► Forks--clonks, gaiters and leaks

[Argonaught]

Clonking forks fixed now with some head bearing adjustment under warranty. If yours clonk, don't wait around for months living with it cos your dealer tells you it's a 'bedding in' thing, like me.

Get them to re torque the head bearings pronto!

 

[madmammoth]

leaking front fork

picked up my new 800gs on fri took it for a ride, on return noticed my left boot has splashes on it, didnt think much of it, today took it for another ride again on return noticed splashes on the same boot so i smelt it and it smelt of oil so went and ad a look at the bike and noticed the left fork was leaking slightly but enough for it to drip, is this something to be worried about?

 

[chrisjk]

YES DO WORRY! Forks should not leak oil - take it to the dealers pronto.

Check over the forks visually first and especially the polished surfaces - look for corrosion or other damage. Sounds like a seal has gone but there has to be a reason.

 

[Uinneag]

Corrosion it's on mnths old

 

[TERRY RYAN]

Corrosion it's on mnths old

might have very funny weather in Hereford

 

[madmammoth]

i phoned bmw today thinking they would send a mechanic out to fix it on the spot but instead they sent someone from a local garage out to collect it. after waiting 3 months for it its already been sent back for repairs after 2 days! im not impressed

 

[alexcorral]

Instead of sending the bike out and staying bikeless for weeks (months?) you could first try to clena under the seal.

In many occasions my KTMs started leaking, not due to a damaged seal but because dirt/mud (nasty riding conditions) got caught between the seal and the USD slider. After replacing several perfectly good seals I successfully tried the following:

Remove the dust covers and slide film negative (hard to find these days of digital photography) in between the slider and the seal. This will remove any dirt caught in that spot, causing the leak.

This is very easy and takes a couple of minutes. If it works keep on riding, if not take it to service for seal replacement (where they will check conditions of the slider).

 

[spannerman]

Clonking forks

Just got back from a 2000 mile trip in france and Mrs Spannerman was complaining of a clonking from the front forks on her 800gs so took it to work and checked the steering head bearings and sure enough loads of play in the bearings so i adjusted the play out,and will be keeping a close eye on them in the future,and what a difference on the way home a nice smooth ride

 

[ren]

Argonaught,

My 800gs have same problem. You said your was fixed by the dealer with a simple bearing adjustment. Is that rigth? How is the bike now?

Any news on this from someone?

Thanks in advance

Renato
Lisbon

 

[Argonaught]

Argonaught,

My 800gs have same problem. You said your was fixed by the dealer with a simple bearing adjustment. Is that rigth? How is the bike now?

Yes that's right, The dealer adjusted the torque of the top bearing (as i understand it) & it's problem solved!

No more clonking

 

[ren]

Great! Just one more question.
What did you say to the dealer to make him check the bearing torque???
Just asking because i will need to have good reasom to make them start working...
There is any obvious issue to demonstrate, like fork strange movements? or any trick to make them believe you?

All we know how these dealers work....

thanks

Ren

 

[Uriel]

Yeah, I told my dealer about the problem at my first service and mentioned that I'd heard it was due to steering head bearings. When I picked it up they were the same and he said "they all do that, sir". Reckons he checked their demo and another customer's that was in at the time and they were all the same. I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt rather than suggest they all may need re-torquing.

 

[everywherevirtually]

mine are clunky too. It reminded me as a kid on my mountain bike when the headstock was loose and the forks moved when braking under load. I rode over speed bumps today to analyse it a bit. There is a lot of rattling going on but I think that also has to do with the beak, screen, instruments and all the cables. All the same it's not confidence inspiring for what is a rough terrain bike.

 

[ren]

Hummmm... it will be dificult to make those guys do the job....

For sure there is someone out there that known how to do the thing...
Just add some torque to the steering bearing could not be the hell.

Any mechanic listening??

 

[Argonaught]

Great! Just one more question.
What did you say to the dealer to make him check the bearing torque???
Just asking because i will need to have good reasom to make them start working...

I rang up the service dept of my dealer & just booked the bike in for a warranty repair, in effect i didn't ask (when i'd asked previously they gave me the brush off) I just told them to re torque the bearings.

These bike have cost us all alot of money, we shouldn't be riding around unhappy with something so easily fixed. I tried to ignore this clonking for several months before i got more aggressive with the dealer & got it sorted. Wish i'd done that right at the beginning.

No one wants hassle from their customers, so i say if you're unhappy make sure they know it & try to make your problem their problem.

Do you know how much the mark up is on these machines They ain't govong these things away....

Give em hell

 

[Frankk]

Argonaught is correct...we have paid good money for these bikes and we deserve to have top quality. After looking at a lot of the threads it appears to me that a lot of these issues are not from BMW but from the dealers...ie sloppy spanner work during the pre-delivery. Maybe BMW needs to do spot checks on the dealers and crack down on them ....after all it is their name at risk.

 

[Mav]

Quick forks question...

It looks like the 800GS has similar forks to the HP2 - can anyone tell me if the legs are chromed or coated in one of those fancy coloured coatings - apparently the coating is less sticky but more prone to wear.

The reason I'm asking is that I'm having mine rebuilt and the guy doing them suggesting just sticking with the chrome finish as it's less likely to wear off (and therefore cause the seals to go). From what I can see on the BMW site, it looks like they're chromed on the 800, confirming that in fact chrome finishing might be more appropriate.

Thanks for your help

 

[Wookie]

Realise this thread is a couple of months old but got our new bikes last weekend and mine is defn Clonking over pot-holes. Would kind of agree with the headstock theory rather than the lose brake disc bobbins.

Going to check the missues bike and then look into getting the headstock bearings checked.

Do you guys reacon its ok to do 400 miles on possibly loose headstock bearings or should i get sorted asap?! Dealer i purchased from is 150 miles away and would prefer to just leave it for first service (new dealer only 1mile away will be open by then ).

 

[everywherevirtually]

Realise this thread is a couple of months old but got our new bikes last weekend and mine is defn Clonking over pot-holes. Would kind of agree with the headstock theory rather than the lose brake disc bobbins.

Going to check the missues bike and then look into getting the headstock bearings checked.

Do you guys reacon its ok to do 400 miles on possibly loose headstock bearings or should i get sorted asap?! Dealer i purchased from is 150 miles away and would prefer to just leave it for first service (new dealer only 1mile away will be open by then ).

my bike has 9500 miles on it now and it still clonks. There is nothing wrong with the headstock on mine. It's just play in the brake discs when going over rough ground. I'm not worried anymore. To be honest the 800GS is not a true off road bike. If you look at a real off road bike it has barely anything on it.

When the 800 is fully kitted out it's no wonder stuff rattles and clonks. Beaks, winglets, screens, discs, racks, panniers. It's amazing it all doesn't fall off after the first pothole.

 

[jessehere]

I believe that the BMW torque spec for the head bearing is too light. I tightened mine up a bit and the clonk is minimal. I think it could be tightened even a bit more. The loose steering head has got to be hell on the bearing. (Will get notched quickly)