R100GS Drive Shaft

[H96669]

That one up there is showing some blue next to the worn part. Looks like it did get hot. Now I have to wonder what type of grease they used in there, synthetic such as Amsoil do have a better resistance to heat but only to some degree, can't make up for mechanical deficiencies.

Strange wear pattern, if I remember from the old days that was from the assembly being out of alignment. Then more friction....more heat and the grease runs out. Quick failure after that.

Last GS driveshaft I had to have repaired, started showing signs of failure halfway through the USAs. Got me home to BC and quite a few miles after that and wasn't even too badly worn when I removed it.Unlike the first one that failed catastrophically at pretty low miles and destroyed the swingarm. Don't ignore them strange vibrations that may change in frequencies with the throttle or even disappear........ in the right footpeg.

If anyone has one of them in their hands....you really have to close your eyes and check them blind for signs of roughness or binding. Light tapping on the end of the caps may even show the play, that's how we used to loosen up tight u-joints after installation, I think my grandpa knew a thing or two about them, he sure replaced lots of them in his long career and lucky for me, had time to show & tell back then.

Sorry about the underline....can't edit, silly slow "internet at sea".

[Airhead Wrangler]

Originally Posted by Stagehand

inside of 500 miles is my experience.

Yours showed ZERO play and then failed within 500 miles?

[Stagehand]

Originally Posted by Airhead Wrangler

Yours showed ZERO play and then failed within 500 miles?

Yes, pretty much. Happened to me, and I've heard tell also that it goes with not much in the way of warning. I check pretty frequently. Its a simple feel, you know? just rotate the back wheel in neutral, and anything other than buttery smoothness is something to watch.

[Airhead Wrangler]

Oh OK, I'm talking about actually removing the shaft from the swingarm and twisting both ends of it by hand. Due to the final drive ratio of ~3:1, it's pretty much impossible to feel minute amounts of play through the rear wheel, especially once you factor in backlash in the final drive and trans. I would guess that the u-joints would have to be pretty thoroughly f%&$-hammered before you'd feel any discernible play through the rear wheel. I'm new at this whole paralever thing though so don't take my word for it.

[jackd]

Originally Posted by Airhead Wrangler

Yours showed ZERO play and then failed within 500 miles?

My original shaft had a tight rear u-joint and I ran it for another 8k miles. I just kept an eye on it. I was having too many other problems with the bike to spend money on a new shaft at that time.

As for the pre-mature failure of the Taiwanese aftermarket unit, I'm not quite prepared to believe that these units are built with sub-standard parts and all that are out there are in danger of failure. Something adverse happened to that particular drive shaft for it to fail so quickly. I see no sign of any wear on my unit in approx 6k miles. The shaft re-build kits are actually less expensive than a final drive pivot bearing and I'm going to leave mine in there longer than I previously planned between servicings. Every time I go into the final drive/shaft area I wind up changing one of those bearings and I really don't feel like going through that process right now. I'm going to go and polish up at the front end of the bike as soon as I finish this posting.

[The Patagonia Kid]

Looking at this threads I can but wonder, my 1993 R 100 R has 119000 miles and I am still on the original shaft, don't know how much longer will last. I've had checked it every 30k and no vibrations yet.
On the contrary on one of my GSPD's the shaft went at about 20k.
In my opinion the main reason being the angle at the u joint by the gear box. The shock on the R 100 R is 18.75 eye to eye; the R 100 GS is 19.25 thus increasing the angle. By the BMW readings they should go about 30k.
I have 2 spare shafts, one like on the picture shown above and another being an original BMW that always carry in my GS.
Not sure yet but considering the Henderson precision option too.
Anyone has any feedback on the Henderson rebuild?

[Johnny Locks]

Originally Posted by The Patagonia Kid

Looking at this threads I can but wonder, my 1993 R 100 R has 119000 miles and I am still on the original shaft, don't know how much longer will last. I've had checked it every 30k and no vibrations yet.
On the contrary on one of my GSPD's the shaft went at about 20k.
In my opinion the main reason being the angle at the u joint by the gear box. The shock on the R 100 R is 18.75 eye to eye; the R 100 GS is 19.25 thus increasing the angle. By the BMW readings they should go about 30k.
I have 2 spare shafts, one like on the picture shown above and another being an original BMW that always carry in my GS.
Not sure yet but considering the Henderson precision option too.
Anyone has any feedback on the Henderson rebuild?

I had my shaft rebuilt by HPM over the winter. It took a little longer than I was told to expect (6 weeks instead of 3 weeks.) The quality of the work looks outstanding. And it's working just fine so far, but I've only got about 700 miles on it. Maybe I'll report back in another year, or two or three.

[AntonLargiader]

Jason, are you still running that driveshaft?

[Stagehand]

Originally Posted by AntonLargiader

Jason, are you still running that driveshaft?

yes i am! It hasnt gotten too much work in the last few months. Havent ridden nary a thousand miles on it since last september. I'm the jason you refer to?


I loaned my HM shaft to that guy you referred who was stuck up here on his way home. Still in touch, he just barely pulled it out of his bike last week so he says. I poke him every three months or so. He offered to pay for the shaft, but I kinda wanted it back. Maybe I should have just taken the money and gotten a new HPM.

[R100RT Mark]

Low frequency vibration yesterday just after I pulled out my drive to run errands. Wondered if I had thrown a wheel balance weight. Got worse over the next three miles. Clearly something more serious. Turned back home. Up on center stand, turned rear wheel by hand and there was very clearly notchiness in the final drive. Up on lift. Thirty minutes later was looking at the very distressed driveshaft UJ shown here.

From quick research it seems that the Taiwanese driveshaft replacements do not seem to have stood the test of time (cannot see any reference to these being available on Ted Porter's website). Am I correct?

Also, while my yokes look to be pretty beaten up which may mean they as not suitable for rebuilding, current North American options seem to be rebuilt units by either Hendersen Precision Products thttp://www.hendersenprecision.com/i..._products.html or Bruno's Machine & Repair http://www.brunos.us/ds_airheads_oilheads.html. Does anyone have any experience-based opinions of the meirts of either vendor?

Does anyone have any experience-based opinions of the merits of some of the European options?

Thanks. I do not want to dawdle on getting repairs in hand.

[Stagehand]

I dont know of a history of bad shafts from the taiwanese. Some defects in everything, but nothing systemic

[SOLO LOBO]

The difference between Bruno and Henderson is that Henderson replaces the damping material and Bruno only replaces the u-joint.

I think someone recently posted that the damper on the Bruno re-man unit failed a week or so ago...

[Phreaky Phil]

Originally Posted by SOLO LOBO

The difference between Bruno and Henderson is that Henderson replaces the damping material and Bruno only replaces the u-joint.

I think someone recently posted that the damper on the Bruno re-man unit failed a week or so ago...

I think at Hendersson he will only replace the damper material if you want it done, ie, if the driveshaft is out of phase. Mine was out of phase so I did both the damper and u joints.

[R100RT Mark]

Took some additional pictures this afternoon. I am amazed how so quickly the situation when from seeming as if I had lost a wheel balance weight to this.