Aftermath of the Final drive on my GS - sidecar

Aftermath of the Final drive on my sidecar

Ok folks. Lets look at the history repair data to gain an overview on what happenend. This is the first time I see the data myself in such a comprehensive format. When looking at my repair table, I could not see this as clear as I see it here since there were all repairs listed.

km	Diff km	Date	Description
36000		Oct 2012	Changed the rear wheel drive to the one from the 850GS with 37/11 ratio
102170	66170	Mrz-2015	Rear wheel bearing totally broken (oil leakage)
102980		Apr-2015	Changed rear axle drive oil.
111200	9030	Sep-2015	Rear wheel bearing (slightly) broken -> replaced
119000	7800	Feb 16	Rear wheel bearing (slightly) broken -> replaced
125100	6100	Apr 16	Rear wheel bearing (slightly) broken -> replaced (since last repair 1000km of gravel out fo which 500km really bad gravel)
131450		Mai 16	Rear wheel drive bearing has some noises, changed rear wheel drive oil
132000	6900	Mai 16	Rear wheel drive bearing changed. Some noises remain, so most likely one or both of the other bearings is also broken.
137500	5500	Jul 16	All 3 bearings in rear wheel drive changed.
148000	10500	Aug 17	Rear wheel bearing broken -> replaced
149000		Aug 17	Rear wheel drive oil changed - full of metal
149000	1000	Aug 17	Rear wheel bearing (totally) broken -> replaced with used bearing

In the beginning the sidecar was fully loaded. We rode through the curvy Alpes, the bad roads in Africa as well as the curvy roads in the US. All the adventure fun trips e.g. Death Valley, Cinnamon Pass were done with an almost empty sidecar (low load).

In Mexico, I change the bearing for the first time with improvised tools and methods. I did change the rear wheel drive oil after about 1000km at the first change.

The shimming was checked and adjusted when all bearings were changed (Jul2016). The bike was never as fully loaded as during the RTW trip. Furthermore I was only riding in Finland (there are no real curves in Finland like in Alpes, Rockies or Andes).

At our trip to Russia, the sidecar had a bit more load again and in the beginning the roads in Karelia felt a bit more curvy. After I changed the bearing the last time with the used bearing, I drove only very straight roads back home so the stress on the system was likely very small.

Interpretation

However when looking at the facts it becomes obvious that something was wrong in paradise for a long time.

My dear friend and supporter Guy suggested that the housing cover (BMW 3311233003) has widened and does not give enough support for the bearing anymore thus the big ball bearing gets eaten. It seems that housing cover already got damaged in the first break down and ever since it had eaten the bearing.

Conclusion

The only conclusion I can take here is that when changing the big ball bearing on a sidecar it is better to also change the housing cover as well. The sideforces on a sidecar are enourmous especially with load in combination with curvy roads.

I have not seen ride reports of people who make so many km on a GS rig. It would be nice to exchange experiences with fellow hack owners. The next trip is coming for sure and I need to get the required spare parts on board :)