Terrific video. I am going to do it. As mechanic's go-on a scale from 1 to 10, I am a solid 4 .6 . Without your teaching, my bike and life would be in grave jeopardy. then again whats new, I will send an up date. The english guy was also an improvement . thanks ollie
I lubed both ends of the drive shaft about 11K miles ago. It's new tire time, so I will service the spline again. My question: is it necessary to lube both ends of the drives shaft again, or only the rear end? Do the splines on the front suffer from lubrication creep as happens on the rear? I raise this question because I had a lot of trouble withdrawing the drive shaft from the swing arm tube in the past and would rather not hassle that again if its not really necessary to lube the front splines.
The traditional dry clutch design on Beemer bikes, they only recently bought in cheapo wet multi-pack clutches from China on the new vastly-redesigned boxer motor, is such that virtually no lube-creep occurs. But as you've prolly taken the trouble to snick out the drive-shaft from its clip on the inboard end, you might as well put a smear of Staburags NBU-30 PTM on that inboard end as well as on the FD helical end, mightn't you ??
Yes, the Staburags special grease is available in a small-ish toothpaste-tube style package for about 20 euro or 25 bucks. The distributor is Klüber Lubricants based in the Fatherland but with concessionaires in many countries. The code for this clinging, supremely waterproof, specialised and very effective grease - only a pea-sized blob is required for this job, so the tube goes a long way - is: NBU-30 PTM. Watch one of Chris H's later You Tube videos, filmed in Feb 2015 following his serious health scare, where he shows us the laborious job of cleaning out the gummy deposit that clogs up the spline valleys. Spool on to 4-and-a-half mins into this video to see the amount of grease required, even tho' he's working on a different model of Beemer, the gearbox input splined shaft of a boxer tranny. Happy wrenching. AL in s.e. Spain
No chance to loosen the 4 bolts of the final drive ( extreme tight) ....any tip before I ruin the inside of the bolts apart from good toolbits and never get it loose again?
Any particular brand of silicon used in plugging the drive shaft?? I was contemplating this and was thinking the hole might be big enough to take a penny,glued into place but the silicone sounds simpler.What can I use if I cant get Staburags in UK??
Hi Ralph - thanks for watching Chris Harris's K75/K100 service videos which I edited down into a single spline-lube project video. As it says in the caption at the relevant point in the video, you need high-quality silicone sealant that sets hard in order to plug up the tube inside the hollow drive shaft, thus preventing lubrication silicone from seeping or migrating back up the tube away from the final drive splines. The kind of sealant silicone that builders use and which resists movement, water, grease etc. You don't want bits of stuff thrashing about inside the drive shaft tube when the shaft is spinning at 100s of rpm ! ! This silicone is not a lubricant - it's a hard sealant with super-strong adhesive power. And you CAN get Starburags in the UK and the rest of the EU. Just Google it. Happy greasing ! Incidentally, Chris remains America's leading K-bike service expert, now in his new slimline form as "Team Monkey Productions LLC", having lost several kilos in weight - good for him ! ALAN in s.e. Spain - 1995 K75RT in classic black metallic.
I,ll have a chat to a few builders I know.Thats why I was thinking of gluing a penny in there might be a good idea.anything that blocks the hole running up the shaft.mind you,have you checked out the work by Bruno,Chris,s buddy? wish we had a Bruno here in UK.
The silicone sealat must be a heavy-duty waterproof type as used in the construction industry. Your country is the headquarters of two major adhesive / sealant products manufacturers. So I'm sure you can source such a sealant that will permanently prevent lube-crep back up the hollow shaft tube. Ride safe. ALAN
I see you pull the drive shaft out at the 5:17 mark in the video with the housing still in place, however, when you reinstall the drive shaft, the housing has been removed. Is this necessary or can the driveshaft be reinstalled with the housing in place?
Well spotted, sir. The shaft can indeed be re-clipped back into the gearbox output spline with the shaft housing in place; it's just a bit of a PITA getting it to locate "blind" - a few judicious taps with a rawhide mallet on the end of the shaft might be necessary - it took me five minutes before I was satisfied that the shaft had relocated correctly. Good luck - ALAN
Not to forget to thank the NOW-RETIRED Chris Harris for all his expert help, knowledge and expertise on wrenching these BMW bikes. The man is a gem and it's such a pity that he's now apparently decided that enough is enough. Encountering and rectifying the same faults time after time after time...
I have just removed the final drive on a friends 93 K75 that the clutch was overhauled/replaced by an independent mechanic less than 1000 mi ago. However the bike had been sitting for several years. Initially after putting the bike back on the road everything was fine however shortly the bike made the dreaded noise of the clutch splines not mating. Is there a way to check for lubrication without removing/disassembling the transmission?
This town has a HD BMW combo dealership. On at least two, na more times than that, I have been told clearly that they do NOT want to work on old BMW's. I believe they also try to make that clear by handing down astronomically high bills for any sort of service work. They say their technicians are not trained on the 'old' bikes. A competent BMW MC mechanic could make fists full of money in any metro area.
just done my shaft inspection.. tip top condition.. great idea for the silicon plug, will do ;)
Great Alan!
Terrific video. I am going to do it. As mechanic's go-on a scale from 1 to 10, I am a solid 4 .6 . Without your teaching, my bike and life would be in grave jeopardy. then again whats new, I will send an up date. The english guy was also an improvement . thanks ollie
Brilliant 👍 thanks for the info.
Great vid
Just came in to say "Thank you sir!"...
Greag video very helpful , Thanks Guys .
Hi thanks for the video.
I've removed my shaft and lubed.
Do you have do phase the shaft when reinstalling ?
HI jacked chris's video.. fun.,
What is "external grade silicon"? Can not find any translation. Is it just silicon you use for outside application? Or something special?
Is there other kinds of lube I can use from the local auto parts store
I lubed both ends of the drive shaft about 11K miles ago. It's new tire time, so I will service the spline again. My question: is it necessary to lube both ends of the drives shaft again, or only the rear end? Do the splines on the front suffer from lubrication creep as happens on the rear?
I raise this question because I had a lot of trouble withdrawing the drive shaft from the swing arm tube in the past and would rather not hassle that again if its not really necessary to lube the front splines.
The traditional dry clutch design on Beemer bikes, they only recently bought in cheapo wet multi-pack clutches from China on the new vastly-redesigned boxer motor, is such that virtually no lube-creep occurs. But as you've prolly taken the trouble to snick out the drive-shaft from its clip on the inboard end, you might as well put a smear of Staburags NBU-30 PTM on that inboard end as well as on the FD helical end, mightn't you ??
Great video. Staburag makes many lubricants, can you give us the product number of the lube?
Yes, the Staburags special grease is available in a small-ish toothpaste-tube style package for about 20 euro or 25 bucks. The distributor is Klüber Lubricants based in the Fatherland but with concessionaires in many countries. The code for this clinging, supremely waterproof, specialised and very effective grease - only a pea-sized blob is required for this job, so the tube goes a long way - is: NBU-30 PTM. Watch one of Chris H's later You Tube videos, filmed in Feb 2015 following his serious health scare, where he shows us the laborious job of cleaning out the gummy deposit that clogs up the spline valleys. Spool on to 4-and-a-half mins into this video to see the amount of grease required, even tho' he's working on a different model of Beemer, the gearbox input splined shaft of a boxer tranny. Happy wrenching. AL in s.e. Spain
No chance to loosen the 4 bolts of the final drive ( extreme tight) ....any tip before I ruin the inside of the bolts apart from good toolbits and never get it loose again?
Pb blaster.
Any particular brand of silicon used in plugging the drive shaft?? I was contemplating this and was thinking the hole might be big enough to take a penny,glued into place but the silicone sounds simpler.What can I use if I cant get Staburags in UK??
Hi Ralph - thanks for watching Chris Harris's K75/K100 service videos which I edited down into a single spline-lube project video. As it says in the caption at the relevant point in the video, you need high-quality silicone sealant that sets hard in order to plug up the tube inside the hollow drive shaft, thus preventing lubrication silicone from seeping or migrating back up the tube away from the final drive splines. The kind of sealant silicone that builders use and which resists movement, water, grease etc. You don't want bits of stuff thrashing about inside the drive shaft tube when the shaft is spinning at 100s of rpm ! ! This silicone is not a lubricant - it's a hard sealant with super-strong adhesive power. And you CAN get Starburags in the UK and the rest of the EU. Just Google it. Happy greasing ! Incidentally, Chris remains America's leading K-bike service expert, now in his new slimline form as "Team Monkey Productions LLC", having lost several kilos in weight - good for him !
ALAN in s.e. Spain - 1995 K75RT in classic black metallic.
I,ll have a chat to a few builders I know.Thats why I was thinking of gluing a penny in there might be a good idea.anything that blocks the hole running up the shaft.mind you,have you checked out the work by Bruno,Chris,s buddy? wish we had a Bruno here in UK.
Hi Alan,
Would it be possible to give an example of the silicone sealant?
thanks
The silicone sealat must be a heavy-duty waterproof type as used in the construction industry. Your country is the headquarters of two major adhesive / sealant products manufacturers. So I'm sure you can source such a sealant that will permanently prevent lube-crep back up the hollow shaft tube. Ride safe. ALAN
I see you pull the drive shaft out at the 5:17 mark in the video with the housing still in place, however, when you reinstall the drive shaft, the housing has been removed. Is this necessary or can the driveshaft be reinstalled with the housing in place?
Well spotted, sir. The shaft can indeed be re-clipped back into the gearbox output spline with the shaft housing in place; it's just a bit of a PITA getting it to locate "blind" - a few judicious taps with a rawhide mallet on the end of the shaft might be necessary - it took me five minutes before I was satisfied that the shaft had relocated correctly. Good luck - ALAN
Not to forget to thank the NOW-RETIRED Chris Harris for all his expert help, knowledge and expertise on wrenching these BMW bikes. The man is a gem and it's such a pity that he's now apparently decided that enough is enough. Encountering and rectifying the same faults time after time after time...
Thanks Alan, I will be performing this maintenance on my 1987 K75s this weekend.
Ah, the famous K75S - what a lovely vehicle....you lucky man !
I have to say that after 30 years, it is still a pleasure to ride all day long day after day.
I have just removed the final drive on a friends 93 K75 that the clutch was overhauled/replaced by an independent mechanic less than 1000 mi ago. However the bike had been sitting for several years. Initially after putting the bike back on the road everything was fine however shortly the bike made the dreaded noise of the clutch splines not mating. Is there a way to check for lubrication without removing/disassembling the transmission?
No is the short answer. Sorry....
If its making noises it's too late
dumbest thing I ever did was sell my K-75 !
man that was one awful pointy spline used in the illustration video.. yuk.
Stolen video!!!!!¿???Did you have Chris Harris permission to copy and use his videos and make it your own?
Short answer - YES
This town has a HD BMW combo dealership. On at least two, na more times than that, I have been told clearly that they do NOT want to work on old BMW's. I believe they also try to make that clear by handing down astronomically high bills for any sort of service work. They say their technicians are not trained on the 'old' bikes. A competent BMW MC mechanic could make fists full of money in any metro area.