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We have categorized the things that have happened to each bike in the table below. You will find supporting text below the table if there is more detail for the item. Over the course of the 2003-2004 winter Jim did nothing to the bikes. In the course of our travels in 2004 we will put more miles on the bikes. This is added to the 66,000 miles we have ridden before this year.
54,000 Mile Service:When we returned to Idstein for the bikes the first thing that Jim did was change the engine oil and oil filter. We had the bikes serviced at Klaus Mayer BMW in Landau, Germany - about 25 kilometers north of Karlsruhe. Verna had noticed that her bike had been running very poorly before we left Europe in October 2003. On the ride to Karlsruhe from Idstein the problem persisted and we asked the dealer to investigate when we left the bikes for service. The mechanic discovered that the fuel pump was broken. Fuel Pump Failed:Our string of equipment failures on the bikes continues.
This is identical to the problem Verna had with the fuel pump in September, 2001 when we were returning to Germany from the Czech Republic. We think that the mechanic in Dresden forced the fuel pump into the tank when he installed the new one. It is a tricky task that requires lots of patience because the pump assembly will only slip into the tank one way. We think that he applied pressure in inserting the pump unit and this caused a stress fracture in the nipple which led to it failing. Fuel Pump Fuse Failures:The fuse blew shortly after we got off the ferry in Plymouth, England. We replaced it again two days later when it happened again; first time in Plymouth, second in St. Ives. And again the following day - we have given up on tracking the locations. We have now implemented the solution that the BMW dealer in Alicante, Spain applied when this problem first raised its ugly little head in October, 2000. We have replaced the 10 Amp fuse that BMW specifies with a 15 Amp fuse. The R1100GS’s came with a 15 Amp fuse and the dealer in Alicante decided that this was the problem. Two weeks after he replaced the fuse the fuel pump failed and he had to replace it - after we paid some €90.00 to have the bike transported to his shop for the second time, at our expense due to this problem. We are now waiting for the fuel pump to fail. This is the most aggrivating problem we have had with Jim’s bike. Too bad no one at BMW is interested in finding a solution. We have asked every dealer we have come in contact with if they are aware of a problem like this and they all have the same answer: NO! And that is where the conversation ends. None of them has done anything to try to resolve the problem. Great customer service, eh? Broken Rocker Cover:
What’s interesting about this picture? If you look at the area above the hole and the screw that holds the valve cover onto the bike you can see some mountains on the left and the sky and clouds on the right. This is a reflection due to all of the motor oil that is all over the cylinder protector which can be see below the hole as well. NOTE: The following day it took two liters of oil to bring the oil level up to operating condition. It seems that we did not estimate the amount of oil loss well at all. It is amazing how quickly the porous ground where Jim dropped the bike soaked up the oil. It sure did not look like that much oil had come out of the hole. We always carry a liter of oil on each bike and this is a good way to have everyone understand why. A little J-B Weld repaired the hole but it takes 15+ hours for the material to become fully hardened. So we used our ADAC membership to get a hotel for the night and ADAC picked the bike up and took it to the hotel as well. Jim rode in the car that had the bike on a trailer and Verna followed along on her bike to Briançon, France. When we got to the hotel we did the repair on the valve cover. The J-B Weld held up very well and we suspect that we could have ridden the bike for many miles with no problems. Our only concern was the bike being dropped - the cover had some large cracks as well as the hole and the stress of being dropped might destroy it. Better to replace it.
Oh yes, don’t forget the duct tape either. It provided the foundation for the first application of the J-B Weld - the tape was applied on the outside of the cover so the J-B Weld would have something to form against when it was applied. After the initial application had set for about 5 hours we took the tape off and applied another coating to the outside of the cover. And, we always have water with us and a bar of Dove hand soap (the best grease remover in the world). We washed the oil off the cover with soap and water then let it dry. We then wiped the area where the J-B Weld and tape were to be applied with rubbing alcohol (something else we always carry) to be absolutely sure there was no oil reside which would prohibit the J-B Weld from bonding to the metal cover. Replacded Jessie Luggage:See Brussels, Belgium to Heuleldmühle, Germany travelogue page for all the details about the need to replace the luggage. We do have to provide a big THANK YOU to Al Jessie for our new luggage. The exhaust system on our bikes is the one system that his bags do not fit. This was a new system just on the market when we started our travels in 2000. Al was kinbd enough to make a left bag for us that would fit the bike. It gets better. He brought the bag to Germany with him when he came for one of his many September visits to Germany. THANKS Al! Score: Diesel fuel spilled on highway: 1 60,000 Mile Service:We had this service performed by Motorradtechnik-Tuning-Zubehör, Ilswet 3, 82140 Olching, Germany. The shop is run by two brothers who are BMW enthusiasts. While they do not have a BMW dealership franchise we recommend their shop very much. The work was done correctly and they provided us with information about the state of the bikes. For example, one of our worst fears with Verna’s final drive has arrived. They are of the opinion that the final drive on Verna’s bike is going to need significant work in the near future because of the notching that is felt when the rear wheel is turned. We suspect that this is due to damaged pinion gears in the final drive caused by metal parts moving about in the gear oil when the Crown Wheel Bearings in this unit fail on two separate occasions previously. Or, It could be the Crown Wheel Bearing is about to fail for the third time. We will try to get BMW to replace the final drive but we are not optimistic about our chances. |
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Copyright © 2000-2009 Jim Seavey and Verna Norris All Rights Reserved |
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The top of the pump is plastic and there is a plastic nipple from the pump that is clamped to a hose which then feeds fuel to the filter and the fuel injection system. The nipple was broken cleanly at the top of the pump. The nipple is completely missing as can be seen in the picture we took at the dealers when we picked up the bikes.
One Picture is worth 1,000 words. This happened when we were riding on a very rocky road in the south of France up the Plan-Làchat (just north of the Col du Galibier; off the D902). We have not been able to determine what Jim did wrong but obviously he did something wrong. The bike suddenly pitched to the right and threw him off. He was OK. The bike had a slight problem. We estimated that about a half to three quarters of a liter of oil came out while the bike was lying of its side. At least he picked a place to do this where there were a lot of hikers on the road and they helped us lift the bike upright. As a result the bike was on its side for less than a minute.
The repair did weep a bit of oil. We did not notice this until Jim removed the cover. We discovered a small crack (arrow at left) that we did not see previously and it was the source of the oil leak. Had we included that area by applying the J-B Weld to a wider area it would not have leaked at all. J-B Weld: “Don’t leave home without it!”.