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Went for a short 75 mile ride this morning on my 82 R100. When I got back in my garage, I smelt gear oil. Came to find that I coated the side of the rear tire with oil from the drives shaft - lost the fill plug somehwere in 75 miles!

I'll re-fill and drain to check for metal particles.

1) I did not feel any vibrations in the pegs ( in case the U joint got fired )
2) the shaft still free wheels nicely

Would collect wisdom say to pull the swingarm and dismantle and check the shaft? I tried to feel the joint through the swingarm rubber.

Yes, I used a new crush washer when I changed the oil in the spring and I usually apply good grunt to the plugs after service. Just don't know how this happened....seems to happen only to Hoosiers.

I'd suggest refill it and ride around close the close to home a bit and drain and check for metal. Maybe you got lucky and the plug came loose 1/2 mile before you got to the house.

I'm thinking not too big of a deal.

U joint would be ok over that distance, probably more than enough lube on the shaft/final drive coupling.
Therer's only 150 ml. of oil in there anyhowz.
As Richard said, refill and ride for a few mile. No magnetic plug there to check........

+1
What Richard said.

You haven't been drinking from the same spigot as Rob, have you?
This loss-of-oil business in Indiana is getting bad.

I regard that lubrication to be little different than an enclosed chain: the enclosure keeps it clean and oiled, but losing the oil would take a lot longer to have any ill effect than dirt getting in the hole.

So, I might fill it and then drain it after a few miles and fill it again just to make sure I'd rinsed out any grit that might have gotten in through the hole. Other than that I wouldn't give it a thought.

cross bearings are tuff, most don't have enough oil, if you use 1 container habit like I did for years

maintance alway showed a good lubed cross good almost no wear splines NO WORRIES

1 container = 1 qt filled trans and final drive what was left went to swingarm........

I have found many shafts completely empty with no long term damage. I would fill, ride it around to "clean" it up, drain and refill. Never a problem.

Well I finally got a replacement plug and ran about 20 miles ( high and low speeds ) with the "fill for wash" oil, drained it and found no metal shavings at all in the wash oil. Refilled and sealed with new crushes.

From the feel of things, lucked out with no damaged yet ( fingers crossed ) but what I don't know is how much u-joint life I gave away. No vibes in the pegs, no notchy feel by hand rotation...good to go. Hoosier Beemer Rally next week.

Sometimes we get lucky.

I would expect no damage to the u-joint Ray.
Have a good rally ride.