deilenberger
A bozo on the bus
As far as I've seen - that's with quite a few R1200xx's in my two local clubs, and following threads on the Internet - yes, it's kind of rare (IMHO - and ONLY my opinion - don't take it as gospel.) I know of 3 or perhaps 4 failures of a driveshaft on an R1200xx bike, 3 of them were rear universals, one was a front.I don't post very often, I saw this subject and as far as I can remember this is kind of rare isn't it?
Dunno. Usually when a universal starts to fail on a car - you get vibration, or noise - or both. Does that happen on a bike - dunno. I would expect it would, but with no personal experience - it's a dunno. I do regularly sit on a stool behind my bike and rotate the rear wheel. I'm mostly doing this to inspect the tire (for nails or other damage), but I would hope if there was a universal going bad, it might make a noise. So far - 71,000+ miles, when I do this - it's quiet and smooth turning the rear wheel. I also DO inspect the rear universal when I drop the rear drive to do a fluid change (about every 12,000 miles.) I feel the motion of the universal - and it again should move smoothly and quietly in all directions.I have replaced cv shaft assemblies in my kid's Buick, my Ranger 4x4, my wife's car but the mileage was higher and it was usually due to a boot tear and it's cheaper to replace the shaft assembly.
Was there any warning at all?
Indeed it is. The other thing to make sure of - that the rubber accordian boots that connect the swingarm to the transmission and rear drive are correctly installed and sealed. At least two of the failed rear universals I saw had signs of a LOT of moisture being in the area. The yokes were badly rusted, and it appeared the bearings may also have been rusted.The Alcan Hwy is in the sticks man bad luck.
The driveshaft does run in a sealed chamber IF the rubber boots are correctly installed (and for people who think the big hole in the bottom of the rear drive flange connects to the universal area - it doesn't. Look at it very carefully next time you have the drive dropped to change the oil.) The rear boot is the troublesome one since it's disturbed whenever you service the rear drive. It has plastic expanding clips in both ends of the boot that push the rubber out to make a seal on the swingarm and rear-drive. The rubber that seals to these surfaces is supposed to have a coating of grease on it to help make the seal. When correctly installed - it appears (from my bike at least, that has seen enough heavy rain use) the seal is quite effective.
That all said - I keep a spare driveshaft on my parts shelf for the bike. Bought it for a very good price on an Ebay auction, off a low mileage R1200R that was front end crashed. It sits in it's mailing tube on the shelf, ready to be sent to me if I experience a problem when off on a trip. Having it there makes it almost certain I'll never need it (Eilenberger's Law of Parts #1 - you never need what you have on hand.)
It isn't something that gives me a lot of concern. If you're headed into the wilds of Alaska - it might be prudent to inspect the U-joints and the sealing on the swingarm boots before going. If nothing else - it will probably give you some peace of mind.