G450X (2010) newbie

Hi all,

I own a 2010 G450X, it only gets used for green lanes (trail riding) - I must say what a great bike. I do however have a question - on the subject of greasing the swinging-arm pivot bolt / spindle - according to the manual I have (appears to be the genuine BMW repair manual for my bike - it's on CD - I got it when I bought the bike 2nd hand) there should be an m6 cap headed bolt screwed into both ends of the swing-arm spindle, however, on my bike, only the gear change side has said bolt in. Anyway, following the manual, remove both bolts and pump grease in both sides. It is not very descriptive of how you get the grease in but I refer to common sense and if a thread is there, I would screw an m6 grease nipple in, attach my grease gun and pump away until I seen clean grease coming out of the countershaft exit points. Upon further investigation, the clutch side of my bike is not only missing an m6 cap headed bolt as the manual suggests it should have, but it is actually missing internal threads! So I can't see how I can attach anything to get the grease in. I've tried contacting BMW about this, and unfortunately they have been of absolutely no help whatsoever. I started with my local dealer, which was a complete waste of time. I then went on to contact customer services, which was a waste of time at first (no response for a few months) but I finally got through to someone who was very keen to help. However the query then got passed on to the "Technical Manager" (I think it was) and he suggested I "press the threaded grease nipple against the hole which has no threads and pump it in that way" which I thought was rather poor advice coming from BMW, I'd end up with grease everywhere but in the swing-arm shaft! I'm convinced this is a manufacturing error. The Technical Manager suggested that it was a cost cutting exercise on the later bikes (apparently, he had an earlier [08?] bike in front of him which had threads on both sides). Surely though, if they weren't going to put threads on 1 side to save money, they'd do the same on the other side too, as both sides serve the same purpose as far (as I'm aware)?

Anyway sorry to rant on and I know it probably seems quite minor to some but as the bike is used off-road and is subjected to a lot of muck/grit/water I want to make sure I can prevent any premature wear and keep her in good working order. I'd say there should be an internal thread there to accommodate a grease nipple but perhaps I'm missing something and there's a special tool I need or something?

Any help much appreciated.

Josh
 
I have a te449 which has the same swingarm pivot design.

Mine doesn't have nipples. There is an m6 (?) Bolt that holds the outer plastic cover on. I just take that off and grease it manually (with lithium based grease).

Try googling maxbmw parts fiche and see if you can find an exploded view on there.
 
Likewise my 2009 G450X swingarm pivot only has one threaded side. I've always just pumped grease in to the holes from a grease gun until clean grease emerges from the exit points and never had a problem.
 
Thanks GFJ - that website is very handy. I checked the exploded view for the spindle and it doesn't appear to show an m6 cap headed bolt on the clutch side, only the gear lever side as per my bike.

Thanks for the advice Andy E - I think I'll try as you suggested, I must admit it doesn't sound as easy as using a threaded grease nipple but I suppose if it works, that's all that matters.

Will keep you updated on how I get on.

Thanks again,
Josh
 




This was my solution for the gearshift side. The brake side pivot point gets greased manually. I tried cutting a thread for a grease nipple in the spindle end but found it rock hard and decided against trying too hard in the end. Good luck and welcome.
 
Hi SteveM, thank you for the info. I have actually got a similar attachment for greasing the gearshift side on my bike, which works a treat. I've not had a chance to give it a go on the other side the way Andy E has suggested - hopefully I can get away with it this way but I think being able to screw a grease nipple in would be a more effective way of packing plenty of grease in. As mentioned in my 1st post I'm convinced it's a manufacturing error. If it is, it's understandable that BMW wouldn't want to admit it. Perhaps I'm just being too anal about the whole thing.

On another note... I've been ordering various bits ready to give the bike a service. I ordered a new air filter from my local dealer and picked it up yesterday at a cost of £21.50 (incl. VAT). Yet the last time I bought the same air filter from the same dealer (in February 2015) it cost me £12.14 (incl. VAT). If my math is correct, the new filter was 77% more expensive than the filter I bought in Feb 2015. I checked the invoices to compare the part numbers/references and everything is exactly the same. Rang up and asked the bloke in parts about it, and he said the higher price is correct, and that it had increased since 2015 because the benefits of economies of scale have diminished as a result of a lower quantity of filters being ordered. I could understand that to an extent (although I am still somewhat sceptical), but an increase of 77%?! I can't help but feel I've been ripped off!

Josh
 
Hi Josh,
The good thing is that now you have 2 air filters you can clean one of them and have it oiled and ready to change next time you need to. I rinse my spare out in petrol, leave it to evaporate dry, then re-oil it using motocross filter oil and keep it in a carrier bag ready for use.
 


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