RE: Drive shaft letter - 3

In 2021 I had the shop pull my driveshaft and lube both ends.
I just looked at the bill and I was charged 1 hour of labor.
This was before they had a test to check the driveshaft.

The job does not look difficult but after hearing about some of the driveshafts getting stuck I decided to have the shop do it.
My bike had 56,000 miles on it. They said it looked good and the U joints felt good.
They felt it wasn't needed to have Debbie's bike done when I told them we would probably trade at end of the year.

Zitat von Davidnapo im Beitrag #26

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For what it's worth, I contacted my local dealer about the drive shaft service. He said it was largely a problem for bikes like the GS that were out in the mud or any bike that was ridden a lot in the rain. I've been caught in the rain but I don't actively try to ride in it. He claimed if it was needed that I'd hear or feel something.

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Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #31

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In 2021 ........
The job does not look difficult but after hearing about some of the driveshafts getting stuck I decided to have the shop do it.
My bike had 56,000 miles on it. .........

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........Anyway, I came across this the other day, which might help (the presenter is a BMW expert - I really rate him)..........


As I've mentioned in several posts (repeating myself) I checked a 2011 GS I was thinking of buying, in much the same way as this video, just after I had test road the bike. But I think in addition to what he's saying you need to move the wheel back and forth abruptly, to listen for metal clanking. If there is a noticeable clank then the splines probably need to be greased. That was the case with the 2011 GS. Very loud and noticeable metal to metal clank, and in addition there was at least twice the wheel travel as shown in this video maybe even more ... 6 to 8 inches. So He didn't mention either one of these important points imo ... which makes this a fail imo. A better video would include a bike with a known bad drive shaft to compare.
Side note .... Just be patient when looking at used bikes, several months later another cam head GS came up on craigslist. It was only 6500 dollars, a thousand less, had fewer miles by 25% or more and had been serviced all along by BMW. The first bike above was serviced by amateurs and no record kept. I never got the chance to check out the second bike as I have cooled to the idea of getting an air cooled GS and there is a crater where the second bike was located (sold right away). All puns intended .....

Perhaps, I should pick-up a cheap mechanic's stethoscope next time I'm near a Harbor Freight.

Zitat von Mr. 36654 im Beitrag #35

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Perhaps, I should pick-up a cheap mechanic's stethoscope next time I'm near a Harbor Freight.

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Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #31

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They felt it wasn't needed to have Debbie's bike done when I told them we would probably trade at end of the year.

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Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #36

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Zitat von Mr. 36654 im Beitrag #35

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Perhaps, I should pick-up a cheap mechanic's stethoscope next time I'm near a Harbor Freight.

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Or you could use a screwdriver. Put your ear against the handle (plastic works well) and the screwdriver tip against the part that you want to listen to. Not as sensitive as a stethoscope, but it still works OK.

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Zitat von Andy Griffiths im Beitrag #37

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Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #31

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They felt it wasn't needed to have Debbie's bike done when I told them we would probably trade at end of the year.

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What you going to buy Lee?

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Zitat von Andy Griffiths im Beitrag #37

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Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #31

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They felt it wasn't needed to have Debbie's bike done when I told them we would probably trade at end of the year.

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What you going to buy Lee?

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With no previous experience on BMW ever I pulled my 2023 drive shaft @ 65XX miles , inspected splines , applied new TS-60 spline lube and reinstalled the shaft in an hour .
I imagine experience BMW techs got it down to half that . Since then done a K1300S and GS1250 both a little faster than my own RS .

Got my letter in the mail yesterday. My 16RS is covered for 36K drive shaft replacement.

No bike trips this year so we only have 27,000 miles on the bikes.
Decided to have the driveshaft test done on both bikes.
Took one down to Kansas City on Wednesday and the other on Thursday.
Debbie's passes so they took out the old shaft and lubed it.
Mine failed so they put a new shaft in mine.
Neither one was stuck.
I did not ask to see the splines but when I watched the tech remove my driveshaft I could see the ends were nice and black, not rusty looking.
Early on I was told if the bike passed the test I would be charged for the test. When I talked to the shop owner a few weeks ago he said it would be free no matter if the bike passed or failed.
I told the service manager I did not want vents installed. He said on the service bulletin vents were only added to the GS and Police bikes.
The RS gets vents at the factory.
Our batteries are 4 years old so I asked that they test them.
Instead of using the hand held unit that spits out good/bad result on paper they hooked the bikes to the computer.
I'm guessing it was a load test because when I watched them do my battery test it took about 15 minutes.
I was surprised they did not charge for the battery tests on each bike since it tied up the computer for 15 minutes or so.

When I first arrived at the shop yesterday the service manager manager warned it could take awhile because they had a lot of driveshafts stuck in the past. Some needed cut out.
He said if it turned into a all day event they would find something for me to ride home.
In the US small shops usually don't have official loaner bikes.

Zitat von wessie im Beitrag #44

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Apparently they had some rig made up to separate the parts if they needed some persuasion.

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