BMW R1150GS Adventure Motorcycle Final Drive Rebuild

In this episode, we show you what's involved when rebuilding a final drive unit (sometimes called a 'bevel box') on a BMW R1150GS

_______________________
Get early access and bonus videos by becoming a PATREON
_______________________

[bertblack]

Thank you So much! With your video I was so confident. Got the crown bearing and spline lube in the mail and five hors later was done. With another video from Chris Harris. When I opened it up. Wow. That was the problem. The crown bearing was way gone. 5 ball bearings missing, the cage thing in pieces. 4mm thick of metal around the magnetic drain plug. I was cheap and used all the old stuff except for New crown bearing. No leaks, knock on wood. And I used two large screwdrivers with bent up ends and easily pried off the crown bearing. One on each side. Instead of a 30mm socket for reassembly I used a precision giant crescent wrench while I had my 12mm hex in. Then tightened the 30 mm nut while keeping my center 12mm pin stable with my breaker bar and 12 mm hex socket. Thanks from Kansas. I am in the middle of a BMW motorcycle repair shop desert. 300 miles west to Denver or 300 northeast to Omaha nebraska or 240 miles south to Tulsa. Crazy. Just did a test drive. So far so good. Oops my tag is good but I have no insurance on it. It would have been a nightmare of trailers and a few nights in hotel in Denver just to get it fixed from a shop. And they would of charged me a$1, 000 plus. Thanks again.
T

[victorwright]

James thanks for that. At my MOT last week I had advisory rear wheel play so I watched your video, bought myself the crown and tapered bearings and all the oils seals. I took the opportunity to replace my paralever bearings as well, clean and moly grease all the splines etc. Hardest bit was removing the tapered race without the bespoke tool so I spot welded a steel washer to the race and pulled on a bolt inserted through the washer instead. Drove the new race in with a 38 mm socket. Had to wait for the boss (my wife) to go out before placing the tapered bearing and shaft in the freezer and using the kitchen table. Your video was invaluable and saved me hundreds on a refurbished drive and now I would be quite confident doing this in a backstreet workshop anywhere in the world. All R1150 owners please note. No special skills required here - just a methodical approach, patience and a bit of mechanical experience. It's not rocket science and James has done us all a favour here. Thanks mate. Yes - heat is your friend.

[bc]

An informed engineering presentation that held my attention to the end! You are to be congratulated! I served my time a toolmaker & later became tutor in the apprentice school within the factory & on site. What helped me in later years was the advent of the smart phone for recording, an absolute boom in my field, where apprentices could watch & then practice hands on, which is what you are doing for us YouTube'rs so carry on doing what you do your way, educating engineering entertainment. Brilliant!

[markkoning]

had my r1100s for 120km /15 yrs . needed to replace the rear bearings . your video was spot on . thank you for taking the time to make it . i was planning on giving the hub to motorrad to do . would have cost a fortune . but i watched the video and realized even a berk like me can do it if i watch you. thanks again .

[johnwallroff]

Greetings from the center of the USA. Nebraska. Great great video. I'm very NOT mechanical and I'm thinking about buying a used R1150GS and in researching that bike found this video. I sat through the entire video and was entranced. I find it very interesting watching someone that so casually really knows what they are doing explain. Nothing that you did was all that complicated but every single detail had a purpose. You didn't go on and on about unimportant things, every detail was important. The part about using temperature was especially interesting and helpful. I wish I lived next door to someone like you that could give me a hand at stuff like this and had all of those special tools. Keep up the great work.

[itsJohnnyDill]

My R1100GS, with 87, 000K on it, finally needs the crown wheel bearing replaced. This video made the bearing removal much, much easier. It actually quite simple to do. Thanks!!!- Cheers from Michigan USA

[mikeburrell]

Can't thank you enough for taking the time to put this together! My '05 GS Adv is approaching 90K miles and I am going to do a big rebuild this winter.
Cheers from Canada.

[letitrest]

Pretty good information. A few suggestions I would definitely clean the surface, on the crown gear assembly, outside of where the chevron seal is, before you reassemble the drive. A Scotchbrite pad is excellent for that. It'll take that rusty looking residue off, without removing metal, like sand paper would. Otherwise there's a chance that as you assemble the unit, that seal is picking up, some of that debris. Also you should lubricate, slightly the chevron seal"s rubber lip, where it fits against the rotating crown assembly with a little gear oil. If not your seal is going to be running dry, when you first ride the machine. It could cause that seal to fail quickly.

[RiojaRoj]

Nice Job James ! 👍
Only thing I'd add is, I've put bearing houses and crankcases in the wife oven ( when she's out shopping !!!) You can get them to a nice unform and controlled temp that way. 👌
Cheers Roj
PS : open the kitchen windows !!! Hot axle oil stinks 🤣😂🤣😂

[eternallearner]

Lovely presentation but I strongly disagree that measuring for correct shimming is not needed. Most of these final drives that wore out prematurely, and lots did, was due to incorrect shimming at the factory. To re- measure for correct shims required is a simple technique using small strips of soft solder. You may be able to google this up if you are interested.

[dezdelaforce]

Great Video. I've a 1150GS and this is definitely one video I will be coming back to. It's the fine detail that you put into your video that's made it worth while. In exactly the opposite way that Haynes manuals leave you hanging with descriptions like " look for wear". Your example of the oil seal wear was bang on. Thanks for your time and effort.

[davidburns]

Love your videos! Don't worry about the edit, these kinds of detailed videos are to rare. Keep up the grand work!

[jimsimpson]

I would donate to you for your awesome videos. It's a bargain. If I were to bring my R1150R to the dealer, it would cost me a small fortune to have it repaired. I have learned so much from videos. I almost feel like a real mechanic. I wish I did go to school to become a mechanic when I was younger. I thought college was the way to go, I was wrong. Learning a trade is the way to go.

[chrisyoung]

Great video thanks, one question, did the customer not want the corrosion sorted on the housing? would have been a good time to do it !
Anyway keep up the good work, regards, Chris (Suffolk UK).

[qba]

James, thanks for the brilliant video. I’m pretty sure You did the best step-by-step tutorial how to maintance the final drive. Thanks and waiting for more!

[RTAlabama]

The absolute best presentation I've seen on this topic!
Nice work James - Thanks!

[kevinkille]

This is the first video of yours I watched. I watched it al. You may think it was to long I just realy liked learning al the tips and tricks. Thanks for you're time and efford in making these !! Cheers!

[bristol]

Thanks for your time and patience in posting this video, and the useful tips and potential oversights in this

[JohnDoe-pmoq]

Here's a tip for removing the tapered bearing inner race. Temporarily install to (beefy) VW beetle wheel bolts (lug bolts) into the other end and to clamp assembly in a vise. Install the bolts into the same holes that the BMW wheel bolts are installed into. Install the bolts in 2 of the 4 holes with placement 180 degrees from one another (recall, a straight line is formed between two points). The bolt heads are then clamped into the vice. Works great!

[petebike]

Thank you for this very thorough walk through! I have an R1100RT. I recently acquired it and don’t know very much about BMW’s Your video demystified the final drive to such a degree, I no longer live in fear of things going wrong with it! Cheers!