Since arriving on 1st February, and getting the bike released on the 3rd, I’d managed to clock up over 4000 miles and was approaching the 48k service. I was a thousand miles early for the 42k service which Balderstons did 
(sorry, tried to keep a straight face…), so I was happy to do the 48k anytime after 47k… With me so far?
The 48k service is a major one, compounded by the need to change the fuel filter which, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the GS, is located within the fuel tank. US servicing costs are high and, since my warranty expired on 28th February, I was keen to do as much of the work myself as possible. The logical time to do the service was when I was staying with Jeff & Keri in Daytona as they had a large garage; a good selection of tools; Jeff was keen to help and – the ultimate bonus – Andrew Ward (Aurelius) would be happy to come over and do my valve adjustment, having done the job several times in the past.
As the bike has been under warranty, I’ve only had it serviced by BMW dealers. However, I sat in on the 24k service at Lind in Norwich, and picked up some tips on what to do on a major service. This, combined with a copy of the workshop manual and Andrew’s experience made me quite confident we could do the lion’s share of the work. None of us had a Twinmax, so we decided to leave the following items to BMW Daytona:
1. Moditech Check.
2. Balance Throttle Bodies.
3. Replace Fuel Filter.
4. Fit & balance tyres.
I therefore went out and bought the service items, which were refreshingly cheap, even before the exchange rate made them a bargain. All the service items from BMW (plugs, oil & air filters, crush washers) came to $33. The (dino) oil, synthetic gearbox & final drive oil, brake cleaner, brake lubricant came to a further $18. Total in GBP – about 28… I also bought a pair of Tourances mail order for $205 including next day delivery (of which more later…).
I removed the panniers in preparation for the service. I’d noticed that the exhaust pipe had started moving around a bit and bumping against the pannier frame. I now had a good view of it – yep – the Y-piece had fractured…
I rang Steve Davies at A&W Mufflers, who had done such a sterling job last time. Yep, bring it down Monday, limey, we’ll fix it…
On Saturday evening, we drained the oil, allowing it to drain overnight. I started the service on Sunday morning by cleaning the brakes – always a filthy job. As expected, all three calipers were full of salt & road crap and all 3 locating pins were rusty. A bit of work and light filing and they were as good as new. The calipers and pads (which had plenty of life left in them) were cleaned with a can of brake cleaner. The back of the pads were smeared with anti-squeal lubricant and the brakes re-assembled.
As I was replacing the, filthy, air cleaner,
Andrew turned up and we loosened the crash bars, to remove both cylinder head covers, and got to work on the valve clearances.
It’s quite a simple task, as long as you remain methodical. The locking nuts on the tappets should be tightened to 8NM (this is very little torque). ALL of the nuts were WAY too tight (thanks Balderstons
), in 2 cases causing the adjustment to become a ‘hit & miss’ affair, as the threads were damaged. Since these adjustments were (supposedly) checked 6000 miles ago, Andrew was surprised to see that 3 were over tight. He re-set them and we began re-assembly.
The bike was now back together ready to be trailered to A&W the next day (I had no wish to sound like a Harley). We got there at about 10ish and Steve set to work in his inimitable style.
He soon managed to get the broken stub of exhaust out of the silencer and weld the piece of stainless back onto the Y-piece.
Price? $20. What a top bloke!
The next day I deliver the bike to BMW Daytona.
The Service Manager, Bob, made a couple of suggestions… Why not have the fuel filter re-positioned outside the tank? It could be mounted up near the front of the tank, near the front shock, on a long enough piece of fuel line to allow you to replace it in about 5 minutes, without any need to remove the tank. Same filter, just put a loop of pipe inside the tank – this is apparently a common modification here – yes please!
How many miles are you getting from your Tourances? 7½ to8k. Are you using the bike off-road at the moment? No. How about trying some different tyres? He suggests Metzeler ME880 Marathons, which are recommended fit on the K1200LT.
He reckons they’ll last 20k plus on an LT
. If he’s only half right, it’ll save me a fortune, with the kind of mileage I’m doing. What about handling? Bob introduces me to Bill, the parts manager, who has them on his bike and reckons I’ll notice no degredation in cornering capacity. Trouble is, I’ve just bought these Tourances. No problem, we’ll take them in as a credit (they actually paid me $23 to do the swap ).
I wander off into the madness which is Bike Week for a few hours, returning at midday to find the bike ready. Total bill was $194 (that’s about 107 GBP). Quite expensive IMO, by UK standards, but tyre fitting is expensive here (there’s also a disposal charge for your old ones). Labour rate is $65 ph.
I ride the bike away and it feels great – really quiet & smooth, thanks in large part to fixing the crack in the Y-piece and the valves now being correctly adjusted. Later that day, as I re-assemble the ancilliaries (side panels etc), I look to see where they’ve positioned the fuel filter…
I ring Bob – “D’Oh!” – The mechanic put it back inside the tank. No matter, I book the bike back in for Friday morning to have it correctly positioned.
Overall, I’m very pleased with how the service went. Parts prices were good (especially with the good exchange rate) and the oils etc from the Auto Parts Store were a bargain. After Bob has rectified the filter re-position, there will be less reason to use BMW mechanics (Moditech & TB balance – unless I can borrow a Twinmax), which should keep future service costs to a minimum. I think I’ll get a K&N filter next service, too…
Many thanks to Jeff and Andrew (and to Keri, for putting up with us)
(sorry, tried to keep a straight face…), so I was happy to do the 48k anytime after 47k… With me so far?The 48k service is a major one, compounded by the need to change the fuel filter which, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the GS, is located within the fuel tank. US servicing costs are high and, since my warranty expired on 28th February, I was keen to do as much of the work myself as possible. The logical time to do the service was when I was staying with Jeff & Keri in Daytona as they had a large garage; a good selection of tools; Jeff was keen to help and – the ultimate bonus – Andrew Ward (Aurelius) would be happy to come over and do my valve adjustment, having done the job several times in the past.
As the bike has been under warranty, I’ve only had it serviced by BMW dealers. However, I sat in on the 24k service at Lind in Norwich, and picked up some tips on what to do on a major service. This, combined with a copy of the workshop manual and Andrew’s experience made me quite confident we could do the lion’s share of the work. None of us had a Twinmax, so we decided to leave the following items to BMW Daytona:
1. Moditech Check.
2. Balance Throttle Bodies.
3. Replace Fuel Filter.
4. Fit & balance tyres.
I therefore went out and bought the service items, which were refreshingly cheap, even before the exchange rate made them a bargain. All the service items from BMW (plugs, oil & air filters, crush washers) came to $33. The (dino) oil, synthetic gearbox & final drive oil, brake cleaner, brake lubricant came to a further $18. Total in GBP – about 28… I also bought a pair of Tourances mail order for $205 including next day delivery (of which more later…).
I removed the panniers in preparation for the service. I’d noticed that the exhaust pipe had started moving around a bit and bumping against the pannier frame. I now had a good view of it – yep – the Y-piece had fractured…
I rang Steve Davies at A&W Mufflers, who had done such a sterling job last time. Yep, bring it down Monday, limey, we’ll fix it…
On Saturday evening, we drained the oil, allowing it to drain overnight. I started the service on Sunday morning by cleaning the brakes – always a filthy job. As expected, all three calipers were full of salt & road crap and all 3 locating pins were rusty. A bit of work and light filing and they were as good as new. The calipers and pads (which had plenty of life left in them) were cleaned with a can of brake cleaner. The back of the pads were smeared with anti-squeal lubricant and the brakes re-assembled.
As I was replacing the, filthy, air cleaner,
Andrew turned up and we loosened the crash bars, to remove both cylinder head covers, and got to work on the valve clearances.
It’s quite a simple task, as long as you remain methodical. The locking nuts on the tappets should be tightened to 8NM (this is very little torque). ALL of the nuts were WAY too tight (thanks Balderstons
), in 2 cases causing the adjustment to become a ‘hit & miss’ affair, as the threads were damaged. Since these adjustments were (supposedly) checked 6000 miles ago, Andrew was surprised to see that 3 were over tight. He re-set them and we began re-assembly.
The bike was now back together ready to be trailered to A&W the next day (I had no wish to sound like a Harley
). We got there at about 10ish and Steve set to work in his inimitable style.
He soon managed to get the broken stub of exhaust out of the silencer and weld the piece of stainless back onto the Y-piece.
Price? $20. What a top bloke!
The next day I deliver the bike to BMW Daytona.
The Service Manager, Bob, made a couple of suggestions… Why not have the fuel filter re-positioned outside the tank? It could be mounted up near the front of the tank, near the front shock, on a long enough piece of fuel line to allow you to replace it in about 5 minutes, without any need to remove the tank. Same filter, just put a loop of pipe inside the tank – this is apparently a common modification here – yes please!
How many miles are you getting from your Tourances? 7½ to8k. Are you using the bike off-road at the moment? No. How about trying some different tyres? He suggests Metzeler ME880 Marathons, which are recommended fit on the K1200LT.
He reckons they’ll last 20k plus on an LT
. If he’s only half right, it’ll save me a fortune, with the kind of mileage I’m doing. What about handling? Bob introduces me to Bill, the parts manager, who has them on his bike and reckons I’ll notice no degredation in cornering capacity. Trouble is, I’ve just bought these Tourances. No problem, we’ll take them in as a credit (they actually paid me $23 to do the swap ).I wander off into the madness which is Bike Week for a few hours, returning at midday to find the bike ready. Total bill was $194 (that’s about 107 GBP). Quite expensive IMO, by UK standards, but tyre fitting is expensive here (there’s also a disposal charge for your old ones). Labour rate is $65 ph.
I ride the bike away and it feels great – really quiet & smooth, thanks in large part to fixing the crack in the Y-piece and the valves now being correctly adjusted. Later that day, as I re-assemble the ancilliaries (side panels etc), I look to see where they’ve positioned the fuel filter…
I ring Bob – “D’Oh!” – The mechanic put it back inside the tank. No matter, I book the bike back in for Friday morning to have it correctly positioned.
Overall, I’m very pleased with how the service went. Parts prices were good (especially with the good exchange rate) and the oils etc from the Auto Parts Store were a bargain. After Bob has rectified the filter re-position, there will be less reason to use BMW mechanics (Moditech & TB balance – unless I can borrow a Twinmax), which should keep future service costs to a minimum. I think I’ll get a K&N filter next service, too…
Many thanks to Jeff and Andrew (and to Keri, for putting up with us
)
