Excess vibration on my 12 GS1200 ??

[Wapping]

Googling 'vibrations 1200 GS' turns up plenty of threads. Some are so badly worded it's tricky to see what the bods were burbling on about. Here is a sample of some of the better ones, as you can see it's a global problem but sometimes a common suggestion and possible solution turns up. Sadly, the starters of the threads never have the common courtesy to return to their thread to tell the world at large how (or if) they ever cured the problem. A pity to say the least, selfish may be a better word. Like parasitical leaches it's all suck and take, far removed from the biker ethic. Maybe the OP will be the one to break the mould? Let's hope so.

http://bmist.forumpro.fr/t8497-r1200gs-neuve-vibrations-vers-3000-tours

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?247029-R1200GS-2010-Vibration

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?22555-05-R1200GS-Vibration

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showth...on-4-000-up-07-GSA&highlight=engine vibration

http://www.r1200gs.info/forum/2-general-chatter/822-annoying-07-gsa-vibration-2.html

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=372533

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=905611

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=835920

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=734184

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98910

http://www.bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/2010-r1200gs-vibration

http://www.bmwclubs.co.za/forum/8-motorbikes/2084-2010-r1200gs-vibration-2nd-opinion-seeked

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

I sympathise. Losing confidence in the dealer is a PIA but you're free to take your bike to any BMW dealer & ask them to look at the problem.
If it's something that can be sorted under warranty they can organise that for you & I'm sure, would be happy tp do so.

FWIW I had a problem with my RT & when I rang BMW Assist they tried to insist that it go to my nearest dealer who I've never had a good experience with. I equally insisted it go to a dealer I trust (who aren't even the next nearest dealer) & they eventually relented. To be fair the difference in distances between dealers wasn't huge, about 20 miles further to my chosen deale,r but the point is they took it to the place I asked them to, eventually.

If it was me I'd go to another dealer & get a second opinion. In my experience BMW Customer services are crap & won't offer any tangible help whatsoever.

Edit: Straw poll input - I don't know, mine's too new to offer an opinion, sorry.

 

[Pukmeister]

Agree wholeheartedly with Timaloy about taking it to another dealer. I did this years ago with a faulty car after repeated failures to rectify a fault and poor customer service, the other dealership couldn't have been more helpful and got my future business.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pitternator]

Hi guys
Its a very genuine issue. How can I explain the vibration? To me its excessive and also can be up to a shuddering felt through the bike. Having ridden dozens of non GS bikes in the past including 1000cc v twins, it feels bad at times in the rev range. I also own a 1000cc fazer with 42k miles on ( mostly done by me) and its as to be expected smooth as silk. My angst is the casual way my dealer dismisses my concern out of hand almost with the " they all do that sir"...hence why I wanted indeed some sort of straw poll as to whether other hexheads are similar. Its always difficult to put in words how the vibes feel. At 83 mph ( foreign motorway speeds),which equates to 4500 rpm ish, especially with luggage on, any opening of the throttle gives unpleasant vibes.As I bought the bike to do foreign touring ...well its a real downer. So much so that I am seriously considering selling the bike . Which would be a shame as in almost all other respects its a great bike and so suited to the task.
By contrast , if I keep to B roads and changing throttle openings its almost not noticeable , maybe cos enough is going on to take my attention away ??...but also the engine doesnt cruise for any length of time around 4500rpm.
What really galvanised my concern was when I rode the R1200R ( on 2 seperate occassions) as a loan bike, and it was silky smooth up until high revs ( 3/4 throttle ish). Whereas my bike if anything gets smoother at higher revs.The 1200R were all 12 plate bikes btw.I found it hard to believe BMW would engineer in vibration for the GS at motorway cruising speed !

In the past I have seen some very impressive changes in bikes throttle response and smoothness from rejetting / remapping , hence why I do think a visit to Hilltop is worth it.

I also plan to get North Oxford to do my 12k service to see how the bike runs after another dealer has worked on it.I have heard very good reports about this dealer.

 

[TLSgazza]

If you don't mind me asking, (you don't have to answer this if you don't want to)
What dealer have you been using up until now,
They don't seem to be very helpful in trying to sort your problem at all.
I get some vibes at motorway speeds from my 06 GSA. But not to the extent that you seem to, I find if I adjust the speed a bit it will clear a little, but at certain speeds my fingers go very numb.
It does sound like it needs throttle bodies etc setting up again, I don't know much about the stick coils but have read a lot of threads on here where people have had problems.
I hope you get it sorted out, almost a year with this problem must be really frustrating.

 

[stever1]

Now this is a very long shot but I had a 10 plate GS which had similar vibes at about 80mph, at the 12000 mile service I asked that particular attention be given to TB etc due to vibes. After the service it was better, but shortly after I changed the tyres from Contis to Mich PR3 and this helped a lot.
Incidentally it also got rid of the annoying humming sound you get at around 60mph, this sound is normal if you have Trail attack, tourance type of tyres fitted as they are more block tread type pattern than road type tyres.

 

[Beemerman59]

At 4,500 rpm you're right slap bang in the middle of the "hole" in the fueling to satisfy the emissions rules so the bike's running lean.... that may not be the whole issue but a PCV or remap would sort that one out.

 

[Wapping]

OP, if you look at the links I posted, you'll probably notice that many of them hark to a 'vibration' at or around 4 to 4,500 RPM. The cures and suggestions as to why it happens vary but some follow a similar line.

Some of your problem might be that bods read so much about the incredible pulling power of the 1200 engine, so expect miracles. You mention that you don't notice it hopping up and down the gearbox down the twisties (when you are probably revving the bike up and through the four thousand RPM glitch) but you do encounter it whilst cruising on motorways... Or more particularly when you open the throttle when cruising in the 500 rev band around 4000 RPM.

It's quite possible that in 6th gear the bike is doing nothing more than bogging down, the two big pistons slapping about, the engine struggling to deal with fuelling in a hurry when you opened the throttle. Drop a gear and all might well be well. Give it a go, it's free to try if nothing else.

I have an outright sports bike, much lighter than a loaded GS and, at about 190 bhp at the crank , considerably more powerful than even Hilltop's best efforts can manage. If I snap the throttle open in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears the bike will rocket forward. If I stick it in 6th and cruise, I can snap the throttle open and.... Nothing happens at all... The bike will hesitate, the revs just hanging (it feels like the bike is going backwards, such is its sudden loss of drive) then it'll will slowly pick up, sometimes with associated banging about in the transmission and engine departments. It's because I have asked even the best electronics and fuelling too much to fast; it can't manage. Similarly, I can get it to bog down in the lower gears if I let the rev's drop too low.

 

[Bendy toy]

The 1200GS engine has a natural vibration between 4000 and 4500. Its more obvious in the higher gears but mirror blur shows it's there at all road speeds. The boxer has slightly offset cylinders so there is never going to a be a perfect mechanical balance.

A remap will remove the fuelling hole and might also improve the vibrations. But any mechanical harmonics wont change so the only option is sorbothane bar grips, tuned mass dampers or some other handlebar vibration isolating feature.

 

[The bigun]

The 1200GS engine has a natural vibration between 4000 and 4500. Its more obvious in the higher gears but mirror blur shows it's there at all road speeds. The boxer has slightly offset cylinders so there is never going to a be a perfect mechanical balance.

A remap will remove the fuelling hole and might also improve the vibrations. But any mechanical harmonics wont change so the only option is sorbothane bar grips, tuned mass dampers or some other handlebar vibration isolating feature.

Dear oh dear the only option is to put sponge grips on i do find expert advice humerous at times im so glad i joined this forum

 

[Jbeveri]

I had the same vibration problem, BMW fitted a new engine, no change, I was renewing my road tax which was mounted on the exhaust bracket and noticed that the exhaust mounting was fitted wrong, the exhaust was clamped hard on to the bike frame not allowing it to flex the rubber bush as it should do, i fitted a washer to allow it to be free and not touch the frame, this has resulted in a reduction in bike vibration. I have checked loads of bikes and found most have the same fault even new ones I think they are assembled wrong, I have told BMW but they are not interested there engineer has not picked this up he is not very good. Still have a bit vibration but not near as bad Jimmy

 

[Bendy toy]

Dear oh dear the only option is to put sponge grips on i do find expert advice humerous at times im so glad i joined this forum

Read it as written. I'm saying there will always be some vibration. If that is still too bad then the only option is some sort of isolation for the bars/grips.

Probably already mentioned -
Some bikes vibrate when the valve clearances have been re-set. The specified tolerance allows each valve to have a different clearance so it opens and closes slightly earlier or later than it's partners. The fix is to be sure that as well as being in tolerance all valves have as close to the same clearance as each other. (Of course the inlets have different clearances from exhausts ).

Probably already mentioned -
If the OP has a friend with BMW boxer they could try swapping the ignition coils to see if this has any effect. My bike could be smoother (I need to balance the valve clearances and throttle bodies) but it was a whole lot worse when I had failing primary ignition coils.

Also try an inlet air temperature faking device such as accelerator module. The one bike I've used feels mechanically smoother as well as less snatchy on the throttle response. A cheap alternative is a 1K resistor in the inlet air temperature sensor circuit.

Edit -
This says that a Hilltop remap will sort out the vibration issues and especially on a Mk2 (08, 09) model.
Ideally, get the valves all set to the same (correct) clearances and throttles balanced before going for the remap.
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?359689-Twin-cam-or-single/page3

 

[The bigun]

Read it as written. I'm saying there will always be some vibration. If that is still too bad then the only option is some sort of isolation for the bars/grips.

Probably already mentioned -
Some bikes vibrate when the valve clearances have been re-set. The specified tolerance allows each valve to have a different clearance so it opens and closes slightly earlier or later than it's partners. The fix is to be sure that as well as being in tolerance all valves have as close to the same clearance as each other. (Of course the inlets have different clearances from exhausts ).

Probably already mentioned -
If the OP has a friend with BMW boxer they could try swapping the ignition coils to see if this has any effect. My bike could be smoother (I need to balance the valve clearances and throttle bodies) but it was a whole lot worse when I had failing primary ignition coils.

Also try an inlet air temperature faking device such as accelerator module. The one bike I've used feels mechanically smoother as well as less snatchy on the throttle response. A cheap alternative is a 1K resistor in the inlet air temperature sensor circuit.

Edit -
This says that a Hilltop remap will sort out the vibration issues and especially on a Mk2 (08, 09) model.
Ideally, get the valves all set to the same (correct) clearances and throttles balanced before going for the remap.
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?359689-Twin-cam-or-single/page3

I have read it do your self a favour and only comment on jobs you have actually done your opinions about torque wrenchs and silicone grease this morning lead me to think you don't

 

[Bendy toy]

We are in a mood today.

 

[miked]

Surely, the best advice is to get it to another dealer, or a trusted independent and get it checked out and set up properly?

Once the op knows that it's running properly, he can then see if it still vibrates and if he still has a problem?

A Steptoe, Brian Giles or decent dealer will be able to tell him this in minutes??

Pay a couple of quid and get it to someone when knows, never mind asking for guesswork on an Internet forum...


Just my tuppence worth, IMHO, of course..

 

[B4ndit]

Is it the GS or GSA that we are talking about here.

I have the GSA. It had awful vibration through the pegs. Metal pegs very quickly had rubber inserts installed. It is now very acceptable. Not sure if this will help but sounds like the problem is still running.