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 :)
