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Final Drive Boot Fire

124081

New member
My '02 R1150r final drive boot caught fire on Saturday.
It appears that the boot was trying to occupy the same space as the brake-disc. The boot is not clear back against the shoulder at the rear-end. Could this have deformed the boot enough to rub, and catch fire?
I recently had an independent mechanic change the tires. Could he have bumped the boot and caused this?
How much am I looking to spend, best-case scenario?
Thanks.
Jim
 
Perhaps the oilheads could provide you a better answer? I do hope you find some help. :bikes
 
BTDT - melted oilhead boot

Same thing happened to my used 2002 R1150GS with only 12,000 km on it. Swing arm boot melted; disc pads worn out; rear drive needed to be shimmed. Turned out the former owner had put lower footpegs on it, and perhaps had been riding with the rear brake slightly on -- or perhaps the brake was rubbing full time because of the poor shimming of the drive bearing.

Once repaired, the problem did not reoccur -- but I made sure that the rear caliper was always free on its pins and I kept a close eye on pad wear.

Now I own an Airhead again -- learned my lesson, for now.....
 
Cause appears to be external

My brother-in-law, who has a keen mind for analyzing mechanical failures, mainly through a process of elimination, is puzzled by what caused this, but thinks that the cause was external. I had been riding a road which had been oiled-and-chipped not too long before, and he thought that a small stone may have lodged between the brake-disc and the boot and caused sufficient ffriction to heat the boot.
We're going to pull it apart and replace the boot, brake-pads, final drive oil, and boot-clamps.
Any surprises ahead?
Thanks
Jim
[no smilies with fire....]
 
Did it look like this?

BuringBMWreardif.jpg
 
who takes pictures while his bike is on fire!?

since the pik is of an R12, and he has an R1150.

but still an interesting to see. :sick

I have pictures of the smouldering ruins, but the Infraview or whatever that is, is impossible for me to understand and use. Sorry.
I ordered parts: boot, straps, brake pads, oil. $99.

I may have been riding the brake, as the huge steep curve on the east side of South Mountain was oiled-n-chipped. Maybe that, and re-positioned caliper, having just had the tires changed, caused the disc to get very hot. I don't usually ride any brakes, just downshift, but it could happen....

I think the proximity of boot-to-disc is too close, but BMW never does anything wrong...
 
I think the proximity of boot-to-disc is too close, but BMW never does anything wrong...

And neither do BMW's owners. Mine seems to work fine. No fires, uphill, downhill, level, graveled roads, etc. I don't think you can blame a freak occurrence on BMW when the overwhelming evidence favors the bikes whose final drives have not caught fire. Now if we suddenly get reports of a dozen final drives catching fire, then we can begin to wonder about other possibilities.

Next time run in a lower gear and let the engine do the braking. In mountains, rule #1 is don't ride the brakes. Ever! That goes for cars, trucks and motorcycles. Use your lower gears and engine to provide the braking in long downhills. Let the engine rev. It can take it. Only use the brakes for hard, quick braking. Slow down more than necessary, then let them cool. Even pull off if necessary. If you smell hot brakes, you don't have much braking power left and what you do have is much diminished. Stop and cool down 30 minutes or so.
 
My brother-in-law, who has a keen mind for analyzing mechanical failures, mainly through a process of elimination, is puzzled by what caused this, but thinks that the cause was external. I had been riding a road which had been oiled-and-chipped not too long before, and he thought that a small stone may have lodged between the brake-disc and the boot and caused sufficient ffriction to heat the boot.
We're going to pull it apart and replace the boot, brake-pads, final drive oil, and boot-clamps.
Any surprises ahead?
Thanks
Jim
[no smilies with fire....]

Braggin' eh'. All my brother in law can do is borrow my stuff and drink all my beer!
 
Hey all: Now THAT, by gawd, is a final drive failure!!! I'd like to be a fly on the wall of the service reps office when the owner comes in to file THIS claim!!. Vaya con Dios, Dutch
 
Which came first? The crash or the broken axle? :scratch

i could be wrong, but the only axles in that pic look just fine. front wheels are firmly attached on both bikes, and thats the only axle location on an oilhead.
the swingarm and driveshaft are not looking all that healthy on the foreground R12GS however.....
 
wrong

i could be wrong, but the only axles in that pic look just fine. front wheels are firmly attached on both bikes, and thats the only axle location on an oilhead.
the swingarm and driveshaft are not looking all that healthy on the foreground R12GS however.....

It is difficult to tell if you could be wrong or not. I don't see whether you are a BMW owner or not.
 
i'm thinking termites on that. really big and hungry termites. confused termites. at least a breadbox full. probably just the weight of all those termites took out the swingarm.
 
photographer

i'm thinking termites on that. really big and hungry termites. confused termites. at least a breadbox full. probably just the weight of all those termites took out the swingarm.

They don't say who took the picture, but maybe his passenger (really big and confused)'s foot slipped off the peg and pressed down on the swingarm....
 
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