I almost lost my skidplate the other day

[pojoel]

Have any of us experienced their skid plate coming loose? I almost lost mine last Friday.

I started to hear a sound I first thought was message notifications from my cellphone, but when my passenger asked me what that sound was. Then I halted. And noticed that the screws holding the plate were gone. And the nuts were so loose, I could unscrew them with my fingers.

Three (almost four) thoughts in my head about this:

* Did my dealer miss to apply the correct torque, when they did the service (even if that was ~2000 km ago)

* Could they have vibrated this much to come loose, due to me trying to use looow revs and play with the torque? It's fascinating when she shake like a wet dog, but still pull like a train.

* Is it possible that the Karoo 3 create such vibes? They sing like wounded whales above 55 km/h... I love them for their versatility, but their noise almost drives me nuts, even with earplugs...

* All of the above cooperated

 

[duckspeed]

I am going to guess they were not tight enough



Sent using witchcraft

 

[Earache]

Mine (1150) is in a trash can somewhere at a West Texas trucks top.
Thing fell down and ground a good portion of it away before I noticed it.


The bolts were tight, but the rubber isolators gave way. I'd guess the heat did it as it very hot out at the time. Or maybe they reached their service limit and quit.

 

[pojoel]

Mine (1150) is in a trash can somewhere at a West Texas trucks top.
Thing fell down and ground a good portion of it away before I noticed it.

Lucky I heard that faint clinking! I only have some scratches in front.

 

[kennyboy]

bash plate

mine almost fell off 5 miles from collection at oxford bmw tax disc holder gone within 3 days,(new bike)one year later first service and both mirrors swinging around in their mounts .do it myself this year not going back to oxford bmw

 

[Smug]

Mine disappeared on an off road ride because the rubber mountings split. Only noticed when I got back home.

I should have investigated when I heard some weird noises on the ride, which was probably the sump guard hanging down and clattering on the road, before all the mountings broke and it dropped off.

 

[Bendy toy]

Mine was clattering a few miles after I changed the oil. Both front bolts had dropped out. The new bolts are threadocked.


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[Neil W]

Both the rear rubber mounts failed on mine , I bought two heavy duty 8mm thread rubber mounting bobbins off e bay for a couple of quid and it was sorted , the standard BMW mounts are very lightweight and appear to be made of very soft rubber that tears easily and parts from the steel threaded portion

 

[Kiwi_Mike]

I had this happen a few months ago. The front two bolts had gone and the back two were a half undone. Which meant it was hanging at a 45 deg angle with the front a couple of inches off the ground. Luckily a friendly Saffa on a Bandit pointed it out to me at the lights before I rode over any speed bumps which could have caused an incident. I couldnt get one of the rubber bobbins out as there is nothing to grip onto so I ended up super gluing it back together (only glue in the house at the time) and it seems to be holding together OK now.

 

[Bendy toy]

Turn the base of the rubber mount with plumbers pipe pliers. You might also have success with a deep 6 point socket.
I have a (used) Touratech bash plate to fit. But it needs a new front mounting bracket and some work on the back mounts.


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[Doon]

Seems not to be an isolated incident then - I knocked mine off on a rock the first time but found it. Then last year did a long day (Nice to just south of Alicante for work). I heard a fair bit of rattling, but my exhaust rattles pretty badly so assumed it was that getting worse, and on arrival I went to put my bike on the centre stand and the plate just fell off ....... lucky really because it could have gone at any stage and never seen again.