R1150R Driveshaft

[Slablog]

My mechanic friend and I replaced my FD crown gear bearing a couple weeks ago and in the process we pulled the rear half of the drive shaft out of the FD housing and checked it. He had previously pulled his FD and checked it over a few weeks earlier. He made note and I felt it also: a slight "notch" feel when moving the U-Joint back and forth by hand. He said his did not do that and it shows some wear in that one place in the U-Joint.
We buttoned it all back up without replacing the driveshaft.
My questionis this: How long can I expect to go now with that little notch in the rear U-Joint. I would imagine the front one is worn equally but we did not pull that one out.
The bike has 75K miles.

[aaaaaa]

I think I'd go ahead and replace it. That's a lot cheaper than a failure. It might go forever or it could toast today.
robert

[Andy VH]

The u-joint should feel firm and smooth through its range of motion. I had 120k miles on the original u-joint on my 94 R1100RS. The salvaged driveshaft/u-joint I replaced it with had a very smooth firm feeling u-joints on it compared ti my old one, which felt very free and loose. I noticed a significant vibration reduction after replacing it. Your driveshaft will probably go many miles yet, but I would shop for a replacement if I were you.

[mcollect]

I had my u-joint go from a little notchy to a full blown failure in four hours of riding. It shattered and locked the rear wheel, luck was with me as at that time I had pulled into a gas station. Therefore I would replace it as soon as possible,

[rockosmith]

I just replaced the driveshaft in my '04 1150R at 65700 miles. When I got the old one out, I could not move the front u-joint in one direction by hand. Perfectly free on the other axis. I don't know how much longer it would have lasted, but I am glad I found it when I did. Fairly easy to replace, much harder to pay for!!