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Final Drive Failures

kentuvman

kentuvman

New member
I've read A LOT about FD failures on R 1150's. I plan to add another bike to my F650 for longer distance & two up riding. It seems some owners are frustrated with BMW for being in denial about a problem with the final drive failures. I read a high proportionate number of FD failures on the Iron Butt ride were on newer R models.
My question is, am I better off buying a "K" bike or another model/year boxer to avoid this problem? It sounds like FD repair costs at least 2K.

Thank You, KT
 
kentuvman said:
I've read A LOT about FD failures on R 1150's. I plan to add another bike to my F650 for longer distance & two up riding. It seems some owners are frustrated with BMW for being in denial about a problem with the final drive failures. I read a high proportionate number of FD failures on the Iron Butt ride were on newer R models.
My question is, am I better off buying a "K" bike or another model/year boxer to avoid this problem? It sounds like FD repair costs at least 2K.

Thank You, KT
Click to expand...

bmw has used the same basic design since 1980 for that final drive. The new (since 2005?) have a redesigned final drive.
I did just learn that the final drive deep groove ball bearing has come down in price from $129'ish to $61. Hmmmmmmm :/
 
check your numbers

I had an FD failure on my '02 R1150R. Parts and labor were $300.
I understand that same repair could cost as much as $500 depending on your location.

$2,000 for an FD repair tells me that there was other damage besides the bearing.
 
My understanding on the FD failure issue is that it is about a 4% faiulure rate overall among all years. That's not a high failure fate in my opinion. What I'd like to see is the failure rate by specific year/model and then maybe we could make a bit more sense about it.

As for FD failures among model lines, take your choice. If it uses a shaft drive then the same basic FD issues remain. If you don't want to worry about a FD issue look at a belt or chainn drive. They have their own set of problems though and personally, I will never own another motorcycle without a shaft drive. My last two Honda & Yamaha both had shaft drives as well. No more chains for me.
 
bmwmick said:
Why should I check my numbers? Check the price yourself.
http://www.webparts.com/diagram.php?btnr=33_0639&mospid=48862&hg=33&fg=10
Click to expand...

Hey Mick, I don't think Ultacyclist is disagreeing with you, but with the OP, who said that a FD failure could cost $2k to repair.

When my '02 R1150RS had the bearing failure, the entire service cost me $480, which also included a new tire and a new set of rear brake pads, which were both oil soaked.

When I got home from the trip I was on, I found that Ozzie's BMW in Chico, CA, who did the work immediately upon my arrival at their shop, had sent me a $90 check from BMW for goodwill, even though my bike was well out of the warranty period.
 
DarrylRi said:
Hey Mick, I don't think Ultacyclist is disagreeing with you, but with the OP, who said that a FD failure could cost $2k to repair. .
Click to expand...

Hi Darryl,
You may be correct.
That is one of the reasons I like quoting just enough to plainly identify the target of your post. :/
How ya been?
Mick
 
Motorcycle Consumer News article

Check out the September issue of MCN article by Bill Shaw."Tarnished Roundel.Final Drive Failures Taint BMW's Image".Best article on the topic I've seen.

And having had two final drive failures,I agree 100%.

Clark
 
My bike ate it's final drive bearing. Not including the paralever bearings, the price was a bit under $500, if I did my math correctly. I let them do all the work. Am I happy? No. Has it changed how I feel about my bike? Sorta. I trust it more now.
 
dluxdlitz

Just FYI...

I read once where final drive failures on the BMW paralever can be due to the wilder folks doing wheelies. The extra load on the shaft from carrying the bikes entire weight is apparently not so good.

Not something that I would do with a BMW, but there are those out there that do them (wheelies, that is). If you buy a used BMW, you could be in for a special time if the prior owner(s) abused the bike.

Doug
;)
 
On my 94 R1100RS, I had one of the universal joints by the FD come apart. It took the driveshaft out, the paralever tube AND the FD. Mine ended up costing me almost $1500.
 
Darryl

Thank you for the support.
Sometimes I do not come across on the net the way it was intended.

I subscribe to MCN, and I am chomping at the bit to read the article on FD's. I should get my issue tomorrow.

But I do wonder about something: Input shafts.
I am not a techie, and I take my bike in for work.
Is it possible that BMW may have inadvertently created the perfect storm of design failures with the FD and input shaft problems that I am reading about on this forum regarding the R1150R line?

Good to hear from you,ride safe,
Howard
 
ultracyclist said:
Thank you for the support.
Sometimes I do not come across on the net the way it was intended.
Click to expand...

Yeah, me too.

I subscribe to MCN, and I am chomping at the bit to read the article on FD's. I should get my issue tomorrow.

But I do wonder about something: Input shafts.
I am not a techie, and I take my bike in for work.
Is it possible that BMW may have inadvertently created the perfect storm of design failures with the FD and input shaft problems that I am reading about on this forum regarding the R1150R line?

Good to hear from you,ride safe,
Howard
Click to expand...
My understanding is that there are a very few transmissions that escaped BMW's QC, which have alignment problems. Fixing the input shaft doesn't solve the problem, a new transmission is required to correct the alignment problem. Otherwise, the input shafts are fine on the oilheads.

Again, my understanding of the final drive problems is that BMW used a ball bearing in the final drives for the 1150 oilheads and contemporary K bikes that has a relatively high failure rate. The bearings they are supplying now as replacements are different (and have a different number of balls).

There's no recall for the bearing; one must presume it doesn't happen often enough for NHTSA to have demanded it. It does make the bike unridable, it feels like you have a flat rear tire, and it eventually pushes the seal out and leaks a lot of oil. BMW is not paying to fix them when they are out of warranty. If you have a good relationship with your dealer, they might be able to get BMW to pay for the bearing itself as "goodwill", but there is no requirement to do that.

I, too, will be interested to read what MCN has to say.
 
Darryl

I just returned from my BMW dealer because my bike is in for 42K service.
My tech was there, so I asked him about FD's (he is the former owner of my bike). His response is that people are overloading their bikes with way too much gear and /or pulling trailers they have no business pulling. Or, people are not distributing the weight around the bike properly.

I received my issue of MCN today.

I know this topic has been beaten into the ground, but there must be a logical reason why this is happening and I am not buying into the excess weight argument yet.:dunno
 
I read the MCN article in the final drive failures of BMW motorcycles.

MCN has clearly put the ball back into BMW's court.

Fwiw, the article is technical in nature, but it is written so even a person with the mind of a 6 year(me?) can understand it.
 
ultracyclist said:
I read the MCN article in the final drive failures of BMW motorcycles.

MCN has clearly put the ball back into BMW's court.

Fwiw, the article is technical in nature, but it is written so even a person with the mind of a 6 year(me?) can understand it.
Click to expand...

I no longer subscribe to MCN. What's the gist of the article?
 
knary said:
I no longer subscribe to MCN. What's the gist of the article?
Click to expand...

That BMW is screwing over it's most loyal customers by trying to sweep this under the rug.

The techs know it's a legitimate issue. Anyone spending five minutes in this forum knows it's a legitimate issue. Anyone who has had it happen to them knows it's a legitimate issue. BMW corporate says "what problem?". Our federal government says "what problem?".

Nice analysis and technical drawings showing the design of the two paralever designs, showing which parts fail and how. A list of things to watch for to nip the problem in the bud before the final drive disintegrates. There's even a photo of a final drive on fire - the lube leaked out, the final drive got hot enough to ignite the lube - and poof - man makes fire via BMW final drive.

Lots of input into the article from Anton Lagraider and Paul Glaves - thanks guys for helping flesh out the article with your knowledge and experience.

I'm waiting for part II of Bill Shaw's expose - "Clutch Input Shaft/Clutch Hub Failures". :lurk
 
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