R1200CL Rear Drive oil leak

[jimeagan]

I am a new memeber and new BMW owner - a R1200CL.
It has oil smudges under and around the point where the drive shaft cover
and the rear drive case connect. I'm not sure of proper terms for these parts.
I first noticed drips of oil on the rear tire right side wall.
I now wipe it down after rides (when I remember).
It seems like a small amount.
I recently read the article in Motorcycle Consumer News about rear drive failures.
The article stated that the leaking of oil in this area indicates impending failure.
True? False? What to do if anything?
Thanks for your help.
Jim Eagan

[GrafikFeat]

You wanna look here!! ------> Chromeheads... (http://www.chromeheads.org/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi) Home of the R1200C and CLC

[jimeagan]

Thank you very much
Jim:doh

[GrafikFeat]

Thank you very much
Jim:doh

Yer welcome...

Do note... Not to diminish the importance and comraderie here...
But some "purists" view us as the red haired stepchild of BMW Motorrad. :whistle

[osbornk]

Yer welcome...

Do note... Not to diminish the importance and comraderie here...
But some "purists" view us as the red haired stepchild of BMW Motorrad. :whistle

I love both my red haired grandchild and my big brown CLC. I guess owning a K100RT, a K75RT and a R80RT before I bought the stepchild CLC didn't make me a "purist".

I've only got 34,000 problem free miles on mine and I'm not aware of final drive problems on the "underpowered"C bikes.

Ken

[GrafikFeat]

I've only got 34,000 problem free miles on mine and I'm not aware of final drive problems on the "underpowered"C bikes.

Ditto... @ 36k

[Montana]

It's not likely it's a final drive issue on your model, but it is very likely it is a seal.

[GrafikFeat]

I am a new memeber and new BMW owner - a R1200CL.
It has oil smudges under and around the point where the drive shaft cover
and the rear drive case connect.

I've had that issue too and it turned out to be fuel leaking from "overfill"...
Old gas feels "oily" and collects dirt making it seem thicker.
Do not top off your tank.

[cruisin]

Ditto... @ 36k

ooo, I like that part; let's keep it going. If you count the '99 that was totaled with 70889 miles on it and now the '00 with 60K, I have almost 130K trouble free miles on my underpowered Cs. And if you want to add in the 12.5K trouble free miles the previous owner of the '00 had that's over 140K. :bolt But they're horrible machines ya know. :whistle

[bubbagazoo]

21,000km trouble free for me. I've had my CL for 2 years now. The PO put 40,000 km (total mileage is now 61,000 km) on the bike in 2 years (it's a 2003 that wasn't purchased until December '04) but I think he may have actually had the time to ride :D

[jimeagan]

After changing the gear oil, and putting a few thousand miles on----
it stopped leaking ?? Go figure. Mentioned it to the local BMW dealer
and he scratched his head and didn't know why. go figure.

[Montana]

If it previously was synthetic, that's been known to get past seals.

[osbornk]

I suspect it was overfilled. If I recall, the proper fill is to the bottom of the threads at the fill hole and it would be really easy to overfill since it's hard to see the proper level. Also, as has been said, synthetic tends to seep past seals. I have had the problem with synthetic but not a synthetic blend.

[papagian]

145,000+ miles and no final drive problems. Not bad for the runt of the litter.