Any 2008 Final Drive Failures?

[RedMac]

Ok.. so now I"m a member of the "Final Drive Club" (See the "Grand Junction Final Drive Woes thread).

 

I have the latest final drive installed on the bike. But I have to admit, I'm still worried. Has ANY of the new 2008 final drives failed?? Anyone know of one? Am I now "safe", or do I need to start carrying a spare final drive on my trips? (I already have a ring antenna in my tool kit!)

 

[Semper_Fi]

RedMac - first of, glad to see you made it home.

 

I have an 08 RT, I had the dealer do the 600.

 

I just did the 6000 at home, even though I have the new style drain location (6 instead of 9) I still dropped the pumpkin to lube the splines.

 

The thing I noticed first off is that the speed sensor is differently shaped and non-magnetic.

 

However the drain cap is magnetic on the inside because that is where I notice the collection of material.

 

As I stated I had the 600 done at the dealer and when I went to clean the inside of the cap it had very little material inside and that material was extremely fine, almost paste-like.

 

No issues on the bike and running fine.

 

I plan to change the rear oil at every oil change. for the extra 15 minutes and 230mL of lubricant required it's a no brainer for some peice of mind.

 

Luis

[bobbybob]

Mike, I've been following your saga, glad you finally got thru that "trying time". I have a question: what specifically did you feel in the way of "slack" in the rear wheel? Was it a rocking moment between 6 & 12 oclock, or 3 & 9 oclock? Or in all directions? Or was it a sideways movement where the wheel would actually "slide" to the left and right as if it was on an axle? I have 2 RT's and am watching them closely, but not really sure what to be looking for--i.e. whats normal vs. whats abnormal. I appreciate any info. you can give. I'll be watching also re. your inquiry re. 2008 model failures!

[erkmania]

Hey Redmac,

 

Glad to hear you made it home safe and sound. I was down-hearted for you when I read your tale.

 

I had my FD replaced at about 13K miles because of a loose wheel hub on the output shaft. Any-whooooo, I have the latest FD (similar to yours by your description) and I haven't had any difficulty in the last 8 or 9K miles. That's not much for sure, but you could plan another trip right away and assuredly make it.

[RedMac]

Mike, I've been following your saga, glad you finally got thru that "trying time". I have a question: what specifically did you feel in the way of "slack" in the rear wheel? Was it a rocking moment between 6 & 12 oclock, or 3 & 9 oclock? Or in all directions? Or was it a sideways movement where the wheel would actually "slide" to the left and right as if it was on an axle? I have 2 RT's and am watching them closely, but not really sure what to be looking for--i.e. whats normal vs. whats abnormal. I appreciate any info. you can give. I'll be watching also re. your inquiry re. 2008 model failures!

 

I was so disgusted at the time, I didn't look into it as completely as I should. Looking at the wheel from the back, I could tip the wheel left to right about an inch (in any axis perpendicular to the plane of the wheel) basically in all directions. From reading other posts it sounds like I had a failure of the main drive shaft or the hub that attaches to it.

Note that this wasn't 3mm of "play". The entire wheel could be moved in any direction over an INCH!

 

At the time I just felt sick inside and said to myself "DAMN Final Drive Failure!!!". Then I was so fixated on getting it fixed and out of there I didn't look it over as well as I should have. Now I'm kicking myself for not getting more information on the type of failure I had.

 

As far as feeling it on the bike, Originally I thought the front head bolts were loose because I noticed instability in the *front* end when slowing down (not at constant speed or when speeding up). When I'd slow down the front bars would shudder back and forth.

[bobbybob]

Mike, I've been following your saga, glad you finally got thru that "trying time". I have a question: what specifically did you feel in the way of "slack" in the rear wheel? Was it a rocking moment between 6 & 12 oclock, or 3 & 9 oclock? Or in all directions? Or was it a sideways movement where the wheel would actually "slide" to the left and right as if it was on an axle? I have 2 RT's and am watching them closely, but not really sure what to be looking for--i.e. whats normal vs. whats abnormal. I appreciate any info. you can give. I'll be watching also re. your inquiry re. 2008 model failures!

 

I was so disgusted at the time, I didn't look into it as completely as I should. Looking at the wheel from the back, I could tip the wheel left to right about an inch (in any axis perpendicular to the plane of the wheel) basically in all directions. From reading other posts it sounds like I had a failure of the main drive shaft or the hub that attaches to it.

Note that this wasn't 3mm of "play". The entire wheel could be moved in any direction over an INCH!

 

At the time I just felt sick inside and said to myself "DAMN Final Drive Failure!!!". Then I was so fixated on getting it fixed and out of there I didn't look it over as well as I should have. Now I'm kicking myself for not getting more information on the type of failure I had.

 

As far as feeling it on the bike, Originally I thought the front head bolts were loose because I noticed instability in the *front* end when slowing down (not at constant speed or when speeding up). When I'd slow down the front bars would shudder back and forth.

 

Wow--1 whole inch of play? No wonder the front end felt wobbly. Glad you stopped before something bad happened. I guess I'll keep doing the wiggle test every time its on the center stand. But I'm like you...somehow having to do this just detracts from the joy of owning such an otherwise wonderful machine....