Drive shaft is now a consumable

[TriangleRider]

It looks like BMW is now retroactively adding drive shaft maintenance and replacement as part of the R1200 and R1250 regular services.  Interesting line in this post about free replacement shafts for bikes that have not regularly serviced the drive shafts because BMW said not to.

FREE Lifetime Driveshaft Replacement by BMW - Motorcycle Talk - BMWSportTouring

[Motorhead1977]

I will get in touch with my dealer tomorrow afternoon and inquire. If this is what's going to be the case here in the USA and include the RS (which I read the linked material to say Yes to) then I'm pleased I hadn't yet ordered a replacement shaft to have on hand in the "just in case".

[Lee]

So far I have not seen any info saying this also applies to the US.
We stopped at the shop last month but I forgot to ask the service manager.

[Grumpy Goat]

Interesting news, and if true I am not surprised that they "eased into" this solution. They knew all along that there was a "gap in quality" but opted to not issue a recall. Fingers crossed that we all get a letter from BMW USA and a replacement shaft as well as honoured maintenance commitment even on older bikes like mine. Not holding my breath, though.

[TriangleRider]

Interesting news, and if true I am not surprised that they "eased into" this solution. They knew all along that there was a "gap in quality" but opted to not issue a recall. Fingers crossed that we all get a letter from BMW USA and a replacement shaft as well as honoured maintenance commitment even on older bikes like mine. Not holding my breath, though.

Also not holding my breath.  If they do end up replacing the driveshafts of the older bikes as part of normal service without charging, that is basically executing a recall without having to announce a recall.  We will see.

[maxredline]

Interesting timing. I winterized the bike yesterday and while on the center stand I put the bike in first gear. I stopped that immediately due to noise from the universals. I took the shaft out last year to inspect and lube. I'm guessing the shaft does not like its angle while hanging in space on the center stand while rotating.

[Lee]

Interesting timing. I winterized the bike yesterday and while on the center stand I put the bike in first gear. I stopped that immediately due to noise from the universals. I took the shaft out last year to inspect and lube. I'm guessing the shaft does not like its angle while hanging in space on the center stand while rotating.

That's correct. The bike does not like to run in gear while on the centerstand.

[Neptune]

I check it every 12,000 mi and lube it; the biggest wear seems to be in cruise control at super low speeds for me, so I stopped that. I am still on the first one at 22,000 mi and could see this being an issue at around 60,000 mi.

-Neptune

[dravnx]

Dealer replaced my driveshaft under the warranty. 2018 with 40,000mi. /64373km.

[runnerhiker]

My 2020 R1250 RS has 16k miles, my dealer did an "annual" oil change about a month ago, one of the comments written on the work order when the job was completed was "to check the drive shaft" at the next service. So it's definitely on the work list for US bikes.

I also have a 2022 K1600 GT, the drive shaft on it looks identical to the RS drive shaft. This topic is never discussed on the K1600 forum, I guess it's not an issue on the 6 cylinder engine.

[colirv]

the biggest wear seems to be in cruise control at super low speeds for me

How did you discover that?