Final Drive failures in the R1100R?

[NedM]

As I mentioned in another thread I'm trying to talk myself into purchasing a 1998 R1100R.

I've seen some discussion on other forums about final drive failures in BMW's. Admittedly I have no idea how common those are and from what I've read it seems the GS models may be more prone to this but that is just my surmise.

Is the R1100R counted as a model known for such failures? I suspect no model is completely immune but also suspect some are more infamous for this than others.

The particular bike I'm considering has about 39k miles on it. Am I being overly concerned?

Thank you for your opinions.

Ned

[Duc750]

Should be ok on an r1100 or at least have the lower end of the risk scale. BMW had a bit of am odd period where they fitted rubbish servo assisted brakes and decided to use dodgy chinese seals in strange places like the final drive. None of these dubious ideas effected the r1100r normal rules apply on buying however, check it over, check the history and if the seller looks like a mupper he probably is!

[Oaktree]

I have 150k miles on my 2000 R1100R. The final drive was replaced under warranty... I honestly don't remember how many miles at the time - under 50k. It failed again around 90k - this time, I sent it off to a private shop to be rebuilt. It failed again at 145k. I knew it was going, so I had purchased a wrecked bike for parts. That was well worth the money.

I would buy my bike again - even if I knew all this on the day I signed the papers.

The problem is, some report >100k miles with no FD failure at all. The experts agree: "It all depends."