G'day,
I read somewhere that on the newer bikes like mine, there is no sliding motion in the drive line, and that therefore, because there is no sliding motion, there is no need to drop the rear drive periodically to lube the splines where the drive shaft goes into the final drive. Am I correct in that understanding? Certainly, I don't see drive shaft spline lubing mentioned as a maintenance item in the 6th edition BMW repair DVD that I have for my bike. And I've never seen it mentioned on any work orders from the two dealers who have worked on my bike since it was new (the bike has 46,000 km on it and it is still under warranty).
I know these splines were lubed as part of the re-assembly procedure on the earlier models, because the rear drive had to be dropped to drain the rear drive oil. But since my bike doesn't require the final drive to be dropped in order to change the oil in the rear wheel final drive, is it specified\necessary to drop it anyway, just to lube the splines??
A related question...has BMW issued have some Service Bulletin or something that calls for periodic drive shaft spline lubing, that they didn't bother mentioning in their repair DVD? (After a while, I am starting to get nervous that the BMW repair DVD isn't all inclusive, and can't be relied upon by do-it-yourselfers, to be aware of all the maintenance requirements).
Thanks for any insights.
Dave McDougall
2011 R1200GS
I read somewhere that on the newer bikes like mine, there is no sliding motion in the drive line, and that therefore, because there is no sliding motion, there is no need to drop the rear drive periodically to lube the splines where the drive shaft goes into the final drive. Am I correct in that understanding? Certainly, I don't see drive shaft spline lubing mentioned as a maintenance item in the 6th edition BMW repair DVD that I have for my bike. And I've never seen it mentioned on any work orders from the two dealers who have worked on my bike since it was new (the bike has 46,000 km on it and it is still under warranty).
I know these splines were lubed as part of the re-assembly procedure on the earlier models, because the rear drive had to be dropped to drain the rear drive oil. But since my bike doesn't require the final drive to be dropped in order to change the oil in the rear wheel final drive, is it specified\necessary to drop it anyway, just to lube the splines??
A related question...has BMW issued have some Service Bulletin or something that calls for periodic drive shaft spline lubing, that they didn't bother mentioning in their repair DVD? (After a while, I am starting to get nervous that the BMW repair DVD isn't all inclusive, and can't be relied upon by do-it-yourselfers, to be aware of all the maintenance requirements).
Thanks for any insights.
Dave McDougall
2011 R1200GS