Rear FD Issue/Failure Poll

[mrfandangle]

Did I see such a thing on here in graph form? Or am I imagining it? If so I cannot find it again....... Am trying to reasure myself that its not as bad an issue as its made out to be, I guess people dont shout about things going right. Sold my 1150 so looking for a replacement. A GSA12 is a serious contender. Thanks guys. I know this subject has been covered and I really dont want to drag up old dirt, just looking for that post!

 

[jwpzx9r]

I have never seen such a graph... how would you plot it? Number of bike sold worldwide on one axis and number of failures real or made up on the other?. I do know that from what I can see the number of times I have read of a finaldrive failure only to read on and find out that what has happened is the wheel bearings that the crown wheel runs in has given up! I know I am probabley about to told I am talking manure but to my way of thinking that what they equate to. To my mind the crown wheel shaft equates to the wheel spindle and the two large bearings support that shaft in the same way the front wheel bearings support the front spindle. It's usually the one to the drive shaft side that goes or the oil seal. Not trying to defend BMW but bearings do run no matter what make of machine, I have not heard of many drive shaft failures or crown wheel/ pinion failures. I've had more than ten Japanese bikes and had to replace the rear wheel bearing in nearly all of them... thing is they are a bit easier to replace as the were all chain drive

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Did I see such a thing on here in graph form? Or am I imagining it? If so I cannot find it again....... Am trying to reasure myself that its not as bad an issue as its made out to be, I guess people dont shout about things going right. Sold my 1150 so looking for a replacement. A GSA12 is a serious contender. Thanks guys. I know this subject has been covered and I really dont want to drag up old dirt, just looking for that post!

No, I don't think there has been one and anyway, it wouldn't show a true percentage because generally people only shout when there is an issue.

There is no doubt the FD bearings can fail but it's not as common as some would have you believe. I think a lot of people get spooked and reckon their FD is failing when the outer seal leaks which is a 10 minute job to fix.

You can buy with confidence but it would be wise to have a little fund put to one side in case it all goes up the wazoo. A rebuild costs around £350 so if you think of that as your "chain and sprocket fund" you will be good to go

 

[Beemerman59]

The number of reports on this forum of FD failures is significantly less now than it was when I joined the forum 4 years ago. To me that say's it all really. I think for the first few years of the 1200 the issue was such a problem for BMW because they didn't know the cause so they simply replaced the entire FD with few questions which is why it has a reputation as a £1K issue. However, as Sarge say's it can be fixed a lot cheaper now the knowledge to do so is in the filed so its a non-issue for me plus the number of reported problems are so much less now. Bigger problem to worry about is if your ESA shocks fail like mine has - cost me more than a new FD getting some decent Wilbur replacements but I suppose the better handling and ride is a bonus of sorts.

 

[mrfandangle]

No, I don't think there has been one and anyway, it wouldn't show a true percentage because generally people only shout when there is an issue.

There is no doubt the FD bearings can fail but it's not as common as some would have you believe. I think a lot of people get spooked and reckon their FD is failing when the outer seal leaks which is a 10 minute job to fix.

You can buy with confidence but it would be wise to have a little fund put to one side in case it all goes up the wazoo. A rebuild costs around £350 so if you think of that as your "chain and sprocket fund" you will be good to go

The number of reports on this forum of FD failures is significantly less now than it was when I joined the forum 4 years ago. To me that say's it all really. I think for the first few years of the 1200 the issue was such a problem for BMW because they didn't know the cause so they simply replaced the entire FD with few questions which is why it has a reputation as a £1K issue. However, as Sarge say's it can be fixed a lot cheaper now the knowledge to do so is in the filed so its a non-issue for me plus the number of reported problems are so much less now. Bigger problem to worry about is if your ESA shocks fail like mine has - cost me more than a new FD getting some decent Wilbur replacements but I suppose the better handling and ride is a bonus of sorts.

Gents thank you very much for that, really puts it into perspective. £350 every whip n trip I can cope with (Hopefully not to often....). I understand that Scriminger offer this service? Off to the bank manager next Friday so "watch this space" think it will be a GSA after all.