Exhaust flap

[farmermo]

Hi everyone
Should my exhaust flap do it’s cycle thing every time the ignition is turned on?
Seems to do it occasionally
Cheers

 

[GSMarky]

Would presume so.

 

[casbar]

Yes, but what you also hear is the servo, which will make a noise so hearing that, doesn't follow the flap is doing its thing, it could still be stuck. On switching on the ignition, the flap should cycle from open to closed to open before starting

 

[Richardstables]

I think it depends on the model of bike. I have a late 2019 gsa and after an update of the tft software it went from cycling the valve every time I switched on the ignition to seemingly not doing it every time. I think this is an attempt by bmw to stop people complaining about the dreaded squeak. If you wait 30 seconds after you switch the bike off from it running you will hear the valve close if it is in squeaky mode.

 

[Engineer]

Hi everyone
Should my exhaust flap do it’s cycle thing every time the ignition is turned on?
Seems to do it occasionally
Cheers

Not on the 2021 1250GS it doesn’t move until the engine is started, it then closes most of the way and the opens again when you rev the engine - I took the cover off and observed this action a couple of weeks ago. My 2018 Rallye TE did cycle when the ignition was turned on, so this is a change.

 

[Winjar]

I think it depends on the model of bike. I have a late 2019 gsa and after an update of the tft software it went from cycling the valve every time I switched on the ignition to seemingly not doing it every time. I think this is an attempt by bmw to stop people complaining about the dreaded squeak. If you wait 30 seconds after you switch the bike off from it running you will hear the valve close if it is in squeaky mode.

Another sqeaky trick from BMW

 

[casbar]

Not on the 2021 1250GS it doesn’t move until the engine is started, it then closes most of the way and the opens again when you rev the engine - I took the cover off and observed this action a couple of weeks ago. My 2018 Rallye TE did cycle when the ignition was turned on, so this is a change.

That is interesting, on my 2019 1250 it still moves with the ignition on, the same as the 1200. It does though produce an engine warning light when it is sticking. Just had new headers fitted last week.

 

[Engineer]

That is interesting, on my 2019 1250 it still moves with the ignition on, the same as the 1200. It does though produce an engine warning light when it is sticking. Just had new headers fitted last week.

Does your 2019 bike rev up to nearly 1,800 rpm on first start for 20 seconds or so? and then settle back down to the normal 1,050 tickover? - I'm told the initial high-revs is part of the euro 5 thing. The GS isn't the only bike to do this.

 

[Micko123]

When I bought my 2019 model GS 1250 it came with software 001-018-180 version displayed on the TFT and the exhaust flap valve cycled on every switch on of the ignition before starting the engine.
At the 600 mile running in service I asked for the bike to be updated to the latest available software as I had experienced occasional Bluetooth connection issues. The bike was duly updated to version
001-019-180 and it still cycled the flap valve every switch on.
At the 12 month service I again asked for the latest available software version to be installed and it came away with version
021-104-020 (this service was almost 3 months late due to first Covid lockdown), I only noticed a few months later that the bike didn't cycle the flap valve on every ignition switch on.
I mentioned this when the next annual service was due thinking that the valve was playing up. The service desk informed me upon picking up my bike that there was nothing wrong with the valve and the bike had now been updated to software version
022-007-020...apparently the later software versions don't cycle the valve every ignition on.
I have heard it cycle but it seems to be much less frequent. Maybe they have now programmed less operations to stop them wearing out so fast .

Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk

 

[casbar]

Does your 2019 bike rev up to nearly 1,800 rpm on first start for 20 seconds or so? and then settle back down to the normal 1,050 tickover? - I'm told the initial high-revs is part of the euro 5 thing. The GS isn't the only bike to do this.

Yes it does. But I did look at the flap previously and when I had the engine warning light come on, had the can off so didn't want to start it. The flap moved with ignition switch on, it cycled to closed then open before starting, just like it does on the 1200 I have in the garage. But it is a 2019 1250 and not a 21. Also had it serviced 5 weeks before the engine warning light, so on the latest software. Just had new headers and the valve still cycles on ignition on.

 

[G&T]

Very interesting as my 2018 euro 4 cycled on ignition. It still squeeked after a replacement and me trying the old graphite oil spray trick.

 

[markymark]

Is there a particular reason why the flap is failing on so many bikes ? Poor quality fuel, stop start riding, short runs, infrequent use, gentle use ? etc etc Or is it just a very poor design by BMW ?

 

[G&T]

Is there a particular reason why the flap is failing on so many bikes ? Poor quality fuel, stop start riding, short runs, infrequent use, gentle use ? etc etc Or is it just a very poor design by BMW ?

Poor design + the stupid fact to fix it, one has to replace the headers.

 

[Alan R]

Poor design + the stupid fact to fix it, one has to replace the headers.

hexcam r1200gs have the flap valve as a separate section between the headers and the end can. It it possible to remove and fit a straight through link pipe instead. LC r1200/1250gs have the the flap as an integral part of the header pipes in order to prevent such tampering to comply with euro4/5.
Alan R

 

[Engineer]

Yes it does. But I did look at the flap previously and when I had the engine warning light come on, had the can off so didn't want to start it. The flap moved with ignition switch on, it cycled to closed then open before starting, just like it does on the 1200 I have in the garage. But it is a 2019 1250 and not a 21. Also had it serviced 5 weeks before the engine warning light, so on the latest software. Just had new headers and the valve still cycles on ignition on.

Seems like there has definitely been a change for 2021 then, I wonder why?

 

[GeorgeM]

Is there a particular reason why the flap is failing on so many bikes ? Poor quality fuel, stop start riding, short runs, infrequent use, gentle use ? etc etc Or is it just a very poor design by BMW ?

Wash your mouth out , BMW are purveyors of fine machinery , they definitely have no previous history of using their customers on beta programs


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Rowle]

Does the flap actually do anything for us, or is it just for emissions ?
I see you can get a gadget that stops the flap working and sends a “good” signal to the ECU.
I did this on my last few bikes without issue but they were HD,s.

 

[BigKev67]

When I bought my 2019 model GS 1250 it came with software 001-018-180 version displayed on the TFT and the exhaust flap valve cycled on every switch on of the ignition before starting the engine.
At the 600 mile running in service I asked for the bike to be updated to the latest available software as I had experienced occasional Bluetooth connection issues. The bike was duly updated to version
001-019-180 and it still cycled the flap valve every switch on.
At the 12 month service I again asked for the latest available software version to be installed and it came away with version
021-104-020 (this service was almost 3 months late due to first Covid lockdown), I only noticed a few months later that the bike didn't cycle the flap valve on every ignition switch on.
I mentioned this when the next annual service was due thinking that the valve was playing up. The service desk informed me upon picking up my bike that there was nothing wrong with the valve and the bike had now been updated to software version
022-007-020...apparently the later software versions don't cycle the valve every ignition on.
I have heard it cycle but it seems to be much less frequent. Maybe they have now programmed less operations to stop them wearing out so fast .

Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk

Where on the TFT is the software version displayed ?

 

[casbar]

Does the flap actually do anything for us, or is it just for emissions ?
I see you can get a gadget that stops the flap working and sends a “good” signal to the ECU.
I did this on my last few bikes without issue but they were HD,s.

This has been covered many times, do a search. But in a nutshell the flap is for noise emissions, if it is stuck open it doesn't impact the bike, but on 1250s will throw an engine warning light. So a servo buddy will fool the eco. It is now illegal to touch anything on your bike to do with emissions, if you are bothered about that

 

[BobT]

This has been covered many times, do a search. But in a nutshell the flap is for noise emissions, if it is stuck open it doesn't impact the bike, but on 1250s will throw an engine warning light. So a servo buddy will fool the eco. It is now illegal to touch anything on your bike to do with emissions, if you are bothered about that

When you say illegal, are you saying that the government have passed a law saying that you cannot touch anything on your bike? I find that amazing and assume that all the aftermarket parts suppliers are up in arms. Will there be demonstrations in London?
I suspect that this is just fake news spread on the internet and that the police will not turn up at your house if you touch anything on your bike.