enough on Spline Failures

[suzuki]

Only reading about the bikes that have had failures. Soooo, lets hear from the hundreds ( I know who you are ) that have not had a clutch spline failure. Post bike model, year, and milage. I'll start it off.
2004 R1150R 17,400 miles. No failure ( YET )

[tekxtc]

2004 R1150R, 4600 miles (no failure yet)

[ColumbiaBMW]

I'm so glad you started this thread!! I was starting to get really nervous reading about the spline failures, but then I realized nothing is going wrong with mine.
I have a 2003 R1150R with 18,200 miles. I have had a failure that left me stranded about 45 minutes away from home, but it was just a problem with the spark plug wire coming loose up under the tank, cost no money to fix, and got a free tow from a very nice Buell rider who rode home and got his truck and trailor to tow me home. The guy wouldn't even accept gas money...point being, nothing else has gone wrong, and if it does, everything will be ok.

[The Velvet Monkey]

Mine has yet to fail with 26,000 on the clock, although I'm certain that by making this post it's going to give up the ghost on my ride home this evening. Dammit!

[Buckster]

03 1150R, 26k on the clock....noooo problems!

[VintageDirt]

2003 R1150R, 30,339 miles with no spline failure as of 04/27/2008
Make that 50,329 miles 12/26/2010

[gaz h]

Rockster 2003 r1150r no probs here 11k miles

[Dr. Strangelove]

sorry to rain on this parade, but I think the recent thread suggested that IF they occur it is typically around 40K miles?

at any rate, 26 k on my 04 and all is well

John

[suzuki]

I wanted to start this because I also was getting a little nervous with what I have been reading here. With planing to put about 10K on the R this summer my ? is will they all have a failure at some point?From what I've read there seems to be a mix of mileage on the bikes that have failed. I hope we here from some bikes out there that have some high milage on them without any Major problems.

[taosports]

sorry to rain on this parade, but I think the recent thread suggested that IF they occur it is typically around 40K miles?

Shhhh! Quiet now...don't want my bike to hear this. 04 R1150R with 52,000 trouble free miles.

[Eqyn Dad]

Thanks for the thread!

2004 - 16,600+ miles...not a single issue...other than a lack of time to ride.

[NoRRmad]

39,000 Miles. (Gulp.)

No spline failure. I did have the final drive go, though, at 34,000 miles, and six months out of warranty.

[bransan]

04' R1150R 30k mi. just did the spline lube, looked good. Did notice a slight amount of wear but nothing that looked too excessive. As easy as it was to tear it down I plan on checking it every year. I am watching the final drive very closely. LOL

[towerworker]

I put 42K on an 03 with no problems.

Bransan---I now have an 04 and would be interested to hear your experiences with tearing yours down to do the spline lube. You say it was not that difficult? I have 19K on an 04 and the spline issue has been in the back of my mind for quite some time.

Wayne

[bransan]

Wasn't all that bad. I followed the steps in the clymer manual. Took roughly 3 hours to tear down, and 3 evenings after work to reassemble. I did not do a pictorial but will next time for sure. Definitely a very rewarding maintenance project. In the process I found dirt in places I didn't know existed. Also found one of the rear pivot bearings was rough.

Towerworker Pm Me with Your # if You like, I'll call You.

[R4R&R]

So far 59,000 miles on my '04 and no sign of trouble. I think it affected more of the '02 models (from what I've heard).

[stilldking]

24,950 miles on an '04... Just got it last September so only did 2,200 of it myself.

JC

[brad d]

2002 with 50000 no problems

[boxermania]

Suzuki and gentlemen posters

I applaud your initiative and faith, however, I think that some of you have missed the intent of the spline failure posts....as there have been many discussions in other threads besides this one and I happen to see it as a problem, specially now that the bikes in question are coming of age, as in miles.

Allow me to explain:

1) If I were the OEM there have been enough failures that they would have caught my attention and certainly to this day there isn't any official recognition of any problem by BMW.
2) The failure is not a simple one, as some plastic falling off, or the nylon ties holding the wire bundles to the frame too tight, or surging.....it is a type of failure that depending where it takes place it can prove to be a downright dangerous one. What if you are on the slab at 80 mph and loose power.....
3) The failure is not due to a single problem but to a compilation of several issues, starting at the design table, (on several fronts), assembly, QA/QC and acknowledgement by the OEM.
4) The failure is not inexpensive to correct, especially for those that are out of warranty or have to pay BMW for the repairs.
5) Last but not least, just swapping new parts will not solve the problem, the problem needs to be isolated, corrected and then things will be back to normal.

So once again I pray for no failures for the above posters, however, neither you nor I at this stage, barring one or two that have looked into the problem, know the condition of their splines

In closing, let me say that Lobo 1625 and yours truly are working on finding a donor bike (failed spines) that we can put under the microscope and hopefully, not only ascertain the nature of the failure but also the corrective action.

Well that's all for now.......good luck........

[Daryl_stamp]

'02 w/ 24,000 - I'm interested in tear-down & inspection process too.
I looked it over from a post w/ pictures on ADVRIDER; looked pretty involved but worth it I am sure.

DLS