Adventure motorcycle travel

[Bob Johannesen]

(08-26-2014 15:37)Arcticdude Wrote:  Bob,

Why do you think there's so many (relatively) issues with the rear bearing on the GS? I understand one bearing is asked to not only support the weight, but also handle torsional loads as well, but is the design really that bad? None of my hogs have had those kind of issues and they've been to the circle and back. And they've had no maintenance on the bearings at all. It seems like there are quite a few folks having the same issues as you've had.

I don't know for sure, but I have always carried tools and parts to equal about 100 lbs. But the FD should last even if you have a passenger that weighs more than that. After 7 bearing failures (I caught 4 before they destroyed anything) I changed the entire rear end to my spare and haven't had any problems - but I do open it every 10-14,000 miles and inspect the bearings.

BMW is mute on the issue, especially since the newer final drives are also failing. You can go to ADVRider.com and read the G-Spot threads about the final drives. I do inspect mine often and don't hesitate to take long trips, but I do anticipate the possibility.

My Harleys didn't have that problem, even though I rung out the interior splines in a drive belt pulley, in Richmond. I had an Andrews 34 tooth pulley that gave me about 84 MPH at 3600 RPM (the engine's sweet spot) when I was running alot of Iron Butt Rallies.