Rebuildable driveshaft

[gspd]

Hey guys-

I'm about to replace my 1990 R100GSPD paralever driveshaft again; This will be the 5th time in 500,000kms.
All my replacements have been preventative maintenance, never had one break or even become loose or noisy.
The price has escalated over the decades and is now around the $1000 range for a new OE BMW unit.

I have seen quite a few of them break over the years on customer bikes, a few with catastrophic consequences, so I don't feel comfortable with one that has over 100,000kms on my bike.

I was considering ordering one of the rebuildable ones on the market, https://www.beemershop.com/product/ei-r ... on-ii.html which are a bit less expensive to buy, and theoretically should be rebuildable at a fraction of the cost in the future. Do any of you have any high mileage experience with these?

I guess overall, the operating cost is on par with replacing the chains and sprockets on chain drive bikes every 20 to 50 thousand kms.

Any comments?

[jagarra]

Here is another option that is available. It doesn't have the flexibility of easily removable bearing with the circlip, but it looks to be cheaper.
https://www.oshmo.com/product/oshmo-reb ... escription

[gspd]

Thanks Jagarra, but that one won't fit;
It's for the older type suspension.
I recall them lasting much longer than the double-jointed paralever shafts.

[SteveD]

Might help?

https://advrider.com/f/threads/paraleve ... t-33576978

[Seth]

no idea about these guys, but I found this...

http://www.hendersenprecision.com/india ... ducts.html

[Rob Frankham]

If you have a driveshaft specialist in your area, you can get the Hooke joints in the OEM shaft replaced for a small fraction of the cost of a new shaft, whether it be OEM or 'rebuildable'. If you're feeling adventurous, you can even do it yourself... though I wouldn't recommend it unless you know what you're doing. The Hooke joint components are standard size units.

As a matter of interest, the image of the shaft in the ad you posted shows the webs on the shaft in the wrong relationship to each other. For the shaft to operate correctly, the two webs attached to the shaft should oriented the same. As shown, the shaft would cause excess vibration. Probably just the picture but I'd want to know that a rebuildable shaft could be assembled in the correct configuration.

Rob

[gspd]

Thanks for the input everybody.
I ended up ordering a new OE-$$$-BMW shaft # 26 11 1 458 000.
2 year unlimited mileage "no hassle warranty" from BMW .
I only ride about 15,000 kms per summer nowadays, but I don't want to be a guinea pig for aftermarket products that have mixed reviews. I'm quite confident that the new OE shaft will get me through the next 100,000 kms hassle free, as the previous five have.

I might have been swayed towards ordering a rebuildable shaft from an aftermarket supplier after reading the advrider link from Steve D. (but too late). ...maybe next time, somewhere around the year 2026, if I'm still kickin'.

Oh yeah, BTW ... Rob F said: " For the shaft to operate correctly, the two webs attached to the shaft should oriented the same. As shown, the shaft would cause excess vibration."
Very observant Rob. I think it's just the way the photographer set up the shot. It is a bit disconcerting that it could inadvertently be installed out of phase as pictured. Maybe there is a notch or something that makes it impossible to assemble it wrong.
I assume that this is covered in the installation instructions.

[Rob Frankham]

You're porbably absolutely right... Strange to say, the line drawing in the BMW ETK is also drawn wrong, although photographic images show it correctly.

Rob

[Danielso]

How do you think an error like that could have slipped through, Rob?

[Kurt in S.A.]

I've heard it said, and from mechanics who went to BMW tech school, that the fiche "cartoons" are not assembly diagrams. They give a general idea and help to locate a part, but beyond that find other technical diagrams for specific issues like service manuals.

Kurt in S.A.