At the end of last summer, I was on my way home after a day out on the bike. I stopped at a petrol station and as I got off the bike, there was a loud creak from the rear of the bike. I leaned on the bike a few times and the creak sounded like it was coming from the rear suspension. The following weekend I inspected the bike to find the cause of the creaking. I traced the sound to the final drive and with the rear wheel off, I found that pushing the final drive to one side, then moving it up and down caused the noise (similar to the forces on the final drive when the bike is on the side stand and you lean on it), as shown in the video below:

I traced the problem to the paralever bearings and when I was searching online for new bearings, I discovered that the creaking is a well-known symptom of the paralever bearings starting to fail. I ordered Nushings to replace my bearings. Nushings are bushings made from Nylatron, impregnated with Molybdenum Sulfide. The old bearings weren't very bad so I cleaned them, greased them, and refit them while I was waiting for the Nushings to arrive. As I've done both, I've written instructions below on how to replace your paralever bearings with OEM BMW bearings and with Nushings. I've also explained below my choice to replace my bearings with Nushings. If you already know how to replace the bearings and just want to read why I chose Nushings, you can skip to Choosing New Bearings/Bushings.

The first step is to remove the rear wheel. Start by loosening the wheel studs before jacking the back of the bike. The weight on the back wheel stops it from turning when you're loosening the studs. If they're very tight, you might have to put the bike in gear and/or engage the back brake. When you've loosened the wheel studs, remove the rear brake caliper from the final drive by removing the bolts indicated below:

Don't let the caliper hang from the brake hose as this can damage the hose. Tie the caliper up, so that there's no strain on the hose. I usually tie a bit of wire around the bleed nipple and hang it from the pannier rack above:

Remove the "coal shovel" mud guard by removing the three small bolts that secure it to the final drive:

You can now remove the wheel studs completely and remove the wheel from the bike. My bike has a spacer between the wheel and the hub. As far as I know, this is to keep the correct distance between the ABS ring and the ABS sensor. Your bike may or may not have it, but if it does, be careful not to lose it.

Remove the nut from the bolt that holds the paralever (torque arm) to the final drive, but don't remove the bolt yet (if you do, the final drive will drop and may damage the gaiter).

Remove the bolt that holds the sensor in place and pull the sensor out of the final drive:

I prefer not to let the ABS sensor dangle from the wire, so I secure it on top of the caliper.

Remove the cable tie that holds the rubber gaiter onto the swing arm (the wider end of the gaiter), then peel the rubber gaiter off of the swing arm with your fingertips:

Remove the locknut from the inner bearing pivot pin.

Put something under the final drive to support its weight before removing the pivot pins. I put an axle stand under mine. You can now remove the bolt that holds the final drive to the torque arm. You may have to wiggle the final drive up and down slightly to get the bolt out. Make sure whatever is supporting the final drive is high enough that it doesn't allow the final drive to drop or hang down, as it might pinch the gaiter and cut it.

The bearing pivot pins are secured using a thread-locking compound and may have to be heated to aid removal, although I didn't have to heat mine. It's very easy to strip these threads, so if they're tight, heat them. Loosen the outer and inner pivot pins, heating them if necessary. Keeping one hand on the final drive to hold it steady, remove the inner pivot pin, then the outer one. Take the weight of the final drive in one hand, remove the support from under it and pull the whole final drive assembly towards the rear of the bike. The universal joint should separate from the propshaft, leaving the propshaft in the swing arm and the universal joint coming away with the final drive. Keep the final drive upright as it's full of transmission oil.

The propshaft on my bike is keyed so that the universal joint can only be fitted one way, but not all models have keyed shafts. Check your propshaft as you remove the final drive. If it's not keyed, you need to mark the propshaft and universal joint to ensure you refit them exactly as they were. If you don't do this, your propshaft will be out of phase (there's a good video here explaining why driveshaft phase is important). Also be careful when handling the final drive before you've marked the universal joint because it's possible to turn the universal joint by touching the crown wheel at the side of the final drive (the part that the wheel is bolted to).

When I removed my final drive from the bike, the inner race of the outer bearing stayed attached to the pivot pin, but it stayed in place in the inner bearing. I removed the inner race from the pivot pin by gently prying it off with a flat screwdriver.

The easiest way to remove the bearings from the final drive is to tap them out from inside. To do this, the universal joint must be removed. This can be levered off the input bevel pinion using two flat screwdrivers. Put a cloth under each screwdriver to protect the paint on the final drive:

Note the orientation of the universal joint relative to the input bevel pinion of the final drive. This isn't keyed on my bike, even though the other side of the universal joint is, so I marked them.

To tap off the bearings, I got the biggest socket that would fit against the inside of the bearing (without being tight in the housing). I passed an extension bar through the other bearing and inserted it into the socket. I then carefully tapped the bearing out using a rubber mallet. It's important while doing this to ensure the socket stays flush against the inside of the bearing. If you push the bearing at an angle, you will jam it in place and may damage the housing. Do this for both bearings.

Final drive with bearings removed:

The old bearings were very notchy, as you can hear in the video below:

When I inspected the bearing closely, I could see brinelling on the inner race. Brinelling is permanent indentation on a hard surface, caused by another hard surface pressing into it.

Bearings are not ideally suited to oscillating loads, such as the up-down movement of a swingarm. With this type of load, the rollers roll back and forth in a small arc and squeeze the lubricant (grease or oil) out from between the rollers and the bearing races. If the bearing is constantly rotating (like a wheel bearing), the rotation redistributes the lubricant around the bearing. With an oscillating load this doesn't happen, leaving the rollers in direct contact with the races, without any lubrication, and leading to premature wear of the bearing. This type of wear is known as "false brinelling" because it looks very similar to brinelling, but is caused by a different mechanism.

Bushings are more suited than bearings to this type of oscillating load, so I started looking for bushings to replace my paralever bearings. After searching around online, I came across Nushings. One of the things I like about the Nushings is that they are impregnated with Molybdenum Sulfide, so they are self-lubricating. I have heard an argument that Nylatron is too soft for this application and would flex under load, but I don't think the amount of flexing would be significant.

When I ordered my Nushings, they didn't have any in stock but they shipped them from the USA on the 4th of August and I received them in Ireland on the 11th of August, which I think is a great service.

Note: The torque values mentioned below are correct for the R1150GS. Other models may require different torque values.

The knack to installing the bearings in the final drive is to push them in straight. If they turn in any way and start going in crooked, they will be very difficult to install and may even damage the housing.

To do this, I got a length of 16mm threaded bar, four large washers and two nuts. I could have used only two washers, but the inner diameter of the larger washers was too big for the 16mm bar, so I used the smaller washers to help centre the large ones. I put the threaded bar through the final drive, then on each side I put a bearing, large washer, smaller washer and nut, as shown in the photo below.

I tightened the nuts by hand until the bearings made contact with the final drive. The next part was a little trickier than I expected. The threaded bar and washers kept the bearings parallel, as planned, when I started to tighten the nuts to push the bearings in. However, as I tightened the nuts, the bearings would twist slightly, staying parallel to each other but not perpendicular to the final drive.

To overcome this, I decided to put in one bearing at a time. I removed the bearing and large washer from one side. I just put the smaller washer and nut on that side. The washer fit into the final drive and sat flush against the back of the bearing housing:

This helped to keep the threaded bar perpendicular to the final drive as I tighted the nut on the other side. It still took a few attempts to get the bearing to start going in straight but as soon as it did, I just had to keep tightening the nuts and the bearing pushed easily into place.

As you can see in the photo below, the larger washer was slightly bigger than the bearing, so would not fit into the final drive. When the larger washer was flush against the final drive, I did the same with the second bearing.

I then removed the larger washers and tightened the nuts until the bearings were seated fully in place:

The manuals say to insert the bearings into the final drive by tapping them in with a drift that only makes contact with the outer bearing race. I prefer the method above because I think it's more refined and less likely to cause damage.

When the bearings are fitted correctly in the final drive, grease them with mineral grease and lubricate the splines of the shaft on the final drive using a grease with a high molybdenum disulfide content (60%). Then refit the universal joint, making sure to align it correctly with the marks made when removing it. Tap it into place with a rubber mallet to make sure it has clicked properly into place.

Before re-fitting the final drive, it's worth cleaning the threads on the pivot pins and swingarm properly. It's very easy to damage the threads on the swingarm and any thread-locking compound on the threads makes it difficult to feel if you're on the correct thread. I used a small pick and the tip of a knife to clean the threads.

I found the easiest way to align the final drive when refitting it is to sit it on top of a trolley jack. I put a cloth on the jack to protect the paint on the final drive.

Align the keyed spline on the universal joint with the propshaft or align the marks you made if the splines aren't keyed. Use one hand to support the universal joint and the other hand to push the final drive forward on the jack.

I found it difficult to insert the universal joint into the end of the propshaft. The end of the shaft on the universal joint is tapered, so I could get the tip in easily enough, but couldn't get them aligned so it would slide in the rest of the way. I eventually managed it by pushing the final drive forward with my left hand and using my right hand to put a screwdriver through the pivot pin hole in the swingarm and manipulate the propshaft until they aligned.

Next, put the inner bearing races onto the pivot pins, put some thread-locking compound on the threads and screw the pivot pins into place by hand. Once the thread-locking compound is applied, work quickly to make sure the pivot pins are installed before the thread-locking compound starts to harden. I had to jiggle the final drive around slightly to get the pivot pins to align properly into the bearings. Making sure they are aligned properly, screw them in hand-tight. Tighten the righthand (outer) pivot pin to 160Nm. Then tighten the lefthand pivot pin to 9Nm, back it off slightly, then tighten to 7Nm.

Mark the position of the pivot pin with a permanent marker before putting the lock nut onto the pivot pin. As you can see in the photo below, I made the marks where they would be visible when the lock nut was in place.

Install the lock nut, making sure not to turn the pivot pin, then tighten the lock nut to 160Nm. After torquing the lock nut, check the marks to make sure the pivot pin hasn't turned:

Next, fit the bolt holding the torque-arm to the final drive and tighten it to 43Nm. Then install the gaiter back over the end of the swing arm and secure it in place with a new cable tie:

Reinstall the ABS sensor (4Nm). Then, making sure the spacer is still in place, fit the rear wheel. Fit the brake caliper, making sure to fit the bracket for the ABS sensor wire to the front bolt (shown in the photo below without the bolt for clarity):

Tighten the brake caliper bolts to 40Nm, then with the rear wheel back on the ground, torque the wheel studs to 105Nm. Finally, reinstall the rear mud guard.

Note: The torque values mentioned above are correct for the R1150GS. Other models may require different torque values.

Note: The torque values mentioned below are correct for the R1150GS. Other models may require different torque values.

Before installing the Nushings, it's worth cleaning the threads on the pivot pins and swingarm properly. It's very easy to damage the threads on the swingarm and any thread-locking compound on the threads makes it difficult to feel if you're on the correct thread. I used a small pick and the tip of a knife to clean the threads.

The Nushings come with two thrust washers. One washer should be inserted into the recess on each of the Nushings before installation. Make sure they have seated properly into the recess before installing the Nushings. If you don't they will be very difficult to insert after the Nushing is in the swingarm. One of the washers slipped out of mine and I almost damaged the Nushing. Luckily, I noticed it before I did any damage, but it was difficult to re-insert.

The two Nushings are different (one for inside and one for outside of the swingarm). If you stand them on their flat ends, one is taller than the other. The taller Nushing (which also has a recess on the opposite side from the washer) should be installed on the adjustable pivot pin (the inside or lefthand side of the swingarm).

I used the same method to install the Nushings in the final drive as I did with the OEM bearings. I got a piece of threaded bar, two washers and two nuts. I threaded the Nushings, washers and nuts onto the threaded bar, as shown in the photo below.

Before tightening the nuts, it's worth double checking that the thrust washers are still inserted correctly in the Nushings. This is the point when one of mine slipped out. Align the Nushings with the holes in the final drive and start to carefully tighten the nuts. Make sure the Nushings are going in straight as you tighten. As the Nushings are a little pliable, I found them much easier to push into the swingarm than the OEM bearings had been. Make sure the Nushings have been pushed fully into place. If you look out from the inside of the final drive, you will see the back of the Nushing and will be able to see if it's flush against the back of the bearing housing.

I found the easiest way to align the final drive when refitting it is to sit it on top of a trolley jack. I put a cloth on the jack to protect the paint on the final drive. I took the two photos below when installing the OEM bearings, but the procedure is the same when installing Nushings.

Align the keyed spline on the universal joint with the propshaft or align the marks you made if the splines aren't keyed. Use one hand to support the universal joint and the other hand to push the final drive forward on the jack.

I found it difficult to insert the universal joint into the end of the propshaft. The end of the shaft on the universal joint is tapered, so I could get the tip in easily enough, but couldn't get them aligned so it would slide in the rest of the way. I eventually managed it by pushing the final drive forward with my left hand and using my right hand to put a screwdriver through the pivot pin hole in the swingarm and manipulate the propshaft until they aligned.

Thread the pivot pins into the swingarm by hand. Do not apply any thread-locking compound. You will probably need to adjust the position of the final drive slightly to get the pivot pins aligned with the holes in the Nushings. Make sure they are aligned before tightening them or you may damage the Nushings. The Nushings compress slightly when they are inserted into the final drive, therefore the pivot pins will be a tight fit, even though they fit easily when the Nushings are out of the final drive.

Tighten the fixed pivot pin (outer/righthand side) to 160Nm. Lift the final drive off the jack with one hand and start to tighten the adjustable pivot pin (inner/lefthand side) with the other hand. The adjustable pin is tight enough when the final drive stays up without your support (make sure the final drive isn't hanging down at its lowest angle). It should be possible to move the final drive through its full range of movement, but it should require some effort. Using a light, look into the swingarm to check that the "shoulders" of the pivot pins are sitting flush against the thrust washers of the Nushings.

Mark the position of the pivot pin with a permanent marker before putting the lock nut onto the pivot pin. As you can see in the photo below, I made the marks where they would be visible when the lock nut was in place.

Install the lock nut, making sure not to turn the pivot pin, then tighten the lock nut to 160Nm. After torquing the lock nut, check the marks to make sure the pivot pin hasn't turned:

Next, fit the bolt holding the torque-arm to the final drive and tighten it to 43Nm. Then install the gaiter back over the end of the swing arm and secure it in place with a new cable tie:

Reinstall the ABS sensor (4Nm). Then, making sure the spacer is still in place, fit the rear wheel. Fit the brake caliper, making sure to fit the bracket for the ABS sensor wire to the front bolt (shown in the photo below without the bolt for clarity):

Tighten the brake caliper bolts to 40Nm, then with the rear wheel back on the ground, torque the wheel studs to 105Nm. Finally, reinstall the rear mud guard.

Note: The torque values mentioned above are correct for the R1150GS. Other models may require different torque values.

I've only put about 5,000km on the bike since fitting the Nushings but so far they've performed well on-road, off-road, riding solo, and fully loaded with luggage and a pillion. As I put more mileage on it, I will continue to update this as to how they are performing.

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