On a trip to Oxford last week I heard a metallic crack sound not long before arriving at the office I was going to. When I got off the bike, I discovered that the bolt that holds the plate over the end of the swing-arm had come loose, allowing the plate to swing freely. It of course, managed to catch itself on the rear sprocket bending both the nut holding it in and a part of the swingarm 
It bent everything in such a way that it was proving very difficult to but it back in to any sort of shape to make it safe for riding 
Amazing that such a small piece can cause such inconvenience!
As I was in Oxford, I resorted to taping it all up to try to prevent anything catching in the sprocket again and rode to North Oxford BMW - thinking: "This could be expensive!" However, they were great - they told me that they would need to replace the bolt, the plate, the internal assembly inside the swingarm... and the swingarm!! However, they then proceeded to tell me that all this was covered under warranty as I had bought the bike from a dealer in the last 12 months!! (the bike is an 02 Dakar) The only downside was that if I had called BMW Assist instead of going to the garage they would've got me a hire car... but my expectations were already surpassed so I didn't mind. 
So, tip number one: Check the bolts holding those plates on regularly.
Tip number two: BMW warranties are great! 
Mav
It bent everything in such a way that it was proving very difficult to but it back in to any sort of shape to make it safe for riding Amazing that such a small piece can cause such inconvenience!As I was in Oxford, I resorted to taping it all up to try to prevent anything catching in the sprocket again and rode to North Oxford BMW - thinking: "This could be expensive!"
However, they were great - they told me that they would need to replace the bolt, the plate, the internal assembly inside the swingarm... and the swingarm!! However, they then proceeded to tell me that all this was covered under warranty as I had bought the bike from a dealer in the last 12 months!! (the bike is an 02 Dakar) The only downside was that if I had called BMW Assist instead of going to the garage they would've got me a hire car... but my expectations were already surpassed so I didn't mind. So, tip number one: Check the bolts holding those plates on regularly.
Tip number two: BMW warranties are great! Mav
The axle bolt was still tight...
