Alternative final drive
Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2021 10:42 am
Hi Folks,
I have been toying with the idea of swapping the S final drive to one from an RT for a while now and have finally got round to it having found a final drive and cable for a good price. As can be seen the final drive fits perfectly, as is to be expected and IMHO doesn't look to bad. The change in ratio is from the original S at 2.75 to the RT final drive at 2.62.
Riding the bike is for me a great change it feels much less busy and more long legged, which is what I was hoping for. I can feel no loss of acceleration tho' there must be some due to the changes made but in the real world with no other bike to compare it to I can't tell. I did however have a new map installed over the winter which may be masking any potential losses. (Done by Junction 33 near Lancaster, excellent service and I'm very pleased with the end result. The owner also owns a yellow S which he used to develop the map for our bikes)
The only fly in my drink at the moment is that the speedo is no longer working. I cannot use the original sensor cable from the S in the new final drive as the hole for the wheel sensor is simply too large. I have used the RT sensor cable which also uses two wires and connected this to the bike loom using BMW connectors. I am sure that the polarity is of all the connections is correct, mainly because the connectors can only fit one way.
My S does not have ABS, the RT unit does have an integral ABS ring it is the first generation none vented final drive from around 2007. Whether this is the cause of the problem is yet to be ascertained.
I have now reached my knowledge limit I'm looking for suggestions as to who may be able to assist as electronics sensors and pulses are really not my thing. Alternatively if there is an easy solution I'd be glad to hear it. Equally if this set up will never work for what ever reason let me know and put me out of my misery and I'll go back to stock. Shame as I was looking forward to some quality European holiday time.
I look forward to hearing from someone
Thanks in advance
Mick