03 1150RT drive shaft removal

[Pierce]

Does the swing arm have to be removed to get the drive shaft off, or can it be pulled out from within the swing arm? Gonna take a look/repair the u-joints.

[NonComp]

I think you can pull it out easy enought, once the final drive is removed. The tricky part would be putting it back in. The universal joint flops around and it would be challenging to line up the splines.

[Deadboy]

Installation is indeed a bit tricky but I just used a bit of thick grease (on the K75) to help keep it from flopping around when reinstalling it.

[Jim Moore]

That would be quite a trick if you could do it, but my bet is "no." Or, you might be able to get it out, but getting it back in would be damn near impossible.

[Peter Parts]

What about the Secret Lost Wax casting method - or any variant of something that pulls out or otherwise dissipates the next day?

 

Big issue is u-joint synchrony. Some say The Factory was sloppy sometimes (anybody confirm this?) and for sure occasional techs (and previous owners) can be. Unless you like mysterious throbbing and vibrations, the two u-joints need to be in proper alignment. Hard to eyeball the front u-joint (esp. if you are elderly and frail, like some of us or if you own no LED flashlight), but you gotta be sure.

[Deadboy]

Is it that different than on the k75? It took a few tries but wasn't that hard.....is there some extra complexity on the RT?

 

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=40523&Number=441670#Post441670

 

 

[T__]

Does the swing arm have to be removed to get the drive shaft off, or can it be pulled out from within the swing arm? Gonna take a look/repair the u-joints.

 

Pierce, the rear swing arm has a rather large depression cast in to it where the rear wheel/tire passes the swing arm & the drive shaft has not only a solidly affixed front u-joint but also a torsional damper just behind the front u-joint & neither of those will pull out past that narrow part of the swing arm..

 

So, remove the rear swing arm first (pull off over eth drive shaft) then pop the drive shaft off the trans output shaft..

 

You don’t have to worry about u-joint alignment in the front as the front u-joint is solidly part of the drive shaft & it doesn’t matter what clocking the drive shaft goes on the trans output..

 

You should align (clock) the rear u-joint (it’s splined into the front shaft section) as you re-install the final drive.. It is easier to do that if you mark it’s relationship to the front shaft BEFORE removal or mark the rear of the front shaft with 2 paint marks that correspond to the front u-joint caps on the SHAFT SIDE of the front u-joint..

 

 

Twisty

 

[Pierce]

Yea, I'm going for it and just take the whole thing off. I do have a clymers and a haines shop manual however they are for the R1100's. Who knows, I'll probably just go ahead and do a spline lube since I'm that far along. I'll still have my trusty R100RT to ride while the oil head is in pieces. Thanks gang!

[Pierce]

Ok, I got the swing arm off today. I didn't notice any slop in the u-joint at the transmissionend. No notchiness. No slop in the splines at the transmission exept there was some radial slop at the splines. I am talking about where the u-joint at the transmission slides onto the output shaft of the trans. I could move the u-joint just a tad side to side. There was no play in the splines when I rotated the assembly. The swing arm bearings appear to be good. No slop or roughness when turning them in the swing arm and there was no play in the swing arm before I took it off. It's looking like all I need to fix so far is the u-joint at the final drive.