Frame damage & rust 1200GS Adventure

[mpiercy]

Gutted:
What I thought was a minor drop on the left hand side of my 1200GSA last week, about 15mph on loose gravel, bars & engine guard did its job well, but the passenger foot peg weld (rear) cracked open. Out came a mess of rusty water, and BMW dealer now estimates that a new frame is needed!! Anyone else had this happen?

 

[ovenpaa]

Hi Mpiercy, not seen you here before so welcome

I hope that is because of the rusty water and not the damage to the peg mount! Have they said they will cover it under warranty or do they expect your insurers to pick up the bill?

Anyway, sounds like it was being used properly!

 

[mpiercy]

Bike has done 18,000 miles in first year, including some very minor tracks, well used. Water collection might be from going through water fords, but design fault for letting water in and then not draining out? I accept cracking footrest was my fault but a frame right-off, another design fault? This is supposed to be a round the world vehicle!

 

[ovenpaa]

Ah, does this mean B*W are not going to pick up the cost of the frame then? It does rather sound like it is not 'fit for function' as the useage you have described should be quite acceptable for such a machine.

In fact the damage otherwise does not even sound like it is worth an insurance claim and loss of NCB, have you decided which way to go yet?

 

[wilbjr21]

Bike has done 18,000 miles in first year, including some very minor tracks, well used. Water collection might be from going through water fords, but design fault for letting water in and then not draining out? I accept cracking footrest was my fault but a frame right-off, another design fault? This is supposed to be a round the world vehicle!

How did the water get inside the frame? I ask because I haven't heard of this before.

 

[dronning]

You mean like this!

I did a little work to get the holes back to the right shape - I had to make a tool to attach to a panel puller to pull the rolled edges back out. Then I took it to a welder with a TIG outfit. You can't tell anything ever happened.

Oh if you decide to have it welded you can do it without removing the frame from the bike - just disconnect the battery (both terminals) and make certain the welder grounds very close to the weld.

Dave

 

[Tobers]

I've got to say that I have always been concerned about the weld quality of the R1200GS frame since my sidestand snapped off. I took the offending item to a professional industrial steelworks and their head welder examined it and professed the welding quality to be "shite" and said "is it from a BMW?". Apparently the weld hadn't penetrated properly into the joint leaving it very weak.

Also, to make matters worse, there was a narrow gap between the sidestand mounting and the frame where it was welded which water could get into, and the area was already rusting away nicely (no paint coverage there!). The mount is welded at the sides but not at the front & rear, leaving the gap.

I had a new subframe under warranty as a result. I sealed up the gap with shower sealant.

Also, the rear footpeg mountings just beg to be snapped off in a crash, meaning a new frame is required. They do stick out don't they. Why BMW didn't use bolt-on ones I dont know.

I think we'll see quite a few more frames rusting from the inside unfortunately.

 

[speedo]

You mean like this!

I did a little work to get the holes back to the right shape - I had to make a tool to attach to a panel puller to pull the rolled edges back out. Then I took it to a welder with a TIG outfit. You can't tell anything ever happened.

Oh if you decide to have it welded you can do it without removing the frame from the bike - just disconnect the battery (both terminals) and make certain the welder grounds very close to the weld.

Dave

The weld quality is shite there seems to be no penetration and this is definetly bmws fault.A proper weld should have both metals fused together allowing for some penetration normally if the weld is strong the frame tube would have broke or distorted and not the weld snapping off as if it was glued on.This is definetly a design fault and I would demand a new subframe or I would get a metallurgist [spelling ?] to check and xray the metals or weld I would think that you would receive a new frame under warranty.

 

[Tobers]

Just dug up this pic of my sidestand after it came off. See the rust. Lovely.

 

[Paul Mac]

RTW bike hahahahahahahaha - NO WAY. Poorly designed badly built Chelsea Tractors. Worst BMW I ever owned complete heap of crap.

 

[dronning]

The weld quality is shite there seems to be no penetration and this is definetly bmws fault.A proper weld should have both metals fused together allowing for some penetration normally if the weld is strong the frame tube would have broke or distorted and not the weld snapping off as if it was glued on.This is definetly a design fault and I would demand a new subframe or I would get a metallurgist [spelling ?] to check and xray the metals or weld I would think that you would receive a new frame under warranty.

Just to be clear the weld did not fail - they guy that welded it confirmed that for me. The peg mount was actually punched into the frame. That's why the frame tube was rolled inwards. In the lower pic the metal you see at the end of the mount is the frame that was punched out, the holes in the upper pic. This punch out was all the way round the weld and you can see there was very good weld penetration.

I believe the tube wall thickness is the issue. BMW went a little too light in order to save a few kilos.

Dave

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

whereas Ducati - who use trellis style frames use something slightly stronger than cheap thin walled mild steel tubing