New drive shaft from Ted Porter

[brownie0486]

Last time the bike was in, my mechanic mentioned there was some notching of the drive shaft. I asked if it was a problem, he said lets revisit in 6K miles next service. That's been on my mind since, so today I ordered this Porter rebuildable drive shaft with 22 splines for my 2011 r1200rt.

Porters person said it's a straight swap, so not all that much time and that translates to labor charged. Anyone aware of these being offered? They said the parts are made in Germany by a supplier for them.

https://www.beemershop.com/product/r1200-ei-rebuildable-driveshaft-for-models-with-22-splines.html

I'll have it installed in a few weeks but it'll be here Friday.

 

[drneo66]

Yep - I deep-dived into final drives and drive shafts when mine needed to be replaced. I have an additional 30k miles on my RT since the swap to the Ei Driveshaft from Ted Porter, and everything seems to be working great.

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?96845-A-Guide-to-the-Hexhead-Camhead-Final-Drive-and-Shaft-Drive

 

[brownie0486]

drneo66---That was a great thread sir, thanks for the link.

Drive shaft will be here tomorrow. I'll schedule it being installed by mid Nov.

 

[giarcg]

Interesting tidbit..

I called in to ask about the lubrication requirements for this driveshaft and was told that they come pre-lubed and that there is no requirement (from the manufacturer) to service them again. Also that the German manufacturer of the shaft initially did not want to use serviceable joints for this reason. Feedback to Germany was that we (the customers) want to be able to service the joints so include them....they did. A shot of grease every 30K miles or so was mentioned.

 

[brownie0486]

Interesting tidbit..

I called in to ask about the lubrication requirements for this driveshaft and was told that they come pre-lubed and that there is no requirement (from the manufacturer) to service them again. Also that the German manufacturer of the shaft initially did not want to use serviceable joints for this reason. Feedback to Germany was that we (the customers) want to be able to service the joints so include them....they did. A shot of grease every 30K miles or so was mentioned.

That's good intel, thanks

 

[akbeemer]

The BeemerShop stopped selling the driveshafts for the liquid cooled models. They were having issues with the shafts not being balanced properly. Once the new shafts are received the BeemerShop will replace the earlier version shafts. Ted estimates he will have the new ones in four weeks.

 

[dduelin]

Interesting tidbit..

I called in to ask about the lubrication requirements for this driveshaft and was told that they come pre-lubed and that there is no requirement (from the manufacturer) to service them again. Also that the German manufacturer of the shaft initially did not want to use serviceable joints for this reason. Feedback to Germany was that we (the customers) want to be able to service the joints so include them....they did. A shot of grease every 30K miles or so was mentioned.

Machine Services Inc rebuilt a used 2008 driveshaft for me about 2 years ago and I installed it my 2007 about 8,000 miles ago. The used part I bought had a slight notch in one of the bearings so I sent it to MSI for rebuild and to have a ready on-the-shelf part. MSI ships the part with lube used in assembly but says to ensure full lubrication prior to installation in the machine. 2 years later my bike reached 120,000 on the original shaft and I replaced it with the MSI rebuild. At the install I took the rebuilt shaft to a local drive line repair shop for lubrication. I wanted to know what grease they used and the counter tech that helped me was a rider (Harley Davidson) so he just took it and lubed it for me no charge using a commercial EP grease they use in drive shaft builds. With 8,000 miles on the rebuild all is well but I'm thinking about what time to grease it. MSI recommends greasing at 500 hours use. Not really knowing what that means in terms of miles I guess I could use a figure of about 45-50 mph average over time. That is about 22,500 to 25,000 miles. Hearing you say that the 30,000 was mentioned and Porter's web site says 30,000 - 40,000 miles I feel better about going at least to 25,000 miles.

 

[Omega Man]

Machine Services Inc rebuilt a used 2008 driveshaft for me about 2 years ago and I installed it my 2007 about 8,000 miles ago. The used part I bought had a slight notch in one of the bearings so I sent it to MSI for rebuild and to have a ready on-the-shelf part. MSI ships the part with lube used in assembly but says to ensure full lubrication prior to installation in the machine. 2 years later my bike reached 120,000 on the original shaft and I replaced it with the MSI rebuild. At the install I took the rebuilt shaft to a local drive line repair shop for lubrication. I wanted to know what grease they used and the counter tech that helped me was a rider (Harley Davidson) so he just took it and lubed it for me no charge using a commercial EP grease they use in drive shaft builds. With 8,000 miles on the rebuild all is well but I'm thinking about what time to grease it. MSI recommends greasing at 500 hours use. Not really knowing what that means in terms of miles I guess I could use a figure of about 45-50 mph average over time. That is about 22,500 to 25,000 miles. Hearing you say that the 30,000 was mentioned and Porter's web site says 30,000 - 40,000 miles I feel better about going at least to 25,000 miles.

I have to ask, how did they lube the U-Joint for you?
OM

 

[dduelin]

I have to ask, how did they lube the U-Joint for you?
OM

Through the flush grease fittings that are installed in the new U joint bearings MSI uses. I could have done it with my grease gun fitted with a needle tip but I went to the drive line shop to ask what type of grease to use. I'll do it myself next time.

 

[Omega Man]

Through the flush grease fittings that are installed in the new U joint bearings MSI uses. I could have done it with my grease gun fitted with a needle tip but I went to the drive line shop to ask what type of grease to use. I'll do it myself next time.

Ok. Great!
My first exposure to concave grease fittings was on my ‘73 Bronco. Seems like it was one of the first attempts to run a CV joint in a propeller (drive) shaft. The problematic “ball” had a concave grease fitting that required the drive-shaft to be removed in able to grease it. This extra work escaped many and as a result, many drive-shafts were stolen by those that required a replacement.
I was hoping you were referring to such a fitting.
OM

 

[perazzimx14]

I put a Ted Porter offering on my 2008 GSA last year. Right after I bought it I was servicing the bike and noticed there was an ever so flat spot in the movement of the lower u-joint. Two months ago while servicing my 2007 R1200GS I pulled the driveshaft and noticed it too was getting a small flat spot it it so I ordered another another of Ted's and installed it a little while back.

The units Ted sells are a cost effective alternative to OEM and arguably superior. I've never gone down the road of having the OEM unit rebuilt because from the reading I've done it seems like about a 50% success rate and after its all said and done the price is about 3/4's of a new unit from Ted's/ For me its a buy once, cry once thing.

 

[brownie0486]

Picked the motor up last Thursday with the new drive shaft installed [ and an oil change because, well, why not? ]. My master bmw tech mentioned he's replaced a couple dozen with these shafts. He likes them, one he knows of personally has over 75K on it, still functioning as it should.

I'm happy with my choice. On the ride home, I could tell there wasn't the same "slop" [ for a better term ] shifting gears up or down.