Rear drive oil leak

[oppy]

Just been for the MoT and noticed an oil leak from the rubber bellows where the drive shaft meets the rear hub, so before I get paranoid, is this an easy fix? The bellows are fixed at either end with cable ties / zip clips, is this normal or a botch ?
Ta folks
Bike is a 2001 r1150rs
O yes, it passed

[nab 301]

Without stating the obvious , it's either leaking from the front of the bevel box (Input seal) or the rear of the gearbox (Output seal) . Cable ties are normal on the boot , peeling back the boot may reveal more , removing the bevel box will be necessary either way to repair . Some special tools needed for the bevel box repair , and both repairs have been documented on here in the past. One such thread ...

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5031&hilit=bevel+box+input+seal

[oppy]

Thank you, but as a newcomer to the black art of beemer ownership, there are many stoopid questions that I will probably ask. As a 70 year old arthritic I need to know if the problems are attemptable or best left to experts, but thanks for the link

[nab 301]

. As a 70 year old arthritic I need to know if the problems are attemptable or best left to experts, but thanks for the link

On balance probably left to an "expert" , but get a quote first....

[Crazy Kev]

Just replaced the diff s/h part, wasn't as hard as I thought

[fontana]

If you peel back the rubber boot, you can just about see up the shaft tunnel using a decent LED pen torch.
It's a bit tricky, but can be done.
If you see a trail of oil going all the way back to the gearbox, then it's the output shaft seal.
If it's dry up there and the oil is just around the bottom where the bevel box bolts in, then you've got away with a simple job.
This was the case with my R1100RS, although interestingly, since I dried it all out, it has never re appeared.
I suspect that at some point, someone had overfilled the final drive.

[The Teutonic Tangerine]

If it's dry up there and the oil is just around the bottom where the bevel box bolts in, then you've got away with a simple job.
This was the case with my R1100RS, although interestingly, since I dried it all out, it has never re appeared.
I suspect that at some point, someone had overfilled the final drive.

Simple job replacing oil seal unless of course the cause of the oil seal failing is the failure of the Double bearing in which case you will need professional help to press out the bearing press in the new one and then set up the backlash in the bevel box. I speak from experience the bearing cage failed and ripped the oil seal and local bike workshop had to take the bevel box to an engineering firm that had a hydraulic press.

[oppy]

Sorry for the delay in updating, been away for the long weekend.
The saga begins-----MoT, passed but advised that there was a slight oil leak from the rear (bevel drive ?). On advice from here, snipped off the cable tie on the rear bellows to see how much oil dropped out-----------------nowt !!! Put new new zip clip on the bellows and rode over to a friends in Chesterfield. Just about to leave, he says, eyup oppy, you've got an oil leak. Now he has 3 Beemers, so proceeds to scare me with all kinds of scenarios .
I rubbed some of the oil 'twixt my fingers and it feels like brake fluid. So I fire it up and press the rear pedal and a very fine fountain of brake fluid squirted out just behind the banjo crimping. After a very careful ride back to Glossop I order and collect a new back brake hose. I have now fitted it and found that the bleed nipple is rusted and seized, so the next stage now is to order a new nipple and try to bleed the blasted thing, which seems to be rather complicated, ah well. Thanks folks for all your helpful advice and suggestions----watch this space

[fontana]

Simple job replacing oil seal unless of course the cause of the oil seal failing is the failure of the Double bearing in which case you will need professional help to press out the bearing press in the new one and then set up the backlash in the bevel box. I speak from experience the bearing cage failed and ripped the oil seal and local bike workshop had to take the bevel box to an engineering firm that had a hydraulic press.

Personally, I'd buy a used one from a reputable source like Sherlocks or Motoworks (with a guarantee), to keep me going, then get the faulty one fixed at some point in the future.
It's always handy to have a spare anyway.

[The Teutonic Tangerine]

Simple job replacing oil seal unless of course the cause of the oil seal failing is the failure of the Double bearing in which case you will need professional help to press out the bearing press in the new one and then set up the backlash in the bevel box. I speak from experience the bearing cage failed and ripped the oil seal and local bike workshop had to take the bevel box to an engineering firm that had a hydraulic press.

Personally, I'd buy a used one from a reputable source like Sherlocks or Motoworks (with a guarantee), to keep me going, then get the faulty one fixed at some point in the future.
It's always handy to have a spare anyway.

These guys are reputable they previously worked for Main Dealers "Cannons" when they were in Chelmsford. When Cannons moved to Braintree they set up as a workshop on their own account. When it came back the backlash which had been getting too much was back to brand new tolerances.

[oppy]

Thanks for all the advice, but as I said, it turned out to be the rear brake pipe