The GS is broken now too

[robc]

First off, thanks to all of the guys that stopped on the hard shoulder of the M3 to see if I was ok last night. They were:

1) A guy riding an 1100S - sorry forgot your name but I still have your email address.

2) A biker guy driving home.

3) A guy on an old Guzzi (I think)

4) And a guy on an R1150GS with a UKGSER.COM sticker on his beak.

Here's what happened:

Moving to lane 3 to overtake I bumped over a cats eye and then all drive was lost. First I thought it has just popped out of 6th gear. Alas no. There was no drive in any gear and a nasty screaming/grinding noise that reduced as I went slower. Pulling the clutch in didn't make the noise go away either.

I can spin the rear wheel in neutral and it feels just fine. I can put it in gear and can still spin the rear wheel but there is a rapid grinding noise whether the clutch is in or out. The noise is if the final drive shaft wasn't quite attached to the drive shaft and you can hear the splines rubbing against each other as one bit spins but the other bit doesn't. If that makes sense.

The GS has never shown any signs of impending failure before. No slipping out of gear, no untoward noises of any kind.
I know the clutch needs replacing as when it's hot in very slow traffic it can slip a bit when pulling away quickly. But if this problem was the clutch I'd still have drive right?

I've not had a chance to do any other investigation other than that but at first guess I'd say the gearbox to drive shaft splines have broken in some way.

So, the GS is off the road now and the RT is still off the road with it's final drive at the dealers getting fettled.

If I get time tonight I'm going to remove the GS's final drive and if it looks OK fit it onto the RT. Hopefully that can get me back on the road.
Mind you, it'll be sods law that when I remove the GS's final drive loads of bits fall out.

Anyway, thanks again to the guys who stopped to offer help - should they be reading this.

Regards

Rob C

 

[MattW]

Ouch - sorry to hear about the grief your having with your bikes at the moment

Others may chip in but it sounds to me like the splines on the gearbox input shaft have stripped - it's unlikely to be the output splines from what you say above but I guess it could be. Worth removing the swingarm to find out (it'll be coming off in any case). Either way, it's a gearbox off and complete strip to replace the input / output shaft (and probably the clutch / any bearings that are past their best).

 

[Steptoe]

Almost certainly the clutch/gearbox splines have lost their teeth.

You maybe lucky and it may only be the clutch friction plate teeth that have worn.

 

[robc]

Hi Chaps, Thanks. That sounds about right from what I've read.

Steptoe, would you be able to PM me with a quote for a fix? The worse case scenario, clutch plate, input shaft, etc...

Regards

Rob C

 

[monkeyboy]

Hi Chaps, Thanks. That sounds about right from what I've read.

Steptoe, would you be able to PM me with a quote for a fix? The worse case scenario, clutch plate, input shaft, etc...

Regards

Rob C

Yep - I was the S man Rob. Hope you didn't get too wet waiting!

you have PM

 

[robc]

Hi Jason,
Many thanks for stopping. It was very much appreciated even though there was nothing you could do.

I didn't get wet at all. Heine Gericke Gortex is fantastic stuff.

Regards

Rob C

 

[robc]

I got the RT on the road last night. I transplanted the GS's final drive into the RT. I can leave it like that for a few days until the RT's one comes back from the menders.

I mentioned this to BMW and they tried to tell me the RT's gearing would be different to the GS's but they are wrong. As I expected, they are both identical.

Regards

Rob C

 

[davegs]

I got the RT on the road last night. I transplanted the GS's final drive into the RT. I can leave it like that for a few days until the RT's one comes back from the menders.

I mentioned this to BMW and they tried to tell me the RT's gearing would be different to the GS's but they are wrong. As I expected, they are both identical.

Regards

Rob C

What difference would this make? I got lower gearing on my1150 'cos I like the difference glad you've got back mon the road!.

 

[Welshman]

What difference would this make? I got lower gearing on my1150 'cos I like the difference glad you've got back mon the road!.

Sorry to hijack which bevel set do you use?

 

[Pekkavee]

Almost certainly the clutch/gearbox splines have lost their teeth.

You maybe lucky and it may only be the clutch friction plate teeth that have worn.

I had the same case with a friends bike.
Clutch friction plate teeth totally gone.
However also gearbox input shaft splines were badly injured. So we replaced them both. The plate and the input shaft and some bearings and seals.

Pekka

 

[davegs]

Bevels

Sorry to hijack which bevel set do you use?

One from an 1100, 33-11 make life so much easier in traffic and avoids any clutch slipping and takes the edge off the high bottom gear. done about 40 odd thousand at least on it also better for off road riding. Don't use one from an 850 GS as reccomended on ad rider as it's much too low, wheely time!.
Dave GS