Monolever Question . . . .

[CTellman]

I have a 1993 R100RT with 40,000 miles. I was reading BMW ON last night and I wonder whether I have to worry about the problems with the final drive. Is it the same animal?
Thanks,
Campbell Tellman II
'93 R100RT

[jforgo]

Your bike is a 1993. Is it a Monolever, or a Paralever? If it is an "R" with "RT" fairing, then it is a Paralever. Many such conversions have been done. this mix-n-match capability is one of the joys of airheads
I think the easiest way to tell if Paralever is if there is an extra "joint" directly in front of the final drive hub, with accordion rubber boot above it. If those items are present, then you have a Paralever, which is the subject of the article.

[Littleleroy38]

Short answer: no. The monolever bikes do not have that problem. Long answer: if your bike is an R100R and was converted to an RT fairing, then yes, the article applies.

[CTellman]

The bike has a conventional 4 bolt connection to the FD. Only boot is between driveshaft and transmission.
So I guess that is different than a paralever and I hope I can avoid final drive issues.
Campbell Tellman II
'93 R100RT

[PGlaves]

Not to rain on anybody's parade here - but the deep groove ball bearing in the monolever Airhead final drives is the same 85x120x18 bearing as used on the Oilheads and K bikes with paralever drives. PN: 33 12 1 242 210

So a failure of this bearing is possible. Now the horsepower and torque applied at the crownwheel is a lot less, and the bikes don't weigh as much as a R1100GS or K1200LT, but it is the same bearing. So if that case is shimmed too tightly, or subject to some other assembly error the bearing can fail just like on the newer bikes.

It doesn't happen very often - hard to find examples - but it has been known to happen.

But don't worry about it - just ride it. A lot more bikes get towed in from other causes (flat tires, ignition modules, bad gas, crashes) than final drive failures. Just ride it.