Eddiet204 Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Hello All, Have any of you owners of 2011/2012 RTs had any issues with the final drive or rear seal? I have been problem free so far, but I have less than 6k on my bike. Link to comment
Dave_in_TX Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Hello All, Have any of you owners of 2011/2012 RTs had any issues with the final drive or rear seal? I have been problem free so far, but I have less than 6k on my bike. I've got 45k on my 2011 and haven't had a problem. Maybe I'm just lucky, my 2007 didn't have any FD/main seal problems either during the 140k miles I had it. Link to comment
RTJohn Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I have over 72k on my 2010, zero issues. Luck not a factor, a great bike. Link to comment
6speedTi Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I have 17,000 plus miles and no issues. I change the FD oil every 12,000. I constantly check for leaks and play in the wheel since there has been so much talk of pre-mature failures. No issues so far and do not expect any. Link to comment
racer7 Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Look, FD issues especially with older designs and models are common enough that they're no secret. But they're also uncommon enough the the great majority of owners have no problems. They rankle because of high cost to repair and the cases where they have destroyed someone's long planned vacation or trip, sometimes adding substantial expense. Rebuilds are possible to reduce expenses in some cases but depend on rider awareness and a bit of luck. The chance of you being bitten eventually is small, smaller than for some other models, but real. No amount of commenting by anyone will change that in any way- its part of what comes with the model and brand. Link to comment
wymanwinn Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 my 2013 RT has over 15500 miles.... when i took delivery of the RT, there was a slight bit of "spitting" of FD oil on the inside of the wheel....spoke to the dealership about it and by the time i took the RT back in for the "running in" sevice at 600 mile the "spitting' stopped...and has not returned since.... i have "serviced" the FD three times....600 miles by the dealer and at 6000 & 12000 miles by me....each time i serviced the FD the quantity of oil was only slightly lower the the required amount of 180cc... wyman Link to comment
Danny caddyshack Noonan Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 2012 with no issues and, at least, 3 FD oil changes. I'm also keeping samples in case it does go south later on. Link to comment
BrianM Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 No problems with my 2011, 20,000 mi. My 1997 developed a small leak at 108,000 mi. Had a differential fail in a car, had a drive shaft u-joint fail in another car, both under 100,000 miles. Link to comment
David R Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 About 20,000 miles my rear drive started leaking on the inside. Nothing on the rotor or brakes. I pulled the drain plug, nothing came out. I pulled the vent out and the oil drained I think the vent was plugged. This is a 2012 R1200R No problems in 5,000 miles. I change the FD oil every tire change. Link to comment
Will Stagg Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 My experience mirror's Wymqn's. I had a little "spitting" just after servicing at 600 miles and nothing since at 12,000 now. When I changed the oil at 600 I don't think I had it fully warmed up when I drained it and thus probably overfilled a very slight amount. Link to comment
OlGeezer Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Look, FD issues especially with older designs and models are common enough that they're no secret. But they're also uncommon enough the the great majority of owners have no problems. They rankle because of high cost to repair and the cases where they have destroyed someone's long planned vacation or trip, sometimes adding substantial expense. Rebuilds are possible to reduce expenses in some cases but depend on rider awareness and a bit of luck. The chance of you being bitten eventually is small, smaller than for some other models, but real. No amount of commenting by anyone will change that in any way- its part of what comes with the model and brand. I concur. To add, one can reduce the likelihood of failure by doing the following: 1. Change the fluid at 6k miles when you change the crankcase oil. 2. Use dino instead of synthetic. According to Paul Glaves of MOA fame, the molecules are smaller and will lubricate better. The benefits of synthetic, mostly a higher resistance to breakdown due to heat, is not warranted in this application even though this is what BMW recommends. 3. When you change your fluid, check the play in your wheel. Grab it at 3 and 9 o'clock and pull back and forth putting torque on the crown bearing. Using these techniques allowed my FD to fail (at 108k miles) in the service bay of the local BMW dealer. Link to comment
Augie Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 One thing I did was pick up a magnetic drain plug for the FD. If you change it regularly any metal will be picked up and hopefully get it addressed before it fails. Link to comment
dirtrider Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 One thing I did was pick up a magnetic drain plug for the FD. If you change it regularly any metal will be picked up and hopefully get it addressed before it fails. Evening Augie On the BMW 1100/1150 that worked great but on the BMW 1200 hexhead/camhead the main bearing that usually fails doesn't run in the gear oil but instead runs in it's own sealed off chamber so even with a failed crown bearing the magnetic drain plug would not show it. Link to comment
TucTech Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 My 2012 rt had a some problems at 18k. Right after my 18k service the seal let go. When they took the FD apart they found a deformed bearing. Both bearing and seal were replaced and much to my displeasure the seal let go on the ride home. I had the bike transported back to the dealer and the follow up repair has been fine for 3,000 miles now. All in all it was a majorly disappointing experience that appears to be behind me now Tuck Link to comment
Guest Kakugo Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Just chiming in with my experience. I had the FD main bearing replaced at 60000km. No failure but increased vibration in the L/H footpeg (thanks DR) led me to investigate and found the bearing was on its way out. Given the, all in all, honest price the dealer quoted I let them handle the job. They did it in under 24 hours and kept the bearing to show me how it had failed. The bearing had some pretty serious oxidation on the surface and felt much less than smooth when "turned around". Head of maintenance theorized (sending the bearing in to be analyzed would probably have cost me more than replacing it) one FD bearing seal was leaky and allowed water to seep in. The bearing itself probably had a worn or defective rubber seal which, in turn, allowed water to slowly seep in. Given the mileage at that point this sounds believable, and I both ride often in less than favorable weather and wash my bike often. All in all it cost me 240€ to have the bearing replaced, including taxes: that's less than the price of a genuine Honda drive kit (chain and sprockets) and it included labor. Link to comment
OlGeezer Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 All in all it cost me 240€ to have the bearing replaced, including taxes: that's less than the price of a genuine Honda drive kit (chain and sprockets) and it included labor. Great point, but it reminds me that it's been a long time since I've purchased chains and sprockets. I think it was 1976. Link to comment
Augie Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 One thing I did was pick up a magnetic drain plug for the FD. If you change it regularly any metal will be picked up and hopefully get it addressed before it fails. Evening Augie On the BMW 1100/1150 that worked great but on the BMW 1200 hexhead/camhead the main bearing that usually fails doesn't run in the gear oil but instead runs in it's own sealed off chamber so even with a failed crown bearing the magnetic drain plug would not show it. You mean I spent the 30 odd bucks for nothing. But what you say does make sense. Link to comment
dirtrider Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Evening Augie You didn't spend it for nothing as but the return for investment on the 1200RT is not nearly as good as on the 1100/1150 bikes. The only 1200RT that a magnetic plug might be of some help is on the very early 05 bikes that used the small rear pinion bearing. The early 05 small pinion bearing is the only 1200RT I have ever seen an (outright) internal final drive failure. Most just fail the crown bearing or have some seal leakage. I have seen a couple 1200RT's totally fail a final drive due to the drive running out of gear oil due to a seal leak but a magnetic drain plug wouldn't have helped on those. Link to comment
racer7 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 The grab and shake test is written in BMW literature with a spec but is not reliable in finding wear while a reasonable priced rebuild is possible. Its not all that sensitive to early wear. A better way to inspect is to disconnect the FD and pull the caliper off the rotor so there is no brake interference. (Easily done at a tire change, for example, which is also a good time for a lube change and to inspect rear splines, boot, etc). Then rotate the drive to feel for any roughness. If its not dead smooth all around you may have just found the first signs of bearing failure at a rebuildable state. But also note there seem to be less folks who rebuild big hole drives than the earlier ones. Link to comment
wvpc Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 25K miles with zero issues whatsoever. Link to comment
Guest Kakugo Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 All in all it cost me 240€ to have the bearing replaced, including taxes: that's less than the price of a genuine Honda drive kit (chain and sprockets) and it included labor. Great point, but it reminds me that it's been a long time since I've purchased chains and sprockets. I think it was 1976. Last year I had to replace the big Honda's drive kit. Mr Honda wanted 273.16€ for parts alone... and the chain in the kit was of the simple o-ring variety. I ended up buying an AFAM drive kit, best stuff out there, x-ring chain etc... for 190€ including shipping. Installed it in less than a couple hours at most by myself thanks to my handy Whale chain tool. Had I let a Honda dealer do it for me using original parts I would have spent over 350€... Link to comment
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