Wethead 20k service help

[biker_jas]

I'm just doing my 20Km maintenance on my 2015 R1200R (LC)  I've got the BMW manual on CD and following it. It has been suggested that I also look at pulling the drive shaft and applying some additional moly to each end to prevent future issues (seems like a good idea that I will most likely do). Some have also claimed that looking at the radial bearing on the rear hub for contaminants is also a good idea as there have been some failures (recall ? maybe prior years or different version to mine). I cant seem to find any info that is current on my bike 2015 R1200R  (LC) but don't know if other previous models used the same paralever rear drive or if it was updated .  I'm wondering if I really need to do this as it will require pulling the seal and of course an expense that maybe I don't need. I will be changing the oil in the bevel gears as recommended so best to decide now.  Can you suggest where I can find info?

Jason

[TEWKS]

JVB Productions worked for me on my older RT. I assume Jim carefully & calmly walks you through the Wethead also.

 

http://www.jimvonbaden.com/Wethead.html

 

BTW, welcome to the forum! 

 

 

[biker_jas]

Thanks, I will check it out

[dirtrider]

3 hours ago, biker_jas said:

I'm just doing my 20Km maintenance on my 2015 R1200R (LC)  I've got the BMW manual on CD and following it. It has been suggested that I also look at pulling the drive shaft and applying some additional moly to each end to prevent future issues (seems like a good idea that I will most likely do). Some have also claimed that looking at the radial bearing on the rear hub for contaminants is also a good idea as there have been some failures (recall ? maybe prior years or different version to mine). I cant seem to find any info that is current on my bike 2015 R1200R  (LC) but don't know if other previous models used the same paralever rear drive or if it was updated .  I'm wondering if I really need to do this as it will require pulling the seal and of course an expense that maybe I don't need. I will be changing the oil in the bevel gears as recommended so best to decide now.  Can you suggest where I can find info?

 

Jason

 

 

Evening  Jason

 

You probably want to give it a LOT of thought before  accessing that final drive crown bearing for inspection as way more can go wrong than right when heating & pulling that splined rear wheel hub.

 

If you overheat it even a little then you risk future bearing failure, if you don't heat it quite enough  then you risk having it go part way on then stick there requiring a lot more additional heat to get it to go on or to even get it to came back off to try again.

 

Definitely not a bad idea to put some grease on the rear driveshaft spline but I'm not sure there is much of any gain to doing the front.   The spline joints don't  slide or work so the grease is mainly a corrosion prevention move. The rear is way more apt to get moisture on it during riding but the front is fairly high & pretty well protected.

[biker_jas]

Thanks , you have saved me a lot of trouble not having to pull the drive shaft. I will go with only doing the rear. My question may not have been clear. I'm only looking at pulling the oil seal (and the replacement cost) to inspect from the left side and not actually pulling the bearing. I think I will skip that too … since it may have been an issue of shards drifting into this bearing on a limited number of previous paralever rear hubs. Someone told me about this possible issue but cant find anything on the net. I see a special water proof grease is recommended when putting the flexible gaiter back on … buy the BMW stuff?  Or are there other options.

Jason 

[dirtrider]

20 hours ago, biker_jas said:

Thanks , you have saved me a lot of trouble not having to pull the drive shaft. I will go with only doing the rear. My question may not have been clear. I'm only looking at pulling the oil seal (and the replacement cost) to inspect from the left side and not actually pulling the bearing. I think I will skip that too … since it may have been an issue of shards drifting into this bearing on a limited number of previous paralever rear hubs. Someone told me about this possible issue but cant find anything on the net. I see a special water proof grease is recommended when putting the flexible gaiter back on … buy the BMW stuff?  Or are there other options.

Jason 

Morning  Jason

 

I use the specified  Staburags NBU 30 PTM grease as a I have some that I bought on-line from a Moto Guzzi dealer (they had a closeout sale).

 

I’m sure you could find a substitute but at around $12.00/$15.00 a tube on E-Bay might as well use the recommended grease.

 

If you are determined to use a replacement  the Staburags NBU 30 PTM grease is  a  'barium complex soap' based grease.

[biker_jas]

The more I think about it - as the grease in this application is really just to help get gaiter on and off and to seal out water … seems any waterproof grease used in marine applications would work well and be easier to find.  My research shows this recommended grease was originally specified as the spline lube on older K-100 series … replaced by another grease on our models. The consensus seems to be to use the Honda 60% moly grease (now called 77), as it is better than BMW version on the spline. Some mix it 50/50 with a waterproof lithium grease to bring down the moly to 30% and help the grease from drying out for the spline shaft application.  I've got the 60% moly so I'm going to buy some waterproof lithium marine grease and give it a try straight on the gaiter and 50/50 for the spline.  Although the best waterproof marine greases are based on Aluminium complex, it is not compatible with lithium and would be an overkill in my opinion. Lithium seems to be the second best type and most common.

Thanks for getting me thinking … although that sometimes gets me into trouble.

Jason

[dirtrider]

45 minutes ago, biker_jas said:

The more I think about it - as the grease in this application is really just to help get gaiter on and off and to seal out water … seems any waterproof grease used in marine applications would work well and be easier to find.  My research shows this recommended grease was originally specified as the spline lube on older K-100 series … replaced by another grease on our models. The consensus seems to be to use the Honda 60% moly grease (now called 77), as it is better than BMW version on the spline. Some mix it 50/50 with a waterproof lithium grease to bring down the moly to 30% and help the grease from drying out for the spline shaft application.  I've got the 60% moly so I'm going to buy some waterproof lithium marine grease and give it a try straight on the gaiter and 50/50 for the spline.  Although the best waterproof marine greases are based on Aluminium complex, it is not compatible with lithium and would be an overkill in my opinion. Lithium seems to be the second best type and most common.

Thanks for getting me thinking … although that sometimes gets me into trouble.

Jason

 

Afternoon Jason

 

Just make sure that the grease  you use is not going to soften, swell, or otherwise effect the boot rubber. 

[biker_jas]

Good point, another good reason to use a blend of the moly 77 and a marine grease is that the marine grease will have corrosion inhibitors as well as waterproof … I believe the issue on the splines has been flash corrosion issues. This should help prevent that from happening.

[biker_jas]

More research and I agree that any grease containing petroleum base is not a good idea for the gaiter as Silicone greases are recommended for plastic and rubber applications. I'm surprised BMW does not go that route. I will now use the blend of Marine waterproof grease (JT-6 marine grease is readily available to me and is compatible with lithium - with the 77 - 60% moly) on the spline and use some silicone grease compound I've had for many years on the gaiter.     

[dirtrider]

4 minutes ago, biker_jas said:

More research and I agree that any grease containing petroleum base is not a good idea for the gaiter as Silicone greases are recommended for plastic and rubber applications. I'm surprised BMW does not go that route. I will now use the blend of Marine waterproof grease (JT-6 marine grease is readily available to me and is compatible with lithium - with the 77 - 60% moly) on the spline and use some silicone grease compound I've had for many years on the gaiter.     

 

Afternoon Jason

 

My only (slight) concern with a silicone grease would be boot retention as a silicone grease might make it dislodge easier during use (could also be the reason  that BMW didn't go with it). Possibly BMW tried it then  during durability testing it didn't retain as expected. 

[biker_jas]

Good point, I will make sure to put silicone grease on mating surfaces and not on the gaiter clip points , maybe that's why it was not recommended. I think that should offer a superior solution. I will monitor and let you know how that works (once it warms up - still ice and snow in Toronto).   

[biker_jas]

OK so I guess I've got cabin fever … still snow on the ground here in Toronto. I've got more info on shaft spline lube. I've always had chain / sprocket bikes and know the importance of proper lubrification on the final drive. OK so very happy to know I've only got to service the BMW every 20K. It would appear that the majority of shaft bike owners of all makes feel that the Honda Moly 60 was the best stuff to use. Some cut it with a waterproof lithium grease to prevent drying out.  I suspect the Moly 60 was petroleum base.  This has now been replaced and out sourced by Honda under the name of Moly 77 - a 60%moly grease now with silicone grease base (silicone thickened with lithium stearate). I also suspect that the M-77 name used by many moly grease suppliers is actually produced by Dow Corning and just repackaged (Honda included). Adding a small amount of the marine lube might help the flash corrosion because of the inhibitors in marine greases - but it could be that the silicone grease will prevent the drying out and repel moisture so flash rust will not occur. I'm now inclined to use it as is on the spline.  Since it is a silicone base grease it should also be good on the gaiters - however most likely an overkill so I'm sticking to just using the silicone grease as I've got some.     

[Bernie]

Use the Moly grease on the splines of the drive shaft and rear drive unit.

Use either a Lithium or Synthetic Wheel Bearing grease or a  waterproof grease on the rubber boot to provide a seal between the swing arm housing and the rear drive housing.