I read someone saying it was probably the back end of another model. You have to remember though that those pics are of a development muel and might not be what you get when it's released. The spoken about release isn't or 2013 so a lot can change in that time.

 

[Skid06]

A big thanks to Mike for sorting my fd bearings out this week - an extremely competent chap, very professional and he turned it round in a day for a very resonable price considering what a pita job it is.

I would have no hesitation in recommending him - nice chap, great workmanship.

goin to book mine in next few weeks, does the bike ride a lot better?

 

[ironandsteel]

goin to book mine in next few weeks, does the bike ride a lot better?

Psychologically loads better; it feels great - in reality probably not much difference for your average rider (which most of us are).

There was a fair bit of play from the big bearing, obviously suffering from water ingress.

No play now.

All bearings replaced, all the crud cleaned out and new fixings.........top job.

I now know the condition of the bearings, final drive, oil and casing are all good......for now.

Let us know your thoughts before and after........

 

[Dr.KC]

Would a redesign be the reason behind the change of sides on the new watercooled gs

I guess they will use the FD from the K series bikes.

 

[crawling finn]

Was changing FD oil yesterday and noticed that the input shaft have some play which I don't recall last oil change 10000 miles ago (not that I necessarily even checked then). It is hard to say exactly without proper measurement tools, but would say radial play being around 0.3 mm and axial about 0.5 mm. The bike has done 30k and the wheel bearings are nice and tight.
Experts - what do you think? Should I get the FD rebuilt now or is the play within spec?