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2009 RT U-Joint Failure

beemergirl

New member
Most of the final drive failures I've seen relate to leaking seals. Today, at interstate speed I felt a vibration and smelled something similar to the clutch spell. Lasted a second. A few miles later another strong vibration and loss of speed. Pulled over to the shoulder and while the bike would restart it would not move forward. Center stand---rear wheel won't rotate.

36,838 miles. Towed 300 miles. Awaiting dealer opening tomorrow.
 

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Was the bike purchased new? Just trying to get a feel for cause and effect. Knowing my luck it'll happen just after the warranty period is over. :dunno
 
not sure what diff it makes but bought it used with 249 miles on it. First owner's wife prefered the pillion seat of the RoadKing. Go figure.
 
Be interesting to see what that one costs...
You are lucky not have been dumped by a locking wheel, I think.

Most of the planet seems to have no problems with making reliable driveshafts and differentials- except BMW.
 
Of course my unshielded car U joints manage to work fine even when soaked. And they don't even fail on my track stuff when I more than double the power they were designed to handle and run them at twice the revs they would see in street duty.
Why is this bike U joint so fragile?

Last time anyone I know broke a car U joint was when my father killed one on a 51 flathead Ford in 55- so he bought a Rocket 88 Olds as a replacement.
 
Marchyman,

I did not remove anything. I last had the bike serviced 2-3 weeks ago (dealer serviced) and it was fine. I believe the cover was there Sunday when I looked at the tires/bike in prep for riding home from Montana yesterday.

I'm no mechanic....another rider came by and identified the problem while I was on the side of the road. I just knew the bike wouldn't move, called a tow truck after calling a friend to ID where the closest dealer was (300 miles away). Thank goodness for BMW Roadside Assistance!!!
 
Drive Shaft failure

Just a quick update. Dealer looked at it today....described it as a drive shaft that exploded. Caused significant damage to the paralever along with the boot. He was impressed I was still amoungst the living. The FD itself was fine, nothing wrong with it.

He was not able to determine the cause of the failure. He's never seen this happen before, although my home dealer (who I asked to intervene with BMW) has seen this a couple times before. Sometimes having a dealer who personally knows you helps. That, and the pictures seem to impress.

Parts are ordered, bike should be fixed tomorrow. BMW is taking care of it. Only costing me my time (which isn't insignificant). Wish I had brought my Kindle along.
 
Ouch! That looks bad. Glad to hear they're covering you and that it didn't cause you to crash.

It's a bummer that BMW can't seem to get these things right. I contemplated selling my RT after my second FD seal failure, but at least that fix was quick (after waiting 2 days in a motel for the dealer to open :banghead).

The RT is such a wonderful bike......when it's able to move forward.
 
I had the same thing happen to my 94 R11RS. Took the paralever tube out (swingarm), and left debris in the final drive. I wouldn't have found that except the independent mechanic decided to drain the FD just in case....
I would have the dealer drain the FD and screen the oil, just in case. Or at least make sure they note on your work order your concern.
 
It's not an unknown failure - but it luckily is a fairly rare one. So far I've only heard of it on RTs, and there may be some correlation between this failure and two-up use (but the data set is very small, so take that as a WAG on my part..)

Was out riding with a friend on his '07 RT with 43,000 miles on it. He's a BIG guy (not overweight, but BIG) who often rides with his wife on the pillion. He was riding solo with me that day. His bike started making a rhythmic vibration, he pulled off, we centerstanded it, and could feel a stiff spot when trying to rotate the rear wheel.

Contego Direct came to the rescue. Provided a great motorcycle towing company, took it to our friendly local mechanic, and paid (minus deductible) without much fuss. Needed a new driveshaft and the rubber boot. Luckily the paralever arm wasn't damaged.

I've heard of a few others with hexheads.. but as I said, it's not a frequent failure mode.
 
Don, I'm happy it's not a frequent issue but according to people I spoke to the U-joint should last forever and this shouldn't happen. My damage was significant. I'd urge people who have had this issue to report it to the NHTSA. The dealers do not inspect the u-joint and they don't believe there is any reason to.
 

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Don, I'm happy it's not a frequent issue but according to people I spoke to the U-joint should last forever and this shouldn't happen.

Moving parts, including U-joints, will not last forever. Yeah, I know that was hyperbole and that by forever you meant a very long time. Most do. Just as most wheel bearings do. But sometimes they don't.

You can always ask the dealer to check. I understand why they don't. I suspect most folks would complain loudly about an extra $100 or more to check something that should "last forever". Or you can check yourself. I did. But I've got lots of time to work on my bike enjoy doing so. Not everyone is in that situation. At 60K miles on my '05 GS my U-joints were just fine.

1171479763_BDDyA-O.jpg
 
Just sayin'

Beemergirl, I bet the prior owner of your bike, who went with the Road King, hasn't has a defective U-joint yet. Perhaps BMW should consider going to belt drives on the big Rs, like they have on some of the 650s and 800s. I know their ads use to say shaft was the only way to go, but since they haven't figured out how to make them as bullet-proof as their engines, it might be a good alternative....it works for Harley and they're pushing more weight and more torque in most instances. Good luck with the fix....glad you survived this incident.
 
Beemergirl, I bet the prior owner of your bike, who went with the Road King, hasn't has a defective U-joint yet. Perhaps BMW should consider going to belt drives on the big Rs, like they have on some of the 650s and 800s. I know their ads use to say shaft was the only way to go, but since they haven't figured out how to make them as bullet-proof as their engines, it might be a good alternative....it works for Harley and they're pushing more weight and more torque in most instances. Good luck with the fix....glad you survived this incident.

Has Kawasaki,Yamaha and Honda figured out how to make them bulletproof?
 
Has Kawasaki,Yamaha and Honda figured out how to make them bulletproof?

My point was: Harley has...they don't use them. Must be something about motorcycle shaft final drives that makes them more failure prone, than all our car applications.
 
Has Kawasaki,Yamaha and Honda figured out how to make them bulletproof?

I hear very little about driveline failures in other makes. I am sure there have been some issues but nobody I know has had a problem other than a leak.

I heard that Guzzi had a recall a while back to fix something in the final drive. Not that many Guzzis out there so any failure data may be hard to come by.

As far as going to belt drive or a complete redesign of their shaft drive system, BMW is just too stubborn to change anything.
 
wow, sounds like bmw riders are finally able to admit the obvivous-- bmw does have known failure issues,, now if corporate bmw would admit to not being infallable.............................. and start actually taking care of the customer.
 
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