Shaft Drive Issues (again)

Sylvester

Registered user
Joined
Jan 19, 2007
Messages
515
Reaction score
0
Location
Normandy, France
Yep......that old chestnut. No clonking but the dreaded clutch spline drive and drive shaft spline lubes were due so I stripped it down to play.
Over the last few rides I had felt increasing vibration coming from the rear of the bike and assumed the UJs might be starting to play up. That was the warning sign last time. Any how, UJs were fine, nice and smooth with one small tight spot at the Bevel box end but the triangular(ish) damper is twisted around the shaft by about 20 or more degrees. The corner of the rubber damper also looks if its planning an escape. Could the fact that the shaft is no longer in line be the vibe source? There's lots of choices on where to buy overhauled drive shafts, but who has good and bad experiences of shaft drive replacements recently? I had the last one overhauled by a locally based Lada Mechanic. He's retired now and moved away so I will have to get one from the main stream parts sources. Any places I should avoid?
 
Yep......that old chestnut. No clonking but the dreaded clutch spline drive and drive shaft spline lubes were due so I stripped it down to play.
Over the last few rides I had felt increasing vibration coming from the rear of the bike and assumed the UJs might be starting to play up. That was the warning sign last time. Any how, UJs were fine, nice and smooth with one small tight spot at the Bevel box end but the triangular(ish) damper is twisted around the shaft by about 20 or more degrees. The corner of the rubber damper also looks if its planning an escape. Could the fact that the shaft is no longer in line be the vibe source? There's lots of choices on where to buy overhauled drive shafts, but who has good and bad experiences of shaft drive replacements recently? I had the last one overhauled by a locally based Lada Mechanic. He's retired now and moved away so I will have to get one from the main stream parts sources. Any places I should avoid?



Just had another look the elastomer damper has de-bonded hence the twist!!!!!! Also I note Seibenrock and others are selling an "Improved" driveshaft gaiter. Anyone tried one? I use the original BMW item and they only seem to last two years before they split. Usually every spline lube.
 
There is a theory that out of phase UJs will vibrate , and it looks like you have confirmed it!

Emerald Isle have had two or three goes at making easily rebuild-able shafts and after a few years of customer development testing are finally reputed to have one which will get you further than the supermarket car park.
Not cheap initially , but both the damper rubbers and the UJs are cheap and easy to replace so if you do a few Ks or intend doing a long trip well worth while.
Motorworks used to sell them, but the the first attempts were dismal failures they may have given them up.
 
I had mine reconditioned earlier this year by a German company (including the fitting of grease nipples).

Was that an exchange unit or you sent him yours for overhaul?
I already have the grease nipples but I think the rubber needs replacing.
 
I sent them my one for an overhaul which cost €250 plus €17.00 for shipping at the time (January)
 
The original shaft on my PD went out of phase and it was horrible to ride. The UV joints appeared to be in good condition with no obvious signs of excessive wear. Still have it in the cupboard.

How much was the overhaul at the German company?
 
Talk to Mikeyboy, he's just done one of mine, the problem is the U/J's are expensive.
 
A relevant thread over on ADVrider http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/r100gs-drive-shaft.852807/page-3

this comment by Ted Porter seems reassuring re the DIY rebuildable one.

There still seems to be some confusion on this, perhaps I can help:

The Emerald driveshaft is complete and assembled, it is ready for installlation. The exploded view picture is just to show you the parts assembly.

The rebuildable "Emerald" driveshaft and the rebuilding services from Bruno and Henderson are now all using the same Elbe German U-joint, same joint, same size. The strength and durability of the u-joint will be the same regardless of whether you have yours rebuilt, or buy the new Emerald driveshaft. The u-joints are the same part number coming from the same manufacturer.

The difference is the ease with which you can service the Emerald assembly, replace the damping material yourself for example, and the fact that all individual parts are available separately which is not the case with the OE driveshaft.

In some cases your original BMW driveshaft may not be rebuildable. If the u-joint fails and there is damage to the knuckle, the original driveshaft is toast since that part is not available separately. We often ran into this when we were sending driveshafts to Henderson for repair (who I think does excellent work by the way).

The manufacturer of the Emerald driveshaft was originally sourcing their u-joints through their own suppliers in Taiwan, they do a lot of manufacturing there especially in the automotive parts sector. Their u-joint trunnion was not as large as it should have been and it developed axial play in the cup. So they are now installing the German Elbe u-joint that everyone else is using.

Regarding exchanges, the manufacturer seems very willing to replace any defective driveshafts at no charge without much persuasion, they stand behind their products, regardless of which country you are in I would imagine.

Ted Porter
BeemerShop.com
 
Well, as the damper is well shagged on mine it seems few people want to exchange it. The motor works/emerald shaft is fuggin expensive but it's an outright purchase without the nonce of shipping mine back first. I think I'm gonna suck it up and get one. I did read that the UJs are bigger and so don't go down the swinging arm straight. It will be fun lining it up with the bevel splines then!
 
I did read that the UJs are bigger and so don't go down the swinging arm straight. It will be fun lining it up with the bevel splines then!

The UJ's on mine are bigger, but not a lot. Its more to do with the welded-on cir-clip rings.
I removed the casing and then I used an old half-round rasp to ease the tight spot.
Once that's done, its easy :thumb2
 
The UJ's on mine are bigger, but not a lot. Its more to do with the welded-on cir-clip rings.
I removed the casing and then I used an old half-round rasp to ease the tight spot.
Once that's done, its easy :thumb2

Cheers for the info. I will order it this week, should arrive home before me as I'm working away.
 
Well, as the damper is well shagged on mine it seems few people want to exchange it. The motor works/emerald shaft is fuggin expensive but it's an outright purchase without the nonce of shipping mine back first. I think I'm gonna suck it up and get one. I did read that the UJs are bigger and so don't go down the swinging arm straight. It will be fun lining it up with the bevel splines then!

I've got the re-buildable shaft on my '93 100GS PD. I did find that the slightly larger U/Js wouldn't fit down through the swing arm, so I took a chance and bought a later era swing arm off Ebay, for around £50, from a German site. Thankfully it was just that slight bit wider ie probably a bit thinner metal internally, and the new shaft fitted , with just a bit of jiggling around.
I found the best way is to hold the swing arm up vertically, insert 2 of the wheel bolts into the hub, drop the shaft into the now vertical swing arm, and also turn the final drive with the 2 wheel bolts, and this allows you to pretty much align shaft splines with final drive splines. Does that make sense ....?

Shaft so far has been good- took it apart about 7000 miles ago, to replace one of those crap "special" gaiters which had split; greased up the U/Js with the nipples supplied, and there was no play or stiffness. Expensive to buy, but should last, as long as you keep the U/Js greased every 10K or so.
 
I do mine at about 40k km intervals. Still good.

I have to admit I was worried about the longevity issues. Seems to be fine though. Been off the road a week now, not been a big issue as I've been working away a lot, but I'm lost without my airhead. I'm lucky enough to have other bikes but as the weather starts to get colder there's nothing like a bimble on my beemer at the weekend.
 


Back
Top Bottom