Forum bmwbike.com

As I recently changed all bearings of my R50's gearbox I came across a little problem with the output shaft. There is a little shim pressed on the end of the shaft sitting in a groove and preloading the spring of the kickstarter ratchet mechanism. It sat pretty tight , so I bent it when prising it off its seat. Rebuilding the shaft assembly with a new bearing I pushed it on again after flattening it again. However, it doesn't sit as tight as it did, which is no surprise to me. It is now pushed against the bearing inner ring by the spring. Is that critical and do I understand its function correctly assuming that its purpose is to work a defined preload onto the ratched spring ?

Thanks in advance, bye, Thomas

No problem Thomas. The washer you mention invariably becomes damaged during overhaul, but once the gearbox is reassembled the washer will settle in correctly.

The large diameter oil deflector plate needs watching during assembly as you have probably found out! I slip a screwdriver through the centre of the bearing and through the washer to help keep it aligned while fitting the rear cover.