Drive shaft failure.

[GeorgeK]

Have not found anything about this, sorry if it is old news.

 

The drive shaft/universal joint failed during a LD ride in Colorado. The rear (?, don't know if there is a front one) came apart. Led to a long night of getting an expensive tow/ride to the dealership. Cost just under $1,400 and that did not replace the housing which is banged up some. The bike is already scared.

 

All said they "had never heard of this". But then some remembered some occurrences in the past.

 

An '08 R1200RT with 75K miles.

Recently lowered 1.5 inches with Hyperpro stocks I installed myself.

Has ESA, that was transferred by Hyperpro.

 

Now that I think about it, and that is quite a bit, I noticed increased vibration in the bike about 6K miles ago. I wondered that the "buzziness" that it had the first 10K miles or so, had returned. That buzziness is now gone with the new drive shaft.

 

Except for oil change, tire change and the shocks, all service done by the BMW dealer.

 

If I am right that I detected the drive shaft on its way to failure by the vibration, all I could have done about it is to have it replaced at my convenience and not 2,000 miles from home. There is not maintenance to do to it.

 

Is there other experience with the drive shaft failure? Final drive is reported to be fine by the mechanic.

 

Should there be a warning for bikes approaching 70K miles?

 

Thanks, George

[dirtrider]

Afternoon George

 

If you check the archives on this site & other BMW hexhead sites you will find a fair number of drive shaft U joint failures. Mostly rear but a few fronts also.

 

As far as knowing a failure is coming. Yes if you are really tuned into your bike you can generally tell something is wrong but most U joint failures happen over a long enough time frame that the change happens slowly so most riders just can't pick up on impending U joint failure.

 

Smart thing to do is to roll the final drive back on every rear tire change & look for signs of rust, notchiness, & U joint distress.

 

[KTM Doug]

One went at UN 11, an '07 with 69k. Taken to Lakewood, CO. Don't know if owner has picked it up yet. Rumor had the repair at $4500. They claimed they had never seen one also. Where did yours get repaired?

 

There is another thread recently.

 

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=785163&page=1