Wheel bearing disintegrates - F800

Well there I was scampering along in the middle of nowhere when I hear a faint grinding noise followed by the back end of the bike flopping like I had a flat. Got her off to the side of the road and the tire was fine. Was not sure what happened so I tossed it on the center stand and started her up and ran her in first gear. I could see the rear wheel wobbling badly. Took the wheel off and the left rear bearing was comnpletely disintegrated. Now she sits on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully I can get the parts tomorrow. Monday is a non-starter as you all know...

If you were riding your favorite bike, that couldn't of happened.

Do you need a food/beer delivery?

What!, I thought only Uly's did that.

Murf2

Any bike puking ball bearings is never good. :eek1

Haul'er out to the nearest paved road and call roadside assistance. Or, get a bearing and fix it trailside.

You should visit the BMW final drive failure thread.

THREAD


Seriously, I remember the same thing happened to one of the Webber Brothers, and I believe they fixed it trail side by cutting up a plastic cup and fitting in where the bearing went. They were able to ride slowly 20 miles or so to get back to asphalt.

Here, found a link to his post about it. Wheel Bearings Gone

There has to be some mistake. I didn't think that BMW's broke down.

I know someone else that had this problem at speed on the highway.

Well, in keeping in line with most posts in this thread, I might throw in a "They all do that", or Things are really looking up for the 800GS.

Based off your post you had no prior warning. That sucks, I wonder how many more will post up with similar failures....:huh

Now who would that be?

While headed out to West Fest about 3 weeks ago my F800 detonated the rear wheel bearing @ about 70 mph on hwy 160 near Laveta pass Co.

This destroyed the hub, rotor, rotor carrier, abs sensor and the swing arm:eek1 I very nearly face planted trying to controll the bike.

Got towed by road side assistance 220 miles south to Santa Fe bmw.
They looked at the bike and told me it would not be covered under warranty!

With the help of inmate AlejoI had the bike crated and shipped back to St. Louis. My dealer Gateway bmwresolved the issue with bmw n.a. and the bike will be repaired under warranty. I've had numerous problems with this bike and was offered a sweet deal to get into a new 2010.

I was told at the time of my bearing failure that no F800 on record had ever experienced this failure.

At any rate my dealer really came through for me and bmw is fixing the bike.

Glen

Oh wait, i have a BMW too.

Chinese bearings.....

don't start that shit again

I had just finished 30 miles of dirt with no indication of an issue. Just having fun sliding around a little here and there. Got to the pavement and was accelerating through the first left hand sweeper when I heard the noise, and then came the death wobble. I don't know how fast I was going. Like you I had a bit of anxiety (and not just to see what it felt like) getting the bike to a controlled stop. Fortunately, I do not appear to have any damage other than the bearing. Hopefully I can get it together before someone makes off with the bike.

Glad to hear that you are OK, and that the dealer is taking care of you.

FWIW, this is the first time I have ever lost a wheel bearing in more than 20 years of riding - a lot. I am chalking it up to "shit happens". I can see that if a failure like this occurred when you were cooking along on the tarmac at 90mph+ or on some graded gravel at 70+ that you would pretty much be toast. The bike truly was marginally controllable, and I was nowhere near those speeds.

Maybe this will slow me down a bit. Not.

Best,
Dennis

Dennis, I hope all goes well for you! When my bike started to wallow in the rear a little, I thought I had a flat. Then BAM! all hell broke loose. It was very tense for the next few seconds.

BMW seemed reluctant to warranty this at first simply because they had never seen this type of failure before.
Luckily I have a very good dealer!

I hope BMW N.A. see's this thread so they know I really wasn't full of shit

My bike had 7000 miles on the clock when this happened

What was your mileage when your bearing failed?

All the best
Glen

Just a question.
Either of you guys pressure wash the bike?

There are three cases more in the spanish f800gs forum:


http://www.forof800gs.es/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3283&p=48064
http://www.forof800gs.es/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1005
http://www.forof800gs.es/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1140

You beat me to it.

I checked my bearings when I was replacing a tire. The rotor side was crunchy and I had the dealer replace it. 6K

I had a little over 6300 miles on the clock when the bearing failed. I never pressure washed the bike. I have done a few creek crossings, and I actually took a hose to it after a Death Valley ride.

My failure was on the rotor side. Looks like that bearing is held in place by a snap ring. The sprocket side just pops out right?

A thread just came up today on the Harley forum where the late model tourers are having this problem too, only on the front wheel. Go figure...