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2012 BMW R1200RT Final Drive leak 27K miles

gtrider_texas

New member
Hello all,

I was out riding yesterday for a few hours and when I pull into my garage I notice fluid leaking from the final drive.

The leak is not on the outside of the final drive but is located on the bottom of the final drive facing the wheel. No other leaks or noises. Could this just be an seal issue or is it time to do some bearing replacements?
 
Hello all,

I was out riding yesterday for a few hours and when I pull into my garage I notice fluid leaking from the final drive.

The leak is not on the outside of the final drive but is located on the bottom of the final drive facing the wheel. No other leaks or noises. Could this just be an seal issue or is it time to do some bearing replacements?

Sometimes seals fail. Sometimes bearings fail damaging seals, I think the way to tell is a thorough physical examination. Start by draining the gear oil and looking for metal bits.
 
When on the centerstand you can check the side to side play of the rear wheel, grasp at 9:00 and 3:00 o'clock positions and try to wiggle the wheel by alternately pushing and pulling, there should be no discernible side play detected, there is a factory acceptable amount of play of several mm if I'm not mistaken but I do not have the exact number in front of me. Please report back your findings. Are you sure it's not brake fluid or something you may have run over?
 
I believe that the wiggle test, described above, needs to be done on a cold motorcycle. From what I understand, many final drives that are in-spec, will wiggle when warm, but not when cold. The allowable play (when cold) is pretty small, but I can't quote the amount.
 
Final drive inspection

Hello all ... sorry for the delay in getting back to the thread, I was out of town.
When I checked the wheel movement, there is no discernible movement. The leak is definitely coming from the lower part of the final drive. Not from the brake line. I do not see any other leak along the star plate except the very bottom.
The fluid did not have any metal flakes when I checked and is a mixture of clear and dark black.
CEA0CB2D-6C94-4D84-ACCE-F533F06C044B.jpg

Is this simply a seal and if so what part or parts would I need to replace?
 
If it isn't dripping and leaving a spot on the floor, I would de-grease it and check after the next long ride.Be careful if brake cleaner is used on painted surfaces,including wheels...some brands will attack rim paint,not all do.

It could be a failing seal, spillage from a service, the speed sensor o-ring, or the fill plug which has a copper crush washer. You have to pull wheel and caliper to check those two.
Also, the drain plug o-ring can also weep lube if cut.
 
Steve's given some good advice, clean it up and run it and watch. If it's still showing signs of leaking pull the rear wheel and check for leaks at the fill port or ABS sensor hole, if none, you've got a seal leak. Not the end of the world if I'm not mistaken you can change this without even removing the final drive, will take a heat gun and you will need some sort of puller to get the wheel flange off but nothing more serious than that. Good luck, please keep us posted, pictures are always welcome.
 
Just to add - right after you get it cleaned up - pull out your "monkey butt" powder (or talc) and poof a cloud of it at the side of the rear drive that you suspect a leak on. Then put the wheel back on and go for a nice ride. The powder will leave a nice white dust film on that black paint - and the oil path will be clearly seen through that film of powder. You can wash it off once you find the leak.
 
Seal issue

Hello All!
I finally removed the rear drive spline after stripping a torn screw, and I did find some areas where the seal was leaking. The splines on the star cover look great and so does the drive gear.
Since I’m this far into it, should I go ahead and replace both bearings as well? Also where can I find another torx bolt for the star cover?

Also any other suggestions on things I should do since I have the rear drive in pieces?

Thanks for your help!

RonFC5B5AF9-A3B4-4644-B7C1-DC92A4417FA4.jpg
 
So you think the leak was just from the cover O-ring? That would be pretty unusual. I fix a lot of these and I've never seen a cover O-ring leak. Any kind of oil on the cover has always been from a leaking seal.
 
Leak

Thank you all for the Replies!

I’ll get the bolt order ... probably a few of them.

The leak is only coming from the bottom of the final drive where the metal shins come together.
 
I wouldn't reassemble it without replacing all the seals. And that will require R&R of the wheel-brake-disk-flange. There is some guidance in a thread in the DIY section.
 
Update

Hello All,
After I disassembled the final drive, I let the gear oil settle and what do ya know, I found shiny flakes on the bottom. The final drive bearing cage is toast so pieces of the cage fell out when I rotated the star. I have finally received the bearings, seals, and O rings.

How do you remove the star cover to replace the final drive bearing?

Please let me know your thoughts and if you have any tricks to remove the star cover.

Thank you in advance for the help!


Ron
 
https://advrider.com/f/threads/final-drive-bearing-replacement-07-r1200gsa.682413/

This thread on ADV rider while it may not your exact model, they are all very similar, the steps are documented very well.

You will need to verify your shim thickness's are correct before you reassemble the final drive, something caused your bearing and retainer to go bad, improper loading may be the cause, only correct shim thickness will rule that out. There are some specialty tools which will need to be purchased or fabricated, you need to be cognizant of why you are doing each step and pay attention to details.

If you have any question about your ability at all, I'd suggest you contact AntonLargiader for a quote. This one job you don't want to muck up or have to do twice, ruining your case's or other components is much more expensive than having a trained specialist like Anton doing your repair correctly the first time. The peace of mind that the work was done correctly especially during an extended tour can be priceless.

Good luck with what ever you choose to do, post some photos, we're a simple lot and like pictures.

J
 
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