rear wheel play at 3mm

[KevOK]

Hi Guys,
I'm currently in Tanzania heading from Ireland to cape town.
I have noticed the play in my rear wheel has gotten worse. I'm riding a 2009 GSA with 90,000km on it. I had the bearing replaced at 20,000 before. Its now moving about 3 mm in the 6 o clock- 12 o clock position. I could feel it while riding yesterday. I know that a 1 mm tolerance is acceptable but how about 3 mm. The wheel seems fine when rotated just a very minute noise.
My question is, would anyone know if this will get me the 6000 km to cape town or am I dreaming?
What would happen if it goes totally, am I going to end up on my ass? I'm really short on time and having one sent here and replaced could take a month at least.
Thanks in advance for the advice guys.
__________________
Ride on
Kev

exploreplanetearth.net

 

[NZRalphy]

Hummmmmm another 6000km.

You probably can make it if the road is sealed. Take it slower, be sympathetic with the bike. Don't let it distract your journey and have fun.... But check it at lunch etc.

Too much play will start to wreck the small needle bearing and drive gears, but you'll need more play to get to that point.
Can you get to a bearing shop and get a main bearing? (normally not in stock and on overnight delivery - so ring ahead)

You'll need SKF 6013-2RS it could be good insurance.

Shit - this was 6 years ago!

 

[KevOK]

Hey Ralfy
Thanks very much for the reply. Ill see what I can do to get a bearing some place. If not I'll have to limp on, stay on good roads and hope for the best.

 

[Robbo1200ADV]

Hi Guys,
I'm currently in Tanzania heading from Ireland to cape town.
I have noticed the play in my rear wheel has gotten worse. I'm riding a 2009 GSA with 90,000km on it. I had the bearing replaced at 20,000 before. Its now moving about 3 mm in the 6 o clock- 12 o clock position. I could feel it while riding yesterday. I know that a 1 mm tolerance is acceptable but how about 3 mm. The wheel seems fine when rotated just a very minute noise.
My question is, would anyone know if this will get me the 6000 km to cape town or am I dreaming?
What would happen if it goes totally, am I going to end up on my ass? I'm really short on time and having one sent here and replaced could take a month at least.
Thanks in advance for the advice guys.
__________________
Ride on
Kev

exploreplanetearth.net

Just back from Cambodia where we had some of the toughest conditions I have seen in the 6 years I have been going there . Riding through deep mud / flooded paddy fields and deep water crossings knackered every single bearing in the bikes ( wheel bearings r=that is ) we had 2-3 cm of free play at he top !!! we still rode them all day like that , until we could get new bearings but it was interesting to say the least . Keep an eye on it , if it starts to accelarate in wear get it fixed , otherwise probably ok for road riding for a few thousand miles

 

[Steptoe]

Just had a customer come back from south africa, namibia, malawi, uganda etc etc, you get the picture, and he rode with around 3mm of play in his 1200 rear wheel all the way without any problems. .

 

[Bendy toy]

I always get accused of scare mongering, but opinion varies wildly. Looking at the FD internal bearings that Patzx12 stripped I would not want to take any chances. If anything breaks up the debris will lunch the gear teeth and effectively turn the FD into an anchor. But if the bearings hold together it might arrive ok. Question - Does the OP want to risk losing the whole final drive for the sake of a bearing or two.

Patzx12 threads:
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?277586-Final-drive-repair-manual&highlight=final+drive
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?166875-The-inside-of-my-FD&highlight=final+drive

One with another specialist's comments:
www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?325079-1200gs-rear-axle-removal&highlight=final+drive

 

[KevOK]

You get accused of scare mongering really?
Man I'm in Tanzania, have you ever been here. Its a mission to get laundry done not to mention getting something fixed.
I prefer the comments that say it'll all be fine and that I have nothing to worry about. Of course I know that if the bearings go I'll be fucked. I'm just hoping they will get me 6000 km more. No I don't want to risk loosing the final drive for the sake of a few bearings and if you know someone close by that will replace them for me feel free to point them out. I have less than a month to get to Capetown. In fact I'm trying to get there in 11 days.

 

[Bendy toy]

Clearly BMW built these bikes for heavy duty riding through Africa. But the question was asked! Actually its all BS just ride so fast you arrive before the bearing fails. Sorted.

To be honest a paranoid best mate could be well worth having. Check the free play at every stop and don't skimp. If the bearing slack gets appreciably worse then you'll know things are going downhill. The issue is the bearing rollers are carried in a riveted cage. When that breaks, the rollers bunch up and literally rub each other the wrong way so the bearing can go down hill rapidly. But it could also soldier along for ages.

You could get a new main bearing flown out to a stop not too far away and get the bearing replaced. Then in Cape Town have the whole hub rebuilt according to Patzx12's instructions. You could call the proper experts for some proper advice.

Mikeyboy email [email protected] or phone 44(o)778634o692
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?307795-bmwr1200gs-rt-final-drive-rebuild

Steptoe http://www.gsshop.biz/ 44 (o)2o8 546 26oo

 

[Steptoe]

You get accused of scare mongering really?
Man I'm in Tanzania, have you ever been here. Its a mission to get laundry done not to mention getting something fixed.
I prefer the comments that say it'll all be fine and that I have nothing to worry about. Of course I know that if the bearings go I'll be fucked. I'm just hoping they will get me 6000 km more. No I don't want to risk loosing the final drive for the sake of a few bearings and if you know someone close by that will replace them for me feel free to point them out. I have less than a month to get to Capetown. In fact I'm trying to get there in 11 days.

As i've posted already - a customer of mine was in the same predicament as you in africa. He did just over 10k miles with play in his rear wheel and all was fine.
Like you he wasn't in a car park so had no choice but to carry on, as most adventureres do. And they usually reach their destination ..

Asking advice from 1200 owners when in your situation and location isn't going to be much help to you unless you're near a main dealer or in the home counties or shires of the UK

 

[BlueBird]

Keep Calm and Carry on.

The 1200 is not as fragile as some of the doom mongers on here would have you believe,
I rode mine for over 10k miles with that kinda play, it was on tarmac but I didn't slow up, just kept an eye on it

South Africa is probably the best place to get it sorted anyway

 

[KevOK]

Thanks for the advice guys,

I've done 1700km since the first post and it hasn't got worse.

 

[KevOK]

now done 4000 km, still wobbling. found a garage to look at it tomorrow

 

[NZRalphy]

Mate that is great news....let us know how you get on

 

[KevOK]

Well the BMW garage I managed to make in Windheok Namibia didn't have the parts. It would take a week to get them from South Africa by which time they would have closed for Christmas break. I did a final drive oil change and found a very minute amount of metal in the oil so I pressed on to Cape Town. Got the guys at BMW there to have a look but they weren't much help either. They said it would take 3 days to fix it and cost between $700 and $ 800. I researched the bearing cost, needle and main came to $200. I decided to fix it myself when I get the bike home. I got the number of a tow truck and rode the final 200 km to cape Agulas the southern most point of Africa. I even managed to ride it back to Cape town. Over all I did 6000km+ with the bearings damaged. These are one tough bikes for sure. It's now in a box and heading out to sea. I'll strip it down when I get it back home, cant wait to see what damage has been done.
Thanks for the advice guys.

http://www.exploreplanetearth.net

 

[NZRalphy]

Great to know it kept going.

BMW prices are out of this world. If you are anything mechanical you can do the bearing change yourself. I brought the SKF bearing and followed a thread on how to do it.... You'll need access to a press and some metal scraps to do the pushing, and you'll need a powerful gas touch to heat the hub for the bearing then heat the disk carrier. It was easy give it a go.

Ralphy