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Cardan Shaft Inspection - Who Decides?

A very interesting thread, thanks to all for the updates and information!!
I have not received my letter but I see that Davemoto got his yesterday. (I have a 2017 1200RT).

Last April I asked Alamo BMW if my VIN was on the list, they said it was not (but most likely on the August Revision). I told them I could feel a vibe (that was not there before but had slowly gotten more noticeable), we scheduled my bike in for the test. Shortly after, the Service manager said "all done, with a new drive-shaft". They said that they were replacing any driveshafts that did not pass the test under warranty, even though my VIN was not on the SB; mileage on the bike and original d/s 43K.

John
Central TX.
 
It was pointed out on the RS forum, the updated service schedule included with the letter no longer shows a fork oil change on the R and RS at 18,000 miles.
The latest digital Riders Manual on the BMW website still shows it.
Hard to say if the one in the letter is correct.
 
You won't need to worry about that will you? :cool:
No, unless something miraculously happens, I won't have to worry about it, but a future owner may well be interested. Thus, my question. Dealers seem to be refusing to work on bikes over ten years old, often due to a lack of OEM parts support (not usually the case with BMW, mind you).
 
No, unless something miraculously happens, I won't have to worry about it, but a future owner may well be interested. Thus, my question. Dealers seem to be refusing to work on bikes over ten years old, often due to a lack of OEM parts support (not usually the case with BMW, mind you).
Many BMW dealers are also part and parcel to not working on bikes older than 10 years. Has there ever been a warrant/replacement for any part in BMW's history covered more than 10 years in the past? I'm not aware of any, which would lead one to wonder if BMW will force their dealers to work on motors older than 10 years.

It's likely a question for the mother ship in Germany. One they should probably address as some covered drive shaft replacement bikes are over 10 years old today. 2013-present correct?
 
Many BMW dealers are also part and parcel to not working on bikes older than 10 years. Has there ever been a warrant/replacement for any part in BMW's history covered more than 10 years in the past? I'm not aware of any, which would lead one to wonder if BMW will force their dealers to work on motors older than 10 years.

It's likely a question for the mother ship in Germany. One they should probably address as some covered drive shaft replacement bikes are over 10 years old today. 2013-present correct?
They covered the replacement snowflake wheels for a really long time.

Got my letter from BMW yesterday. While I have a BMW dealer close by, they're not great, so I'm considering where to take my GS for inspection. It's almost at 12K miles and ready for first look.
 
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“The full vehicle lifetime” definition will be locked inside a vault at the BMW Legal Department in Germany. And no amount of email requests to BMW Motrrad USA will be able to pry out a written response. And the call from CS that you might receive will surely leave you more confused.
 
A local dealer isn't doing any drive inspections since they don't have parts should they find a failed drive. The driveshafts are on back order. So hold on to your seat.
 
Thought I’d throw my 2 cents into this discussion and say that I’m on my 4th driveshaft. All under warranty and it is 2014 RT with 63,000 miles on it. You’d almost think I was trying to destroy it. Happy to see BMW covering this.

My FJR doesn’t act like this and neither did my Honda ST1100. The ST had 123,000 on it when I got the RT.
 
Thought I’d throw my 2 cents into this discussion and say that I’m on my 4th driveshaft. All under warranty and it is 2014 RT with 63,000 miles on it. You’d almost think I was trying to destroy it. Happy to see BMW covering this.

My FJR doesn’t act like this and neither did my Honda ST1100. The ST had 123,000 on it when I got the RT.
Wow, something has to be wrong with the shaft alignment, vis-a-vis the transmission and final drive gears. 15K miles per driveshaft?!! Lol, that makes it almost a consumable part.
 
I never detected any unusual tremors or vibration at all with this bike. My local dealer put it through the diagnostic test that BMW has and they just replaced one that only had 8000 miles on it.

No leaks or anything at all. No idea why this is failing at this rate.
 
The Ventura shop?
The "diagnostic test" looks at the driveshaft, but they haven't looked for a Root Cause yet.
 
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