Anyone heard of a C14 final drive failure?

[dcstrom]

Anyone heard of a C14 final drive failure? Someone over at advrider.com is claiming this has happened, and implied more than once...

Trevor

 

[njdulong]

Howdy,
The only final drive issue that I have heard of is a seal failure.  This happened to my friend.  After replacing the seal the drive has had no other issues.  Personally when I change my engine oil I also change the final drive fluid.  Can't hurt.  I've got the drip pan out, etc. so it only adds about 10 minutes to the oil change routine.
Later,
Norm

 

[joeincalif]

Before I bought my c14 back in November I was reading on some of the kawasaki about them a couple of people have said they are getting a clicking noise in the rear end when they spin the rear wheel, and that it was taken care of under warranty, I don't remember what year or how many miles these bikes were when this happened but it has happened a few times.

 

[Cap'n Bob]

There have been some drive shaft problems on the bike. But not all that common as other problems. There are really not are all that many problems with the bike. But yes problems do exsist. Of course you will have them with almost any motorcycle. Buying any bike is a roll of the dice whether you get a problem bike or a totally problem free bike. The odds do lean towards not having trouble!

Here's a few for you. I hope this is the information that you were looking for.

Bevel gear bearing. I didn't get stranded but possibly could have or caused much more damage had I not taken care of it. Bike is also in the shop now for more noise coming from the drive shaft/bevel gear.

In February, I bought my 2010. The driveshaft failed, with details posted on this forum at the time. I guess you can search under my user name if interested.

It took three weeks to complete the repairs, which included a new driveshaft. I haven't had problems in that area since. Yesterday, out of the blue, a representativer from Kawasaki called to express concern about the failure. She said Kawasaki wants to install new parts at their expense, in an effort to solve this problem that others besides me are having or have had.

<snip>

My new drive shaft finally made it to the dealer today...and it only took 33 days.  Fortunately, installation of the new drive shaft only took an hour and I was able to get a ride to the dealership just before it closed.  I took the long way home, about 90 miles, and when I checked the drive shaft in my garage the only sound I could hear were the brake pads touching the rotor.  It turned out to be good timing, I am leaving on a trip in 3 days and it looks like I will be riding the C14 after all.

Well since you all want to bust my chops and flame the noob I will humor you... the dealer was a friend of mine so i didnt have a problem not making a big deal out of it... and the fact they gave me a whole new bike was nice too...

For those of you who were doubting me and decided to just flame the hell out of me,  i accept your apologies, for the rest of you who were just generally skeptic, i understand, i would be also...

Semper Fi,
Doc

 

[BJ_CT]

There is a recommendation out here in never never land that the drive should be pulled every 12K or 15K miles to lube the splines.  There are instructions either on this forum or the COG website or the ZG Fanatics website for this procedure.  I would like to point out that this bike is nowhere near as famous for drive shaft failure than Beemers are.

 

[Cap'n Bob]

There is a recommendation out here in never never land that the drive should be pulled every 12K or 15K miles to lube the splines.  There are instructions either on this forum or the COG website or the ZG Fanatics website for this procedure.  I would like to point out that this bike is nowhere near as famous for drive shaft failure than Beemers are.

Agreed. Although there have been some drive shaft problems on the C14. There really have not been that many that I would really worry about it. Although as BJ has pointed out. It doesn't hurt to keep it lubed as a preventive measure! And it does seem far less common that the couple of years that BMW had failures!

 

[Fred H.]

Some folks have found loose clips on the U joints, and I believe that may be what happened to the bike in the photos above.

Others have reported a "clicking" when rotating the wheel on the centerstand, and I think some cases of this have been resolved by simply greasing the front spline on the drive shaft. Though Kawasaki was doing inspections of the bevel drive area on some high mileage bikes a year or so ago, so there may be some other issue going on here.

I had a rear drive seal leak on my 08 that required a complete tear down and rebuild to repair. It was covered under warranty and completed in a single day at the dealership.

 

[rawman]

It also seems if you have a drive shaft problem, it shows up early.  All the drive shafts trouble posts (2 or 3 problems in 3 years IIRC)I have seen have been within the first few thousand miles.