Leaking from shaft drive??
 

I just returned home from a 300 mile blast round the lakes on my 1100GS. Just as I got home I noticed the rear wheel was covered in green viscous oil? it has only happened in the last few miles as I had just stopped earlier and all was well. It is all over the shaft drive and the right hand side of the bike. It is only the rear section of bike, nothing forward of the rear wheel and not from the suspension. I cannot locate the exact place it is coming from and I left it over night and no more has come out. It probably spat out about a cupfull!
Does this mean I blown something to do with the shaft drive seal??
Anyone any ideas, I'm loathed to drive it anywhere to get sorted in case I make it worse driving there!
Thanks.

Take the bike into the dealership pronto, do not ride anymore.
If the back wheel is covered in thick oil it is obvious you have blown an oil seal in either the rear drive bevel gear housing , in which case riding more will dry it out and ruin it, or the seal on the gearbox output shaft has blown and the oil is draining down into the shaft housing and then out. Same advice, do not ride until everything is put right again.
The rear bevel drive gear seal will also get ruined and leak when the large bearing inside breaks Same story, get it fixed before more damage is done./.The rear wheel unit only holds about 3 cupfulls ,827ml so it does not take much leaking to loose it all.
Also it is not a good thing to get oil all over the disc brake.

Hi Ginna,

Like Sjoerd suggests, it sounds a whole lot like to me like "The rear bevel drive gear seal will also get ruined and leak when the large bearing inside breaks". But the FD holds only about 250ml of oil, at least in our 1100.

We have had a failure of the gearbox output shaft seal and they tend to only weep a bit father than gush when they fail. Your leak does not sound like this.

There is an easy way to determine for sure. Just take off the rear wheel and you will be able to plainly see the Final Drive seal and assess damage.

Removing the final drive is fairly straightforward and requires a heat gun and a few basic tools which are good to have in any event. So rather than towing the whole bike to the shop, look up how to remove the FD and just bring that in. And if you are feeling particularly mechanical you can change that bearing and seal yourself. This will require a few extra tools but is apparently quite "doable" in a half day.

Check Gspot on advrider.com for more info than you can shake a stick at on how to do this. Also, UKGSer.com is a great resource for anything mechanical.

Thanks for the replies, I took your joint advice and got the bike straight into a garage. The guy there agreed with you, on the diagnosis and is fixing it as we speak.
Once again thanks, first time I've used the HUBB for advice and it came up trumps :D

There are two ways oil can escape your bevel box. Through the mentioned seal and through the breather.
If the breather is clogged or you your oil-level is to high the breather will leak, the oil hits the rim and goes everywhere. It's more likely a seal-problem but cleaning the breather and checking the oil-level is done in a few minutes. There are multiple reasons why the oil-level might rise so I get back to that if necessary.

If it is the seal it might be because your bearing is toast. If not changing the seal is done in 30 minutes. The seal normally lasts more then 200kkm, what's your mileage?

There are multiple ways to check the bearing, the bearing is more or less like a wheel-bearing on normal bike. Sit on the left side of the bike and grab the wheel and se if there are any play. If you don't find any play then drain your oil and look for metal from the bearing.
The bearing is located directly inside the seal and when/if you remove the seal you will se if it's okay.

It's possible to change the bearing yourself, Margus roadside repair:
03.2010 Laos - ::. UKGSer.com .::

Some more info, nice pictures on last page: How to check your Final drive bearing - 1100/1150 - ::. UKGSer.com .::

There is a good "how to" on adv but it's down right now. There is also a video that shows the complete process (incl shimming) I can see if I find it if you like.

Right you are Brian , The number of ml I mentioned was more in line with the total 5 speed transmission capacity, just in a hurry and not thinking so early in the morning I guess. . Like you say the rear bevel gear only holds barely a cupfull - all the more reason to not ride any further!
Your problem is being corrected now in a shop Ginna , good for you.
From experience I can say that I really would rather not get into repairing it myself.Last year the bearing on nmy GS1100 went and it was definitely and clearly noticeable with all the grinding and crunching noises it made and oil coming out. Bearing seal replacement may well be a simple task but if the bearing is gone you need a lot more shop tools, press, skill and patience to get it ou t and reassemble the whole bevel gear plot with the proper clearances because the whole thing has to come apart for cleaning.Actually , I am sort of glad that it did crap out where it did in Guatemala because the total bill for the repair came to -gasp -$155 US equivalent at the official BMW store in GT City. I don't think any US or CDN dealership would have been so gentle on my wallet =) !

Well the bike has only done 47K and the rear bearing was changed last year, about 6K ago for the MOT. So I am kinda hoping that it is just the seal. I shall await the call from the garage and let you know!!

next time ginna? dont go trying to chase down ktm 950's. its obvious your old tractor just isnt up for it and something will blow!!!!!!! glad you got some good advice and it aint too serious. get it fixed asap so scotland is still on.
suerte amigo
oz

Ha OZ how true, but at least it was a comfy ride in your wake, not a rock hard saddle like you have ha ha!

Sorry to resurrect an old thread... I'm experiencing a similar leak, but have now had the bearings and seals replaced, to no avail. The leak persists, any ideas as to what might be causing it?