Ouch! Loud grinding noises, end of the trail!

[larrylarry75]

:help Today I rode over to Charleston (OR) on a fish buying mission. When I started home the R80/7 made a couple of clunky noises followed by a lot of LOUD CLUNKY GRINDING noises eminating from the rear end. Or maybe the tranny area? At least that's what it sounded like to me, my hearing direction is a joke but the bottom line is I made it a couple of hundred yards and that was all she wrote. I pulled off the road and called the friendly BMW towing outfit, then sat back for 35 mins and watched the traffic who in turn were oggling me. When I finally got home I had the driver drop me off at the top of our driveway - it's long, maybe a couple of hundred feet - then I saddled up and rode sans power down to the house wherein the beast resides. On the way down the drive the nasty noises eminated once more, with gusto even though out of gear and dead stick. So...what might it be, any suggestions? The BMW doctor is only 125 miles down the road so I may need to diagnose things before I head his way.
Thanks for your help,
Larry
PS - dammit anyway! racklefrakitz! this is why they invented wine....

[20774]

Rig up some kind of mechanics stethoscope so you can pinpoint the noises. You can use something like a long box wrench and place the wrench on the part and your ear on the other end of the wrench...or even try a thin hollow tube. Then have someone turn the rear wheel in/out of gear and get a sense where the most noise is coming from. You could also consider disconnecting the drive shaft from the back of the tranny...that way you can separate the two parts and repeat the listening process. You could also remove the rear wheel and see if anything presents itself. Also, drop the fluids in the tranny, shaft, and final drive and see which has any large metallic bits in it...that'll give you a clear idea of what exploded.

Sorry about that...Kurt in S.A.

[DarrylRi]

When the front U joint on my '94 R11RS seized and then exploded, it sounded like a box of rocks when the bike was moved, what with the driveshaft flailing around inside the paralever arm with all the bits. Only had 157k on the bike at the time... Unfortunately, I was in PA after touring New England.

[Motorman]

I'd just start dumping the fluid, rear drive first then shaft and see if you find nasty things in it. If so then you have located the problem. In either case you'll need to dump the fluids to get to the tranny when you start disassembling it anyhow. My guess would be U joint or rear drive pinion sheared the splines. Good luck as this does not sound like a morning fix.

[BubbaZanetti]

When the front U joint on my '94 R11RS seized and then exploded, it sounded like a box of rocks when the bike was moved, what with the driveshaft flailing around inside the paralever arm with all the bits. Only had 157k on the bike at the time... Unfortunately, I was in PA after touring New England.


your paralever joints lasted 157,000 miles??? i would consider that VERY good..........

[DarrylRi]

your paralever joints lasted 157,000 miles??? i would consider that VERY good..........
I'm not complaining. ;-)

Could've broken just as I was getting home, however. ;-)

[j-budimlya]

a dowel rod or a yard stick held up to your ear and touched against the parts of the bike is a pretty effective listening device....

Start at the rear hub and work forward while spinning the rear wheel with your hand....you will know when you are there....

[Boxerkuh]

It is fair to say that something is amiss. I would probably start the bike up and see if it making the noise in neutral. That way you could rule out the motor. Then I would begin to drop the fluids in the rear end and the tranny and see if you have any metal coming out. If not, I would continue to take things further... starting at the rear end since you heard the noise there first, then the shaft and lastly the tranny. I would go from there... How many miles are on the bike, age, maintenance routine, etc... Good luck and keep us updated.... :lurk

[larrylarry75]

Thanks everyone, sound's like good advice, I'll try the "listen closely" and see if I can isolate it better. So far all I've done is stick my head in the sand and wait for inspiration. I'll let you know what I fnd, sure would be great if it turns out to something I can fix myself instead of having to trailer it 125 miles to the nearest dealer. This may take a day or two....
:bottle

[Boxerkuh]

Good luck Larry! If you are able to isolate it, you maybe able to send the part out for a rebuild. There a lot of good shops in "Airmail" and I am sure Oak can also help you out. First issue though is finding the problems... I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

[Red100RT]

Hi Larry, that sounds like a not too good thing and maybe warrents a trip to see master Hansen. Or maybe what you need is another mount. I happen to have a black beauty R75/6 that looks for all the world like the day she was built out in the garage with only about 46K miles on it. And Florence is only about 75 miles up the road from Bandon. Think of all the spare parts you would have. :wave