2007 R1200RT, U-joint failure

[OH Bob]

While finishing up a 2000 mile trip on my 2007 R1200RT (58k miles) on an Interstate Hwy, the bike suddenly let out with a loud, staccato noise. I promptly pulled over to the shoulder and the bike came to an abrupt halt. The tires appeared to be fine, but I noticed that the rubber boot enclosing the universal joint was shredded. Upon further inspection I noticed that the U joint was severely mangled. The rear wheel was locked up, and the bike was subsequently towed to a certified BMW dealer for repair.

 

The bike was torn down and the only major damage noted was to the U joint at the rear of the drive shaft. The U joints (front and rear) are permanently attached to the drive shaft, consequently a new drive shaft is on order. I'm not aware of any provision to lube the U joints.

 

Let's review the findings. The bearings fell out of the U joint, and a touch of rust was present. Evidently some water got into the rear U joint and washed the lubricant out of the factory lubricated and sealed U joint, causing it to fail. The good news is that both the final drive AND transmission appear to be functioning normally, time will tell.

 

Based upon this experience, as someone else mentioned, it might be prudent to check the rear U joint for signs of water at every rear tire change.

 

Hopefully this posting will alert fellow R1200xx riders of the potential catastrophic failure that could occur!

 

 

 

[xoomerite]

I had mine go out on my 2005 R1200ST at 75,000 miles. I had serviced the final drive not long before, but did not notice anything unusual, when I lubed the splines and re-assembled the bike. A few thousand miles later, the u-joint failed in Maine. Ripped itself apart. The bike just quit going. The boot was intact.

 

The mechanic told me that I might have caught it before if I had been lucky. I would not have been any cheaper, but more convenient. $1100. First major component failure in 46 years of riding.

 

Chris

[OH Bob]

I had mine go out on my 2005 R1200ST at 75,000 miles. I had serviced the final drive not long before, but did not notice anything unusual, when I lubed the splines and re-assembled the bike. A few thousand miles later, the u-joint failed in Maine. Ripped itself apart. The bike just quit going. The boot was intact.

 

The mechanic told me that I might have caught it before if I had been lucky. I would not have been any cheaper, but more convenient. $1100. First major component failure in 46 years of riding.

 

Chris

 

Wow! Perhaps, based upon your experience, it could just have been a random failure. Who knows?

[Missouri Bob]

The u-joint on my 2005 R1200ST went out at 25,000 miles. I was lucky, and felt an unfamiliar "clunk" as I rotated the wheel in the garage.

 

Bob

[skyking96w]

This happened to me a year ago on my '05 RT. Drive shaft replaced. A month later I had a input shaft seal leak on the final drive, and I am thinking it may have been collateral damage from the rear u-joint failure. So, it would have been a good idea to replace that seal as a preventive measure.

[Highway41]

Happened to my '05 RT at 67K miles. Beat the swing arm to death and killed the tire but the rear drive was OK.

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=46921&Number=511752#Post511752

Bill

[RoadRunner]

My U joint exploded last summer on my '09 RT at 36K miles.

 

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=715108&Searchpage=7&Main=64375&Words=u+joint&Search=true#Post715108

[OH Bob]

Nancy,

 

Thanks for your post. Evidently, rear U-joint failure is not that rare of an occurrence, judging from the responses on our respective threads. I would submit that one should consider checking the rear drive shaft U-joint at every rear tire change, at least that what I plan to do.

[KTM Doug]

Another u-joint failure just occurred at UN 11. Bike was transported to Denver for repairs. 69k miles.

[malcolmblalock]

U joint failed on my 05 RT at 82K miles. Caught it before it damaged anything. Found a used one and had it installed.

[RichardSpag]

U joint failure at 92K on an '05 RT. Fair warning of imminent failure by increased vibration and poor gear shifting.

[Missouri Bob]

Today I inspected the u-joint on my GS. I had not looked in there in 6K miles. Everything was OK, particularly the absence of rust. When the u-Joint on my ST failed, I saw rusty needle bearings.

 

It seems that a generous application of grease between the boot and its adjacent surfaces has kept water out of the u-joint's neighborhood.

 

Bob

[KTM Doug]

Bob, rumor has it $4500. Replacing everything from trans back including final drive. Maybe owner will reply after he picks up the bike.

[Missouri Bob]

Bob, rumor has it $4500. Replacing everything from trans back including final drive. Maybe owner will reply after he picks up the bike.

 

Wow. I hope that is not correct. I didn't see the bike, but unless the FD's housing was broken by a flailing u-joint, I would not expect the necessity of a FD replacement.

 

Bob

[KTM Doug]

Heard it from the owner. Oh, don't forget to say hi to the "Frozen Dead Guy"

[10ovr]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/42205615020/10151898069465021/?notif_t=group_comment_reply

[Guest Kakugo]

Bob, rumor has it $4500. Replacing everything from trans back including final drive. Maybe owner will reply after he picks up the bike.

 

I saw a Kawasaki 1400GTR final drive go out with a bang... it even destroyed the shaft housing. Pretty scary stuff if you ask me.

 

PS: can anyone tell me the exact procedure to inspect the U-joint? Do I only need to remove the boot or also to drop the FD? Thanks.

[w2ge]

PS: can anyone tell me the exact procedure to inspect the U-joint? Do I only need to remove the boot or also to drop the FD? Thanks.

 

+2

[10ovr]

You need to drop the FD to inspect the U joint,,,But it wont do you any good,,,I only had 200 miles on my bike after a FD fluid change and the drive shaft showed no signs of trouble ,,It was clean,No rust at all,,,No play,,,,As you can see in the pix,,After it came apart it looks like rust,,It's not,,It got so hot the boot caught fire,,The heat generated discolored the boot and the drive shaft to a color that looks like rust,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[w2ge]

Can you just pry away a portion of the boot with the FD all assembled, etc.. just to take a "peek" in there? is it just held by a rubber like flange? i.e. then just "stuff" it back to connect it?

[10ovr]

You could,,But you won't get the full view of the full U joint...

[w2ge]

Is this U joint lubed? Does it help to spray say a lithium grease on it?> Or smear in some molybdenum?

[10ovr]

it's Non Serviceable ,,Built to last forever ,,

[w2ge]

...GREAT! Glad to know!

[eddd]

I had one go on my R1100RT at something over 160,000 miles. While many would say that is to be expected, the total lack of warning was my problem. I was on an extended trip and had periodically been checking for problems.

 

It seems that once it reaches a certain point the destruction happens very quickly. I had just stopped for fuel and food 20 miles back and could not feel or hear anything abnormal.

 

Something as simple as a grease fitting and a schedule for service would result in the joints lasting the life of the bike.

[DiggerJim]

Something as simple as a grease fitting and a schedule for service would result in the joints lasting the life of the bike.

Any reason not to drill a hole & tap it for a fitting wouldn't work then? If they won't do it and it's not going to be covered by warranty because the bike is past that, why not modify it to take a grease fitting and give it a couple of shots of moly every major?

[KTM Doug]

Maybe it's not the universal failing. Could it be the casting that contains it?

[eddd]

Something as simple as a grease fitting and a schedule for service would result in the joints lasting the life of the bike.

Any reason not to drill a hole & tap it for a fitting wouldn't work then? If they won't do it and it's not going to be covered by warranty because the bike is past that, why not modify it to take a grease fitting and give it a couple of shots of moly every major?

 

U-joints that can be lubed have internal passages that take the grease from the fitting to the needle bearings. It is my understanding that the ones on the BMWs are solid.

 

[BeemerBerg]

2005 RT. Failed @ 80K miles. Thought it was due to pulling a camp trailer thru windy Oklahoma planes. Felt nasty vibration on highway-- lucky to be right near offramp. Trailered bike to brother-in-laws, where I disassembled inside the U-Haul. The u-joint on the Transmission side was hanging on by a shred. Didn't know how to remove swing arm, so had to take a Sawzall & cut the drive shaft in half to get the rear drive back together to get the bike to the shop. Kudos to Bentonville, Ark & Beemer Bonyard for getting me back on the road in just a few days.

There's got to be a way to do an inspection or greasing of those U-joints. Failure is potentially catastrophic & dangerous!!

[David13]

There probably isn't. The issue may not be the grease at all.

It may be the casting. Grease, in any case will not remedy worn needle bearings. Those would be rather tiny needles in there, and after some mileage, in one case mentioned above 160,000 miles, you will have wear.

You could take it out, and rebuild it by putting in new bearings, but that may only aggravate any issues with the casting.

Those things have to have a balance to them, and that can never be accomplished to perfection. I suppose over time the imbalance starts to aggravate. Ultimately it fails. As they say, nothing lasts forever.

dc

[CoarsegoldKid]

I would submit that one should consider checking the rear drive shaft U-joint at every rear tire change, at least that what I plan to do.

What would you be hoping to see?

[10ovr]

BRUNELLING,,, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_brinelling

[dirtrider]

Only about 3 things kill drive shaft U joints.

 

1)- Lack of lubrication as built. It happens but probably not to the extent & as often as the BMW shaft failures show up.

 

2)- Moisture entry into the U joint bearing caps causing rust, oxidation, & rough bearing surfaces. This could be some of the issues on the BMW but most rear wheel drive automobiles have even less shielding than the BMW motorcycles do & not as many failures per unit built.

 

3)-Improper working angles. If the U joint is run at a very shallow angle it doesn't articulate as the shaft spins so those little (narrow) needle bearings keep working in the same place on the U joint spider displacing the lubricant in the contact area. This causes brinelling & pitting on the spider bearing surfaces that quickly turns the bearing to junk. Unfortunately the BMW 3rd generation Paralever limits the rear U joint articulation & keeps the working angle pretty shallow on smoother roads.

 

[BerndM]

This is probably a TOTALLY hare-brained idea, BUT, would it be in ANY way beneficial to stick a tiny hole (which can be easily resealed) in the front U-joint boot and every few months or so, squirt in some high quality lube, like chain lube or similar stuff?

I don't know if this would work at all on the joints but I would think it would surely work on the splines.

I'm guessing it would be better than nothing.

But I might be wrong......

[dirtrider]

Afternoon Bernd

 

Other than making a big mess inside the boot nothing that I know of would be gained.

 

The failures are initiating inside the U joint caps. Those are sealed to the outside world with a seal on the U joint cap. Unfortunately spraying any type lubricant on the outside of the U joint just can't get to the places where it would do any good.

 

If you want to help the front U joint just spin the rear wheel with your foot every time you put the bike on the center stand as that puts a pretty good working angle on the front U joint.

 

 

 

[David13]

10ovr

The only way to see that is to take the drive shaft apart. I don't know that you could then rebuild it.

dc

[DiggerJim]

Unfortunately the BMW 3rd generation Paralever limits the rear U joint articulation & keeps the working angle pretty shallow on smoother roads.

Well, then I'm never gonna see the problem. Haven't seen a smooth road here in the east where I ride in years.

[10ovr]

Greg over on Face-book said this place well replace the U-joints with serviceable one's for $260,,,,,I have a spare shaft that i am going to send them to replace them,,,Then maybe I can trust this bike ,,

 

http://www.machineservice.com/universal-joints/

[David13]

Do they rebuild the shaft? Or do they just supply the spiders and then leave the assembly up to you?

dc

[10ovr]

Do they rebuild the shaft? Or do they just supply the spiders and then leave the assembly up to you?

dc

Send them the shaft and it comes back with new U joints installed ....and painted black,,,,

[10ovr]

Sent drive shaft off to Green Bay WI,,Well post pix when I get it back,,,,

[Don_Eilenberger]

2)- Moisture entry into the U joint bearing caps causing rust, oxidation, & rough bearing surfaces. This could be some of the issues on the BMW but most rear wheel drive automobiles have even less shielding than the BMW motorcycles do & not as many failures per unit built.

I've seen #2 on several failed shafts. It appears that if people (including dealer mechanics) aren't careful getting the rubber boots back in place at the fore and aft openings of the swingarm, water can get into the swingarm and be trapped there (which is what makes it different from an auto design.)

 

The failed shafts I saw it was quite evident this happened, since besides the cross-spider (center of the U joint) being rusty, there was evidence of rust coming out of the bearing assemblies.

 

Despite what people seem to misunderstand - the swingarm, rear-drive, transmission flange are supposed to create a water right environment for the driveshaft. If the plastic expander on the rear accordion boot where it joins to the swingarm opening isn't correctly in place (and unbroken, I've seen them broken) - water gets in, sits there and starts causing mischief.

 

I take a bit of care when refitting these boots, and even then, sometimes the plastic expander/retainer wants to slide out of place. You are also supposed to use grease on the surface of the boots where they seal to the swingarm (and flange on the rear-drive.)

 

People doing home rear-drive fluid changes often don't seem to know about this, or don't consider it important. It is important, and doing the job right eliminates #2 as a potential cause of failure.

 

The upside of #3 - the splines don't wear, unlike the monolever design and the earlier paralever designs.

[Dave_zoom_zoom]

Don I think you have great insight to the problem. I can see when water would enter this cavity and be exposed to the elevated temp's. in the course of normal operation, there could be an extreamly high humidity (somewhat steamy) condition created that could be very intrusive to the u-joint bearings. On the failed u-joints I've seen it has been a concern as to "why all the rust in here" I think you have your finger on a big portion of the problem. Thanks for your insight!

 

Now, what to do about it? A drain? A vent? Better sealing?

 

Dave

[Teddy]

It is a pity BMW cannot build bulletproof final drives like Suzuki did with their GS850G, GS1000G, GS1100G range and even the Katana GS650G. These drives were rock solid, now their electrical systems that was a different story...

 

Teddy

[Don_Eilenberger]

Now, what to do about it? A drain? A vent? Better sealing?

 

Dave

Dave,

 

I just make certain mine are sealed up well when I reinstall the rear-drive after changing the oil. It makes quite a tight seal if everything is in the right place and not torn or broken. So far - there is no sign of rust on mine, and the spline grease looks perfect when I take it apart. I've seen a number of other ones that failed where not only was the universal joint showing rust (and destroyed) - but the splines were also very rusty, and there was some actual corrosion in the very bottom of the protrusion from the rear drive that the boot seals onto. That to me indicated there was enough water in the swingarm for long enough that damage was done.

 

I know of one chap who drilled a 1/8" hole at the lowest point in the swingarm.. with the idea of it as a drain. Perhaps if I had a GS that regularly went underwater I'd consider that, but problem is - what lets water out can let water in, unless there is a flapper sort of drain seal.

 

Is every failure due to moisture? I don't think so, I've seen photos of one failed driveshaft that showed no rust (but that's the only failed one I've seen that didn't show rust.)

 

What do I do besides keeping the swingamr sealed up? I have a spare driveshaft off a low mileage wreck.. that invoked Eilenberger's Law of Spares "You'll never need the part you have.." (which also means I have several shelves of spares in the garage, if I see them cheap, I usually snap'm up. Done this before with bikes, and actually made money selling the spare parts after I sold the bike, so it's not a bad investment.)