Resealing The Final Drive, 1995 R100RT

Up until yesterday all I was doing was riding and enjoying my newfound toy. Then I noticed a spot or two of oil on the rear wheel, then later much more oil on the rear wheel. So last night I drained both the driveshaft and FD into separate containers. There was excess oil in the FD and not enough oil in the driveshaft. In other words, oil is leaking from the driveshaft into the FD. So today I watched a few YT videos, then ordered a seal kit and two special tools from Boxr2Valve. Looks like I can do the job, but having to buy two special tools makes it an expensive repair. I do not recall ever having to reseal a FD before. Perhaps the rubber seals just do not age well. I will continue to ride the RT daily and monitor oil levels, till the parts and tools show up. Then I will look for a good day to git er done.

UPDATE: Need Mono Shock, Not FD Reseal

I read more online last night, and it continued to bug me that this 25 year old Airhead, with 25,000 miles, could have leaking FD seal(s). So this morning I go tup early and reinspected everything. Long story short, it appears I need a new mono shock instead of to reseal the FD. So my faith in BMW is somewhat renewed. I never liked OEM Airhead suspension, and before would install the adjustable Konis on the rear and Progressive springs on the front. I figured I'd get round to doing the same on this Airhead, but did not expect to have the rear shock blow out, as this one did. Perhaps the KY backroads were too much for it. LOL

As fo which shock to buy, I am considering a mid-level quality, maybe YSS, Progressive, or IKON.

Glad you got number one eyeball on things! That certainly saved some headaches.

Oil

jhall said:

I read more online last night, and it continued to bug me that this 25 year old Airhead, with 25,000 miles, could have leaking FD seal(s). So this morning I go tup early and reinspected everything. Long story short, it appears I need a new mono shock instead of to reseal the FD. So my faith in BMW is somewhat renewed. I never liked OEM Airhead suspension, and before would install the adjustable Konis on the rear and Progressive springs on the front. I figured I'd get round to doing the same on this Airhead, but did not expect to have the rear shock blow out, as this one did. Perhaps the KY backroads were too much for it. LOL

As fo which shock to buy, I am considering a mid-level quality, maybe YSS, Progressive, or IKON.

Click to expand...

Glad you figured it out. FWIW, my 140,000 mile '74 R90s still has it's original rear end, never touched, never opened and still leak free.

I had a '93 R100RT, and the stock shock started leaking after three years. I replaced it with a Progressive unit and it was vastly superior to the oem.

I worked on a '95 R100RT, where the client had me replace the oem with a YSS and it totally changed the ride of the bike. Talk to Ted Porter in California.

IKON Shock On The Way

I ordered an IKON from Bob's today. While at it, I ordered 11 rib gators, weaker carb butterfly springs and an EPA Kit from Ted Porter. Also bought fork seals and Progressive front springs off fleabay. One of the front seals is leaking, so now is a good time to do it all in one sweep. The weak springs will, hopefully, make it a bit easier on my right wrist. (The Goldwing made me lazy.)

This RT is getting expensive, but once I get it dialed in the $ will per off. All except MPG, so far looks like around 39-41 MPG. Except the trip home when I bought it, running mostly around 5000 RPM on the Interstate dropped the MPG to around 31.

Sure glad the FD is OK. I had never had to do those seals before either. Decades ago, the R100/7 eventually began passing driveshaft oil into the FD bad enough to have to redistribute the oil about once a month. I finally got tired of doing that, and the splines were about worn out, so I swapped in a 11/33 FD I'd been storing for years. I got that 11/33 from Bob Henig in the early 1980s when he was literally operating out of his home garage. I recall being the only customer, and hanging around and chatting for maybe an hour. Bet he doesn't have much time to talk nowadays. Too busy making $. LOL