Starter pulled, inspected the transmission splines

[ironoxide]

Well folks, I pulled the started and inspected the input shaft transmission splines today. For a bike with 32,000 miles, they didn't look too bad. The splines were clean and shiny, and I found no debris around the splines. However, I didn't see any lube around the shaft. Also, The shaft has very minor weeping at the transmission seal. I'm no mechanic, but I think I'm OK, yes? I took the opportunity to installed a power cord from the battery up to the front of the bike. Heck, it took me an hour just to get the battery back in. I dropped a washer that fell under the battery tray. I have no Idea where it went. It didn't end up in the air box, so I guess I'm OK.

[nrpetersen]

FYI - At 20K my R1100RT spline area was "pristine". I should have also measured the tangential clearance of the clutch disk OD with respect to the transmission input shaft to get an idea of spline wear, but didn't. Next time I'm gonna mark it on some a white typist correction fluid blob (white-out). Sounds like you should be OK for a while.

[norton]

Not to be Johnnie Raincloud but, you really can't tell anything significant about the splines from the pulled starter. You can see gross problems, missing flywheel teeth, bad oil leaks..... but if you were hoping to see or inspect the business end of the splines forget about it. The minor oil leak is another issue. Even small leaks viable from the starter hole could be an issue. The oil can work its way from the pushrod hole to the clutch plate and foul it. I wouldn't worry about it until I felt the clutch slip. (5th gear pulling hard at lower RPMs)

[Jeff488]

Not to be Johnnie Raincloud but, you really can't tell anything significant about the splines from the pulled starter. You can see gross problems, missing flywheel teeth, bad oil leaks..... but if you were hoping to see or inspect the business end of the splines forget about it. The minor oil leak is another issue. Even small leaks viable from the starter hole could be an issue. The oil can work its way from the pushrod hole to the clutch plate and foul it. I wouldn't worry about it until I felt the clutch slip. (5th gear pulling hard at lower RPMs)

What he said. With 32k miles on it and the splines look good, then I think your alignment is also good. However, if there is no sign of lube, then it needs to be done.
From what I understand of what Paul Glaves has written, it's the two different types of misalignment that destroys the splines. He recommends lubing them every 40k or so.
It's quite a job(see thread below), but the only way I know of to be sure what you have, not to mention the peace of mind.
http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=35982