Play in the rear wheel

[mjotad]

I've just passed 4000km on my 1150GSA, new in November, and I'm noticing a bit of play in the rear wheel at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock.
For about the last 1000km I've been noticing the occasional clunk from the rear end, noticeable through the footpegs, mainly when passing over small imperfections in the road surface, and I've also had the sensation that the back end has been feeling progressively vaguer, but I'd put this down to paranoia brought on by reading too many final drive failure threads. However, on Sunday afternoon the back end stepped out with the bike cranked over on good dry tarmac and generally made a spirited attempt to chuck me into the hedge. I checked the rear wheel and felt some movement at 12 and 6. There's not much play, maybe 1mm, but I can feel a definite click from side to side as I move the wheel. It seems to be the same independent of rotation of the wheel.
I took it in to the dealer and the head of the workshop first denied that there was any movement, then said that it was normal play in the bearing, then agreed to change the bearing. I asked him to check whether the paralever pivot was torqued up correctly, which he did by setting a torque wrench to 15Nm and trying to loosen the bolt on the outside of the paralever.
This is my first BMW and my first shaft drive, so I'd appreciate it a lot if some more experienced BM'ers could give me their opinion on the following questions:

Am I right in thinking that any lateral play in the rear wheel is too much?

Can you really check the torque on the paralever pivot without first stripping out the loctite?

Is having ridden 1000km or so with dodgy bearings/loose paralever pivot/whatever likely to have caused wear or damage to anything else?


Many thanks in advance

 

[Mzokk]

I'd say no there shouldn't be any play!

No you can't check the torque with loctite on the bolts.

The bolt on the outside of the swing arm should be torqued to 140nm which is well tight so 15nm on his wrench ain't going to test anything.

The Locknut on the inside over the bearing preload nut is 140nm also.

Take it back and get them to fix it properly under warranty.

 

[Rob Farmer]

There should be no play at all. The chances are it's the swingarm to bevel box bearings. Mine went at 4k, my 1100 GS ones failed at 10k and my mates 1100 S failed at 9k. The bearings develop grooves and just need replacing, once they have been replaced the problem seems to go away so I suspect it's a build quality issue (caused by over tightening) during manufacture. The bearings are £14 each and are easy to replace if you have the kit, if yours are under warranty then it should be done by BMW. I had the dealer who supplied my bike post the bearings to me and fitted them myself so I know they were done properly.

 

[mjotad]

Time for a late update to this thread, and thanks to Rob and Mzzokk for their replies.

What with one thing and another I didn't get around to taking the bike in to the dealer until yesterday for the 10000km service. They checked the final drive bearing, and yes, it was knacked. It wasn't totally trashed, but it was noisy and didn't turn smoothly. I changed the final drive oil at 8000km and the magnet on the drain plug had a wodge of black gunk about the size of a grape stuck to it. I guess that one or more of the bearings had lost its case hardening. There were also a few larger bits of swarf visible. I would guess that these were responsible for the momentary lock-ups which caused the rear wheel to step out (which happened a further five or six times).

In fairness to the dealer I should admit that I phuqed up regarding the play in the rear wheel. What I thought was movement in the wheel at 6 and 9 o'clock was actually the bike twisting on the centre stand.

Lessons from this:
1) don't let your paranoia make you detect play where there isn't.
2) just because there's no play in the rear wheel doesn't mean that the bearing isn't knacked.

So, another shot final drive for the list. I guess mine must have gone at about 3500km. Do I win a prize or has anyone had one go earlier?

 

[Nigel Cummins]

Sadly not, I had my bearing replaced on my R1100G/S at 64000km for the 1st time. Its now gone again 3500km later. The mechanic is pursuing a warranty claim through the dealer who supplied the bearing.