Broken Ball Joint Gaiter

My apologies if this has been discussed before but I couldn't find anything by searching. The gaiter on the ball joint between the Telelever wishbone and the bottom yoke of my R1200GS has split and I'm looking for the easiest way to replace it. I've ordered a used ball-joint (the gaiter isn't available as an individual part) but I'd be grateful, before I try to take the front end apart, for any suggestions about how to move the Telelever wishbone to get at the joint below, Every fastener appears to be held in place with some sort of adhesive so advice on how hot the fasteners need to be to let go would also be welcome.

Yes, this happened to me, the gaiter split, it's not so much the swingarm removal but how -tight- the assy is onto the bridge. Might want a LARGE breaker bar.

I got mine replaced cost me ~$400 ish as like you I found the gaiter wasn't available seperately.

My gaiter/boot split 20,000 miles ago. Rescue tape fixed it right up. 5 minute fix and still holding.

http://www.rescuetape.com/

Hi,

do a search in ebay (Ball Joint Telelever Protector) . There's a guy in Greece selling them. Just ordered mine last week and should be arriving any time soon. I could let you know about the quality.

Yes there is a guy on Ebay selling the bubber gaiter.
$25 US. + $10 postage, much better than $350.
also on youtube there is guys video showing how to replace the rubber.
About an hours work

Cheers

Yep. A guy from the greek GS forum has made a replica.

Only good comments until now.

Well done GSforum.gr !!!

You may want to check for your closest coop tractor shop. Some replacement boot for agricultural shaft equipment may just fit right.

The bolt is a little painful to remove, you need to make a "specialty" tool by opening a window into a long socket, so that you can fit an Allen inside the socket. Did that with a table saw, not ideal but worked well enough to extrude the socket, after that , was piece of cake.

Rescue tape & a zip tie have been good for me; 15,000 miles.

If anyone goes for the replacement boot, a pictorial would be very nice:.

Did you put the rescue tape over the cracked boot or take old boot off and then tape it? Did you put grease into socket before taping?

Nope, I just put the tape right over the old boot. Originally, I was concerned enough to take the bike to the dealer and see about having a new boot installed. They took a look and said the ball joint looked good, but that I couldn't just get the boot replaced. They suggested silicone tape. It looked clean inside the cracked boot, so I just wrapped the tape over the old boot and she's doing fine.

How long do you think the boot was torn before you applied the tape? Did you see any dirt inside the area near the tear?

I usually keep an eye on things on the bike, so I don't think the boot was torn more than a few weeks before I noticed. It looked clean inside the boot, but I didn't think to stuff a bunch of grease in there. I just used the silicone tape to wrap it up.

So far I've sourced a gaiter (from a good used ball joint) and heated the nut above the Telelever arm to break the locking compound. Once the nut is loose, lifting the bike under the engine allows the joint to slide through the Telelever arm. What I'm wondering about doing is, with a support under the engine and the front wheel just off the ground, removing the front suspension unit lower mounting bolt, removing the nut on the joint, then lifting the Telelever arm clear. What I don't know is whether the entire front end will fall apart when I do this as the weight of the forks and wheel will be hanging from the top steering head bearing. I'm also concerned about over-extending the fork legs. Has anyone tried this undoubtedly non-approved method?

Yep, you got it!

When I surveyed the job some while ago I felt the entire front end would drop down when you take that joint apart . In tact, the front end is pretty heavy. From memory here, I think you need to at least disconnect the calipers and remove the front wheel. Since the brake line incorporates the lower fork bridge which will drop away, I think you need to disconnect the brake line on the bridge as well. Bleed brakes upon reassembly. Finally, the forks might need to be removed and the shock disconnected at the bottom. Not sure about the last two. Therefore, Rescue Tape to the rescue.

Look at the fiche here:
http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/DiagramsMain.aspx?vid=51556&vin=ZL75992&md=200406

Here's a thread I started. No real answers but note that even JVB thought it would be a difficult job.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=624360

Ask your dealer for an estimate and subtract the price of the whole ball joint part ($117.00; the gaiter is not available as a separate item - thanks BMW) to get a sense of how much time it would take an experienced tech with the proper tools. Shocking?

YMMV. Feel free to prove me wrong here .

Please update your findings and doings for the good of the order .

A week ago I installed the ebay one sent from Greece. The new rubber is definately stronger than the original one. I had the front end appart for painting anyways so installation was fast.
There is a video on youtube about installing the gaiter. When installing the upper plastic ring I found it easier to place the ring on the gaiter first and then slide the whole thing on top of the balljoint.

I was also a bit worried when sending money to Greece but that guy still delivers!

jaak, rocketman1 - I'm glad you were successful with your swaps. I couldn't find the youtube you both mentioned. Actually looked pretty hard . Can you give us a link?


Much obliged.

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N-Fj5ZqgLGs" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-NasPhtj64U" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>


Where to Buy the Part

I was also a bit worried when sending money to Greece but that guy still delivers! [/QUOTE]



Enjoy your brand new greek gaiter. You shouldnt worry about buying things from Greece since you r driving a
german motorcycle....

Mr. Head, Thanks for the links.

I need to replace my ball joint on a 2010 Adventure. I ordered the complete ball joint from BMW dealer as I am worried that the ball joint may be damaged by dust.
I can't find any info on the R1200GS model for this DIY job. I would like to know if anyone has done this before. Any tips?
My question will be as follow:
1. Are there enough vertical play on the system to replace the joint without having to loosen the lower fork bridge or the front spring?
2. Do you need to loosen the break lines thats connected to the lower fork bridge?
3. Torque specs?
Any photos would be helpful.