BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

I’m new to BMW, been a Honda man.  I’ve recently purchased an R1200RT and I’ve noticed some oil on the back wheel, not a lot but it’s there.  Also around the end of the shaft, behind the wheel there’s small amounts.  I’ve wiped it and it smells like gear oil. The previous owner had a new seal fitted not that long ago.  When I move the bike there is a clicking noise, which sounds as if it’s coming from the shaft area.  Any ideas what it could be?  I think it could be caused by low oil but I welcome any suggestions.

Welcome to the Forum.
Not sure what year your bike is, but.......if a seal's recently been replaced, you could first of all check the speed sensor on the rear wheel. If the back end's been apart, the O-ring on the sensor can get chewed up or not be seated properly. Who did the seal replacement, and which one was replaced? The outer one, on the opposite side to the wheel, is easy to do - some 'overspill' from the previous leak (presumably that's why the last owner replaced whichever seal....) can sit behind the snap-in black plastic finisher ring and continue to dribble out till it's all gone, making you think your seal's gone again. That, of course, presupposes it was the outer one that was done.
I've no experience of the seal on the other side failing, so can't comment on that.
Pete

Thanks for the response.  I’m currently in France so I’ve popped down to the local BMW dealer in Arras.  The result is seal had gone and they’ve replaced it.  Didn’t say which one though, they said it was caused by over filling.  They’ve given me some more news in that there is slight play in the final drive.  A visit to the dealer when I get back and get it done under warranty.

Back from France now and the bad news is that the oil seal is leaking again.  There’s also a clicking sound from the drive shaft when weight is on the wheel, when the bike is on the centre stand and the wheel is turned there’s nothing.  There’s uneven wear on the rear tyre.  The dealer is picking it up this week to investigate.

Sharkfighter wrote: Back from France now and the bad news is that the oil seal is leaking again.  There’s also a clicking sound from the drive shaft when weight is on the wheel, when the bike is on the centre stand and the wheel is turned there’s nothing.  There’s uneven wear on the rear tyre.  The dealer is picking it up this week to investigate.

Is it going to be done under warranty?
Pete

From what the dealer told me the seal replaced in France would be. I’ve checked the paperwork that came with the bike and it had only done 1400 miles since it’d been changed. This time it’s even less, just a few hundred!  The dealer collected the bike yesterday to examine what the problem is, the way I’ve read the warranty it should but you know what it’s like when it comes to claiming.

If the rear drive is buggered, let's hope it is a warranty job! If not, there's a guy in Leicestershire who rebuilds them - in fact, he does them for dealers.
Pete

milleplod wrote:If not, there's a guy in Leicestershire who rebuilds them - in fact, he does them for dealers.

If necessary, this thread may be helpful, viewtopic.php?p=14664#p14664

Just picked up my bike from the dealer they can’t find a leak and the oil level was okay.  They did say that they thought that the seal hadn’t been changed as they had to use a rubber mallet to get the wheel off.  They also said that the oil looked very dirty to say that it had only done a few hundred miles.  They have said to keep an eye on it and that the seal and drive are covered by the warranty and that they have ordered the parts in.  I took it out for a ride before leaving the dealer and they checked it again and couldn’t find any oil leaking.  It’ll be a case of watch this space.

Just by way of an update the bike is back at the dealers, not with an oil leak. When I got home from RTTW I was pushing the bike around and the drive shaft was making a hell of a creaking noise. The dealer said that "it wasn't right" and took it in. The upshot is new bearings in the drive shaft, all covered by warranty. I'm just waiting for it to be returned.


Just got off the phone with the dealer and it’s not the drive shaft bearing but the diff that’s gone. Alan Jeffries took it apart and the bearings in the diff fell out.  They say they’ve never seen one like this before.

If yours is a 2005RT, then you must have bought a machine that old from outside the BMW dealer network.


I presume the supplying dealer is paying for Jeffries to do all this work on his behalf.

You're right, the dealer got the bike from Alan Jeffries. They’ve had to take it to them as they didn’t have the special tools needed for the job. I spoke to them on Thursday and the part was due to arrive on Friday. Hopefully I’ll have it back the beginning of next week, they’ve had it for 3 weeks already. The work is being done under warranty.