[Tribal-Wolf]

Just bought an old G1200 with 59k on her. She rides very well except there is a vibration which feels like the shaft when pulling away hard or when decelerating/accelerating. It's ok cruising at steady or light throttle but open it up and itis noisy. The engine is sweet and smooth. Are they prone to shaft/final drive wear and if so which bits may need replacing?

 

[Two Wheel Wing]

Welcome to the forum. Have never had a 1200, but it would not surprise me that a bike aproaching 30 years old would have some wear and tear in the shaft/final drive. Depends on how well it was maintained. You could drain the oil from the rear and check for metal filings.. Parts should not be hard to come by so that's a good thing.

 

[motor22]

Pull the drive shaft check for damage. If its ok it probably just need to be lubed with moly 60

 

[Tribal-Wolf]

I picked up a swing arm complete with drive unit, shaft and joint cheap. Started stripping things, first thing I noticed was the oil in the drive unit is black so it could have some additive in there. I have the rear wheel off but I still need to remove the shaft, the only backlash I can feel is in the gearbox when in first but I expect that is normal. I will pull the shaft later in the week and see how it looks. I maybe should check the engine mounts too as the bike cruises fine untill you put some load on it or shut off quickly.

 

[Tribal-Wolf]

Fitted another drive unit and shaft and the clanking metallic noise has gone, the old one looked like it had been overhauled from the outside but was sloppy as hell.

However there is still a feeling as if the engine is up against something when you throttle on medium to hard and a bit when you shut off from higher revs. Once it's cruising it's smooth until you come to an incline and have to give it some throttle. It feels like an old diesel car with knackered engine mounts lol. Only thing I can see that aint standard is the Motad exhaust.

I thought these bikes would be very smooth or maybe I'm expecting too much as it is 26 years old lol.