Final drive failure precaution on remote places - what stuff i need?

[Tsiklonaut]

Ordered the big bearing with seal on the final drive that seem to be the main FD failure reason, right? Do i need the smaller one too that attaches from the other side?

Can the broken one be replaced aside the road too with some method (i.e. with tyre pullers, heating them with hot exhaust)? Or i certanly need bearing puller tools to perform that job?

The big bearing with seal costed me only 47£ here, so i'd say i'll take them with me to Asia.

Thanks in advance, Margus

 

[Fanum]

No idea Margus.......

What I would say though is don't underestimate the skills and bodging ability of people in Asia or any far-flung places....they will generally be able to fix nearly anythijng with nothing, and find the most amazing ways around complex technical problems.

If there's a way of doing it, it'll get done.

The one thing you can guarantee though, is that if you do take this other bearing, you'll never ever need it...but if you don't.......

 

[Timolgra]

I wouldn't bother about the smaller bearing.

Yes the large one can be changed by the side of the road, as you describe (and best to leave the bevel box on), but you would need a couple of screwdrivers knocked behind the bearing to get it started before there was room for tyre levers.

I did mine at home and used a puller once started, but it would definately be possible without one.

Tim

 

[Frank Warner]

You could take a lot of stuff, cam chains, tensioners, injectors, coils, valves, bearings, gears
eg pinion gear

You would aso need to take a small truck to pack it in.

I'd not be taking the bearing/seal etc. Take the contact information of at least one person/firm who will send you stuff if you need it somewheres in the world. Unbless you know your going to need it - in that case replace it now and have the extra space and less weight of not carrying it.

 

[Tsiklonaut]

Thanks for the replys guys!

My only concern is the FD bearing seems to be Achille's heel for GSes, especially when driving two up, full of luggeage and over Gross Weight allowed in extremely hot conditions...

Other things would be Hall sensor and fuel pump. Exept those three things, other "unrepairable" (i.e. not getting parts anywhere) failures seems to be unlikely if i've studyed the RTW pages technical side on oilhead GSes that do high mileages on quite extreme conditions. Well yeah, anything can happend, but why not to forestall the most probable failures if those things are small to carry and relatively cheap?

Any analysis on it would be apriciated.

Margus

 

[Madmountainman]

I've heard that the final drive bearing also requires shims to fit it out correctly. If you put the wrong size shim you can cause your nice shiney new seal to blow!

 

[Tsiklonaut]

I've heard that the final drive bearing also requires shims to fit it out correctly. If you put the wrong size shim you can cause your nice shiney new seal to blow!

Yup, ordering some different size shims too.

 

[shready]

I think the bearing also has to be heated up prior to fitting too, I'm sure Steptoe told me this when he fixed mine recently.

 

[Vern]

I don't think I would bother taking the bearings and seals.I find it's always something you haven't got that breaks anyway.I would however,take a spare set of hall sensors,as they can be a complete "end of journey" breakage,and there is no way of knowing if it's them causing all the bother.

 

[Arbreacames]

I've heard that the final drive bearing also requires shims to fit it out correctly. If you put the wrong size shim you can cause your nice shiney new seal to blow!

Not really.
1) Bearings are very precise, so you should be able to reuse the old shims with a new bearing and still get the right preload.
2) If you wanted to follow the proper procedure and choose the correct shim, you would have to be able to do some pretty fancy measurements. That's as difficult to do as getting to a good machine shop in the first place.
3) An incorrect shim can't blow a seal. It can only cause accelerated wear on the new bearing. The shims are there to preload the bearings. Too much preload and you wear the bearing out. Too litttle of it and you get free play at the wheel. Same result: bearing wear.
4) The seal is not shiney and it doesn't blow. It leaks when it is torn by a broken bearing race or when the wheel gets wobbly from too much play.

 

[Madmountainman]

Carlos, you managed to say in a lot of words just what i said in a few. Even though mine were less technically correct you still understood what i was talking about.

Cheers!

 

[B Murr]

I did about six or seven thousand miles two up in hot conditions in India a while back on a R100GS(J718HSL). I was riding two up with luggage enough to bottom out the back tyre against the underside of the rear mudguard/carrier on bad roads in Nepal. The bike never missed a beat but it did blow an oil seal(for output shaft if I remember correctly). This was later traced to the frame being misaligned(bike had previously been in severe crash misaligning the frame) I kept an eye on how much I was losing and just topped up what was needed every day. I figured that so long as there was some bit of oil being thrown around inside the gearbox that it would keep going. It did make a bit of as mess though.If I had been on a longer haul trip I would of course have done the necessary with the spare oil seal I was carrying but time was valuable and the repair could in my mind be postponed till I had more time(i.e. back in UK). I'd agree with the advice to leave major spares up to the friend in UK who can ship the stuff out, carry small spares like oil seals though as they are small enough to not notice.

One thing that you could do which will make a big difference is to have no time contraints. That way if you do break down that you can just wait around for a week or two while the part arrives and repairs are made, sitting back and taking in the locals can be a great thing.

Good luck with your travels.

Bill