[/b][/u][/b]I got home last night from a overnight 1000 mile round trip to eat some wings in Omaha.

 I pulled in the garage and while unpacking I noticed the tell tale oil on the rear wheel.

This is the second leak in 12,000 miles 

I ordered the seals from Ron Ayers and will change it myself rather than the dealer having it for a week and the hassle of getting rides to and from since I am 60 miles away, even though it is a covered warranty issue.

Part #92049-1280 was the culprit before, so I ordered them all for the final drive,  plus the 2 for the front.I noticed they were getting a little sloppy on the bushings when I replaced the tires this winter.

I am thinking of just replacing the seal each winter during the down time and avoiding the inconvenience of this happening. Last year it happened after about the same mileage out of the box for the year.

Anyone else have an issue more than once on this?

John




 

Sorry about your issues.

Dang, those must be some good wings!   

You are in the minority with a final drive leak, are you 100% sure it just isn't from being overfilled?

Well let's see, original final dr was splattering seems like since I bought the bike, played it off as spline grease for awhile, level never low. Took it in, can't remember mileage but they replaced the inner seal and bearing, started leaking again, replaced inner and outer seal, bearing and o-ring, started leaking again out of warranty, brand new final dr assy. All is well...great bike eats miles...early 07/07 ABS production date bought new 2/08...

You are in the minority with a final drive leak, are you 100% sure it just isn't from being overfilled?

Absolutely positively 100% not from being overfillled

Absolutely positively 100% not from being overfillled

Got an 09 and had a heck of a time with mine.....spent lots of time speaking with customer service about it and they admitted there was some issues with them (08-09) leaking. I assumed they made some changes on the newer models. Not just the C14 though I have a close friend with a Vulcan and he has had the same problem. Mine now has new seals and bearings and has not leaked in the last 8k.

My '08 is leaking for the the third time.  It has 38ish thousand on it.  The first time they replaced the outer seal and it started leaking again within a few hundred miles.  The second time I took it back to the dealer where I bought it and they replaced the bearing, inner and outer seals.  That fix lasted about 10k miles but is hosing out again.  I am currently about 1200 miles of riding from getting home so I just let the dealer know and bought a bottle of gear oil.  The first two times the oil level didn't go down, this time I have had to add a few ounces every thousand miles or so.  It was leaking before I left on this trip but I decided to not let that stand in the way of a good ride.

22,000 miles on my 2010 and not a drop of leakage anywhere. (Knock knock knock on wood) Are you sure your bike is equiped with KIPASS?

Just another data point for those keeping score. 2011 with 4800 miles and final gear drive started leaking. Dealer replaced seals twice within 500 miles with no joy. I now have a new final gear drive assembly. I hope this is the end of my problem. I had a 2008 with 20k on it, before I got the 2011, and had no final gear drive problems with it.

22,000 miles on my 2010 and not a drop of leakage anywhere. (Knock knock knock on wood) Are you sure your bike is equiped with KIPASS?

+1

52,000 on my '10 and no leaks. If your bike is equipped with the magical KiPass, insure the battery in it is fresh.  The mad pow-ah of KiPass is the only reason my "Kawi" hasn't had trouble of any kind. And it makes a little girls Barbie grin as well =)

I got home last night from a overnight 1000 mile round trip to eat some wings in Omaha.

 I pulled in the garage and while unpacking I noticed the tell tale oil on the rear wheel.

This is the second leak in 12,000 miles 

I ordered the seals from Ron Ayers and will change it myself rather than the dealer having it for a week and the hassle of getting rides to and from since I am 60 miles away, even though it is a covered warranty issue.

Part #92049-1280 was the culprit before, so I ordered them all for the final drive,  plus the 2 for the front.I noticed they were getting a little sloppy on the bushings when I replaced the tires this winter.

I am thinking of just replacing the seal each winter during the down time and avoiding the inconvenience of this happening. Last year it happened after about the same mileage out of the box for the year.

Anyone else have an issue more than once on this?

John

That sucks big time.

+1

52,000 on my '10 and no leaks. If your bike is equipped with the magical KiPass, insure the battery in it is fresh.  The mad pow-ah of KiPass is the only reason my "Kawi" hasn't had trouble of any kind. And it makes a little girls Barbie grin as well =)

It must be the jelly Steve 

Yes, I lost my KiPass a week ago and immediate sadness and despair enveloped my entire being, not to mention the disappearance of $200 for a new one. Life won't be the same until my new one arrives and since it's not the original, life will really NEVER be the same! 2011 C14 with 1500 miles and dry as a wine bottle at a Grateful Dead concert.

I let my dealer do the first service on my Concours.  I had read the service manual prior to going to the dealer.  I watched the technician rotate the rear wheel during the filling of the final drive and then start to put more oil in.  I stopped him and said "you now have to wait until the oil settles back down off the gears", "check the manual".  Sheesh.  So, overfilling can be done if the person isn't reading the manual.

Yes, I lost my KiPass a week ago and immediate sadness and despair enveloped my entire being, not to mention the disappearance of $200 for a new one. Life won't be the same until my new one arrives and since it's not the original, life will really NEVER be the same! 2011 C14 with 1500 miles and dry as a wine bottle at a Grateful Dead concert.

I understand completely, but I suspect life will be great again when the replacement arrives

Yes, I lost my KiPass a week ago and immediate sadness and despair enveloped my entire being, not to mention the disappearance of $200 for a new one. Life won't be the same until my new one arrives and since it's not the original, life will really NEVER be the same! 2011 C14 with 1500 miles and dry as a wine bottle at a Grateful Dead concert.

KiPass is KiPass. There is no lesser or weak KiPass. Once your replacement FOB arrives you will be KiPass equipped and will benefit from its mad pow-ah.

KiPass is KiPass. There is no lesser or weak KiPass. Once your replacement FOB arrives you will be KiPass equipped and will benefit from its mad pow-ah.

OMG - that's the best news ever!  Not sure what to say; Hallelujah?  "Thank ya KiPass"?

6-8-12

After locating a dealer that I felt capable of doing the final drive work, I received a call from the service manager telling me that the problem with the inner seal leaking was caused from premature wear in the location where the seal rides.

 It seems there was a slight groove wore in the metal that was located when the technician miked the hub that sits in the bearing and then into the seal. He said it was definitely in the location of the seal and not the bearing. He felt if he would have reinstalled it as it was it would be leaking again in short order.

I asked if this was very common and assured me it was not, but he has seen it before, but not consistently in any particular models.

I asked if they were going to replace the entire final drive and he said not at this time, just the affected parts. I assured him there will be a problem if this happpens again and he completely understood.

As a little insurance against this happening to me again during the riding season, being without a bike, I purchased a complete final drive off a wrecked 09 Connie with under 5000 miles on it. The wrecked unit had heavy front end damage. I got it for $120 shipped. Regretfully, I have lost all confidence in the final drive unit on this bike, and if nothing else, its just a little peace of mind for myself and hopefully I never need it.

John

Glad things have worked out, but your experience is not the norm at all. Go buy a BMW and just wait for a final drive failure, and it will typically strand you. Then be out of warranty and you will pay bigtime for the repair and the parts, so in all actuality your initial problem was fixed and the dealer caused the most recent issue. For a bike model that hasn't been out that long, the C14 has probably been one of the most successful launches ever, but you gotta do what makes you feel comfortable.