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Question on misting oil on rear drive

SiReese

SiReese

SiR
I have a 2010 K1300S with 55,000 miles. I'm not good at washing the machine regularly unless it is real dirty. So, I have noticed last Fall at storage time that the rear end has a light misting. This is probably 7,00 miles since its last bath. Is this something to panic about, rush to service before ultimate failure, replace the rear seal there, or typical?

K1300s rear drive - 1.jpg
 
The seal under the black plastic ring is leaking.
The repair does not cost much.
 
Jim Von Baden posted a thread on ADVRider on how to make this repair. I replaced the seal on my 09 R12R. Four/five years ago it took around $30 in parts and 30 minutes to do. From foggy memory; pry off the plastic cover, remove the metal retaining clip, remove the old seal by drilling a small hole and threading in a machine screw, insert the new seal by using the old seal to gently tap it in, replace retaining clip and plastic cover.
 
Replacing that seal is a very straightforward task, well outlined in the factory service DVD. When you buy the new seal also buy a new o-ring for the drain plug, and do use the correct quantity of BMW-recommended SAF-XO gear oil, now renamed “Castrol Syntrex Long Life 75W-90”.

Best,
DG
 
washing

tonyfr said:
It always good to wash it to find new leaks. I washed mine one day and found $20 under the seat.
Click to expand...

If I had habitually washed the bike, I would not have found the misting appearing. Feel lucky to have found it before it got serious.
 
Thanks

I appreciate the assistance with this issue. Had thought it might be a precursor to the infamous rear end failure from the past. Had a friend have a 2014 RT have a drive shaft malfunction. The rubber binder/isolator of the shaft failed. To this day I don't understand why he kept riding when the tach and speedo changed relationship due to slippage. Anyway, I am a bit gun shy due to his recent problem. I'll take a look at it when the snow subsides. I have two other BMWs to ride in the meantime.
 
SiReese said:
If I had habitually washed the bike, I would not have found the misting appearing. Feel lucky to have found it before it got serious.
Click to expand...

It's easy to spot the leak even when the final drive is perfectly clean, at least it was for me.
 
Lee said:
It's easy to spot the leak even when the final drive is perfectly clean, at least it was for me.
Click to expand...

That's how I found my leak. It was wet around the seal, even with the final drive being clean.
 
Progress

I got hold of a DVD for the K1200S (should be very similar to the K1300S). I'll check this out when I get a PC to read it. Now I'm not as worried about the situation and really appreciate the help.
 
Thanks for the info.

akbeemer said:
Jim Von Baden posted a thread on ADVRider on how to make this repair. I replaced the seal on my 09 R12R. Four/five years ago it took around $30 in parts and 30 minutes to do. From foggy memory; pry off the plastic cover, remove the metal retaining clip, remove the old seal by drilling a small hole and threading in a machine screw, insert the new seal by using the old seal to gently tap it in, replace retaining clip and plastic cover.
Click to expand...

For all the 'answers' yours is the most helpful. The rest were all concerned over cleaning the bike and did not address the problem...
 
SiReese said:
For all the 'answers' yours is the most helpful. The rest were all concerned over cleaning the bike and did not address the problem...
Click to expand...

Hmm, from a personal perspective, all input should be solicited and encouraged. One can choose to ignore individual posts however doing so might have one miss a nugget of valuable information.

I know this post didn't address the problem but it might be helpful in future.
 
Before changing the seal, I would try to just swipe under it with a business card or something. There are "seal savers" made just for this. If there's a bit of grit in there, you might get rid of it and not have t really do that much.
 
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