You have my absolute sympathy, Gremlin. Used to be there was a very, very good Brit technician around started on the Strand, worked out of HQ at Mt Wellington, then Experience, then went private next door to Motomail old site, haven't heard of him in years. Did similar work to your GSA on my Ki00LT, no comebacks. I really hope somebody can recommend a magic-fingered tech to you: clutches, gearboxes and final dives seem to require an esoteric skill to set up, and unless every component is in precise alignment and preload with every other one it is going to come back and bite.There just isn't another thing crushes your spirit more than premature failure of an expensive repair, although the next piece up or down the line failing shortly after an expensive repair always upsets you, too: should it have been inspected and made good at the same time? (Because each successive failure you pay for the same tech time to strip, clean, reassemble as before. Grrr!)If you make a similar unwilling decision as BlackR1150RT at some point (or won lotto, or ram-raided about 400 service stations), what would the replacement be?

Hey Gremlin,This is pants for a second final drive to fail in 20k km.There is a powerful piece of legislation for you to start attacking BMW with - the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA).http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0091/latest/DLM311053.html#DLM312809A handy dandy guide for the CGA is on Consumer's website:https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/consumer-guarantees-actI've used this to 'convince' an electronics retailer (that may or may not sound like Hardly Normal) that when my waterproof camera's seals failed, and that the comment of 'water damage not covered' didn't quite line up, given you'd expect a waterproof camera to stay, ah, waterproof.  A few letters to and fro, et voila, one new camera!Two key parts of the CGA cover your problem - 'service' and 'acceptable quality'.  Tied into acceptable quality is durability.The usual example given is buying something for $5k and $500 - you would expect the $5k version to last longer, and be of better quality than the cheaper alternative.  In addition, New Zealand retailers' love affair with extended warranties is finally taking a hit when people realise the CGA covers much of what an extended warranty covers, and it's FREE.Despite BMW NZ offering a paltry 2 year warranty on new bikes, the US offers up to seven years. I'm fairly confident you could argue that a major component like a final drive failing in a relatively short time does not satisfy the CGA's definitions of 'acceptable quality'.  We pay a small barrow-load of cash for our bikes and parts, therefore the expectation is that they will last a while.  The often-touted line of 'barely run in at 70 000km' implies that BMW bikes will last, and last, and last...  Two final drive failures within 20k km does not meet this expectation.PM me if you want a bit more guidance, or get in touch with your local Citizen's Advice office for help.My Disclaimer?  I'm not a lawyer, employee of Citizens Advice, or anything connected with the legal fraternity.  But I have given a couple of people a nudge with a fairly blunt letter explaining my rights as a consumer, where I think they've erred, and the corrective action that would leave me happy.  Besides, I need you and your bike at the next sports event we're both at to get those award-winning images  ;DScott

Hi GremlinFrom what I've read on the net some parts on our bikes are better off being replaced rather than repaired, one of them is the final drive.We seem to think our BMWs are made better than other brands but there not really. BMWs seem to have lots of parts that have been badly designed and end up giving us problems like the ABS units.I bought a used K1200s that had a ABS replaced under warranty and then packed up in 18mths later with only 15,000kms on the new ABS, as BMW had warrantied the 1st unit and the bike was bought privately they would not look at warranty on the 2nd unit.I have owned BMS since 1986 and have not really gone off BMWs but the newer bikes surely scare me that something will soon go wrong and cost me heaps.