Alternator Belt Failure

[robc]

Afternoon,
I generally lurk in the 1150 section but the time has come for a post here.

I took a R1200RT for a test ride on Saturday. It was a brand new bike with only 90 miles on the clock. I did another 50 on it. Fortunately for me, I was asked to make the test ride last only 1 hour as it was a busy day for test rides. I was almost back to the dealer when it all went wrong.

I was sat waiting at traffic lights when the bike started making a nasty rattling sound. I put the bike into neutral and released the clutch as I wondered I'd cooked it somehow sitting there in 1st gear and clutch in.
The lights changed to green and off I went. Red triangle warning light on the dashboard and a big cloud of nasty smoke behind me.
Fortunately I was only a few hundred metres from the dealership.

It turns out the alternator belt had snapped. The dealer apologies profusely but I don't consider it to be their fault. Probably just a dodgy belt in the first place.

I'm telling this story for two reasons:

1) The RT uses the same belt as the GS and if there is a bad batch out there then maybe this can act as a bit of a warning.
2) Has anyone else suffered a belt failure well before the correct service interval?

I'm considering an RT for my next bike to compliment my 1150GS and this experience hasn't dropped the RT any further down my shopping list. Hey, stuff like this happens from time to time. Hopefully, it'll never happen to me again.

Regards

Rob C

 

[JJH]

I wonder if the dealer is supost to do something to the belt at pdi?
Whare did the smoke come from? JJH

 

[robc]

Don't know where the smoke came from. By the time I noticed it I was moving and it was behind me.
It was a nasty burning rubber smell.

I think the dealer was going to open a defect case with BMW in case the belt was one of a bad batch.

Regards

Rob C

 

[RickG]

Unlke some other parts of the bike, the alternator belt is probably one of the more reliable with very few instances of reported failure and a potential lifespan well past the recommended replacement milage.

As the belt on the 1200 is non adjustable and 'your' failure included a cloud of smoke, it's possible the problem was caused by something like a siezed alternator or incorrect fitting as it would explain the symptoms you've described.

Don't let the belt failure put you off the bike

 

[robc]

Hi Rick,
It's not going to put me off. One belt failure does not make me think the entire R1200 range is duff. What might put me off is the height of the mirrors. They seems to be at car wing mirror height. As I do a lot of filtering in London this might be a problem. With the GS, the handle bars are much higher than car mirrors.

When the time comes, I need to test ride for 4 hours or more so I can get lots of filtering done to find out for sure.

Regards

RobC

 

[Greg Masters]

It's possible that there was something on or in the poly-V pulleys that shouldn't have been there. If it were my bike, I'd have a close look at the pulleys before fitting a new belt.

I wouldn't worry about the smoke - that was probably when the remains of the belt wrapped themselves near the carnk pulley and got rubbed up a bit.

Greg

 

[RickG]

Hi Rick,
It's not going to put me off. One belt failure does not make me think the entire R1200 range is duff. What might put me off is the height of the mirrors. They seems to be at car wing mirror height. As I do a lot of filtering in London this might be a problem. With the GS, the handle bars are much higher than car mirrors.

When the time comes, I need to test ride for 4 hours or more so I can get lots of filtering done to find out for sure.

Regards

RobC

Rob,

You may have a point with the RT mirror hieght though GS mirrors are white van clatterers and the bar-ends are just right for hitting softroaders. Not that I ever have of course.. .

Greg's got a good point re. cause of smoke

 

[robc]

Yeah, I know the smoke will have come from the flapping belt rubbing on some of the other gubbins.

Just not what I expected when test riding a spanking new bike. Oh well.

I'm not complaining about it, just relaying a experience.

My GS doesn't catch many mirrors with the handlebars but it does catch the odd car wheel with the crash bars - you know, when Mr. Tosser is sitting stationary in a line of traffic with full steering lock on.

Regards

Rob C