A Clean Bill of Health

DJ123

DJ123

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I had my Bike in for a Major Service today and all came back with a clean bill of health. No advisories as such or valve clearances to be amended. Not bad for the old girl on 62K miles now! Not bad considering 36k has been covered in the last 2.5 years.

I had an F900XR as a loan Bike - and that was a world away from the GS. Even though it's 11 years old now, it still feels like a premium product, and rides beautifully. The XR certainly felt very basic & cheap in comparison.
 
Turns out i spoke too soon.......

I went to go for a ride on the Bike this afternoon, and spotted a puddle of oil under the right hand cylinder head. I assumed it was the bolts not torqued up correctly since the service - no big issue i thought. I found the most rearward bolt was loose - less than finger tight, and i could nigh on pull it out. But for some reason couldn't get it going on the threads. Upon removing the other bolts and the Cylinder head there the answer is. A snapped bolt. Snapped clean after the 'lug' and flush with the threads inside the Cylinder head.
The Tech' would have noticed it was snapped, as these only take 10NM and checking it would clearly show it's not tight at all! It pisses me off more they've tried to get away with it than the snapped bolt itself.
The oil leak could in worst case circumstances can be very dangerous. Dropping oil onto the roadway as a hazard for myself and others, or even a fire hazard dripping onto the headers.

Unfortunately the service manager was not in today, so i sent across an email & pictures of the issue. I'll be following it up next week for them to get it resolved.

That doesn't look right


something is missing


Snapped bolt in the head


what it should look like
 
As a stepped dolt with a shoulder for a depth stop, hopefully it should be say to remove the offending item.
 
DJ123 said:
Turns out i spoke too soon.......

I went to go for a ride on the Bike this afternoon, and spotted a puddle of oil under the right hand cylinder head. I assumed it was the bolts not torqued up correctly since the service - no big issue i thought. I found the most rearward bolt was loose - less than finger tight, and i could nigh on pull it out. But for some reason couldn't get it going on the threads. Upon removing the other bolts and the Cylinder head there the answer is. A snapped bolt. Snapped clean after the 'lug' and flush with the threads inside the Cylinder head.
The Tech' would have noticed it was snapped, as these only take 10NM and checking it would clearly show it's not tight at all! It pisses me off more they've tried to get away with it than the snapped bolt itself.
The oil leak could in worst case circumstances can be very dangerous. Dropping oil onto the roadway as a hazard for myself and others, or even a fire hazard dripping onto the headers.

Unfortunately the service manager was not in today, so i sent across an email & pictures of the issue. I'll be following it up next week for them to get it resolved.

That doesn't look right


something is missing


Snapped bolt in the head


what it should look like
Click to expand...
Jesus! What garage was this at??
 
I’d be reluctant to name the garage until you get a response back from them. Mistakes happen, we all make them but it’s how you deal with them what matters. But if someone has sent it out knowingly that is bad.
 
GB. said:
I’d be reluctant to name the garage until you get a response back from them. Mistakes happen, we all make them but it’s how you deal with them what matters. But if someone has sent it out knowingly that is bad.
Click to expand...

That's my aim - give them a chance to rectify things.

Thankfully i managed to extract the broken part of the bolt without too much issue, and no damage to the threads. Also found the LH side to weeping from the gasket after an inspection to check that side too.

Currently on my list of things i need from them to fix is;
2 x Rocker cover gaskets
New rocker cover bolts for each side (If they've all been over tightened i do not want to risk keeping them)
I do have machine art head protectors - so they might need to buy a new set of those, unless the bolts are available separately.
 
Pukmeister said:
As a stepped dolt with a shoulder for a depth stop, hopefully it should be say to remove the offending item.
Click to expand...
Obviously that meant to read as “bolt” and “safe”, no idea how I let such a typo slip.

Glad you’ve done the hard part already and hopefully they offer a free repair and apology, then bollock the ham-fisted “tech” (who clearly needs corrective training).
 
At this point i'll be asking for everything to be sent to me to install & fix. It's easy enough to do, and i'll then know its been done right and there's no issues!
 
By removing the broken bolt & inspecting the other side , the case is lost

What broken bolt sir?, The technician torqued to the correct specification. you may have turned the wrench the wrong way sir, ...

Damaged gasket sir, it wasn't weeping or damaged when the technician inspected it after fitting ..
 
That's for the garage to decide. They've got photographic evidence of the issues caused by them. And an invoice showing they were the last place to touch them.....
 
DJ123 said:
That's for the garage to decide. They've got photographic evidence of the issues caused by them. And an invoice showing they were the last place to touch them.....
Click to expand...
Busted flush,

You have a pile of parts you fecked removing the cam covers ,;)

it was all good when it left them, you inspected it, and they gave you an invoice to boot.

Unfortunately its now a your word against theirs scenario .

I wish you the best of luck, but i'm not predicting you will get the outcome you want
 
Santa-2512 said:
Busted flush,

You have a pile of parts you fecked removing the cam covers ,;)

it was all good when it left them, you inspected it, and they gave you an invoice to boot.

Unfortunately its now a your word against theirs scenario .

I wish you the best of luck, but i'm not predicting you will get the outcome you want
Click to expand...

Why would i need to remove cam covers? To do the valve clearances i paid for them to check? To change the spark plug i paid them to replace? There's no other reason to remove them.....

I think you're a bit too off with your thought process. It's not a part you remove for any reason except for service needs. Which they were the last people to touch.....
 
DJ123 said:
Why would i need to remove cam covers? To do the valve clearances i paid for them to check? To change the spark plug i paid them to replace? There's no other reason to remove them.....

I think you're a bit too off with your thought process. It's not a part you remove for any reason except for service needs. Which they were the last people to touch.....
Click to expand...
As i said,

Best of luck.
 
I got an email response from the Service manager early this morning, and followed it up with a call to talk i through. He was ,as i hoped, willing to help solve the issue and was more than happy to do so at their expense under goodwill - even offering to come pick the Bike up and take it away for inspection*. I declined the offer as i had extracted the broken bolt, and mentioned i would check the other side properly too - incase those bolts were also (potentially) done up too tight, or had any oil leaks. We then agreed i'd send across a list of the parts i would like to replace, some of which would be for 'peace of mind' to hopefully prevent further issues.

My wish list is replacement bolts for each side & gaskets - to rule out any future issues of bolts which have been stressed/over tightened and gaskets which may have been over compressed.

Hopefully it'll get the sign off in the morning, and can move forward with the replacement of new parts.

In reality i couldn't have asked for someone more interested in helping to solve the issue, and was willing to support the whole process at their expense from start to finish. A big thumbs up from me, and i'll certainly continue to use them in the future for my Bike servicing needs.

*He mentioned the Tech who did my Service was a master technician, who has been there for years and is not one that causes/leave issues. Being Human, OFC he may make some, but they're always resolved in the workshop as with any Human in a job. And whilst the Bike left the workshop in good health/as signed off, between then and now the issue could have happened - there's no way to pin point how/when it actually happened.
 
DJ123 said:
I got an email response from the Service manager early this morning, and followed it up with a call to talk i through. He was ,as i hoped, willing to help solve the issue and was more than happy to do so at their expense under goodwill - even offering to come pick the Bike up and take it away for inspection*. I declined the offer as i had extracted the broken bolt, and mentioned i would check the other side properly too - incase those bolts were also (potentially) done up too tight, or had any oil leaks. We then agreed i'd send across a list of the parts i would like to replace, some of which would be for 'peace of mind' to hopefully prevent further issues.

My wish list is replacement bolts for each side & gaskets - to rule out any future issues of bolts which have been stressed/over tightened and gaskets which may have been over compressed.

Hopefully it'll get the sign off in the morning, and can move forward with the replacement of new parts.

In reality i couldn't have asked for someone more interested in helping to solve the issue, and was willing to support the whole process at their expense from start to finish. A big thumbs up from me, and i'll certainly continue to use them in the future for my Bike servicing needs.

*He mentioned the Tech who did my Service was a master technician, who has been there for years and is not one that causes/leave issues. Being Human, OFC he may make some, but they're always resolved in the workshop as with any Human in a job. And whilst the Bike left the workshop in good health/as signed off, between then and now the issue could have happened - there's no way to pin point how/when it actually happened.
Click to expand...
And i was wrong, happy to say so
 
1 year on, and another Service/MOT done. I only managed 8.4K miles this year which is less than i was aiming for as a couple of trips got cancelled.

None the less, she flew through the service & MOT without any advisories.

Hopefully this year, i can get back up to 10K miles!
 
That is good mileage.
I have 66 plate with a measly 24k miles on. Shocks been refurbed so all good. Keep thinking shall I get something else. It probably only worth around 7k. When spring arrives and I ride it my love will be strong for it.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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