Is DIY servicing straightforward on a GSA?

[Geoff Crowther]

Hi
I'm on my second GS (an 08 GSA). Traded my original 1200GS in while still under warranty. I also have an 03 R850R, bought last year second hand and presently under the "approved used" warranty. At the moment all the servicing has been done by Rainbow in Rotherham. I've no quibbles with them but, inevitably, servicing's not cheap.
Looking to the longer term, since I plan on keeping the GSA for a long while, (possibly the 850R too), what's DIY servicing like?
I serviced my old R80RT myself as well as my K100RS, which I owned for many moons before buying the 1200GS, but am aware just how much the bikes have progressed in terms of complexity of technology.
In particular, do I need to consider buying a diagnostic gizmo? I see Touratech sell one for £515. Are there alternatives?
Also, how do DIY servicers get around the, seemingly frequent, "software updates"?
Loooking for any helpul advice folks.
Cheers and seasons greetings to you all!
Geoff

 

[ebbo]

All I recon you need for a service is a good set of vacuum gauges to set the throttle bodies (tick over balance looks after itself) Oil, filters and the usual tools you'd be quite familiar with.

For fault diagnostic and resetting I’d buy a GS-911. There are two versions, USB for plugging in to a laptop or the more expensive USB/Bluetooth version for laptop or use of a suitable Bluetooth mobile phone as a fault reader. (£200ish)

GS-911 - http://www.hexcode.co.za/

 

[skywalker]

All I recon you need for a service is a good set of vacuum gauges to set the throttle bodies (tick over balance looks after itself) Oil, filters and the usual tools you'd be quite familiar with.

Really ! If this chap's got one of the new model's with the service lights,then howz he going to get round the service light problem?

 

[John Armstrong]

Need to think about brake bleeding costs if you've an ABS bike Never had the balls to mess with it on my ABS bikes

Probably can get the kit to do it if you have the ability / knowledge to change the brake fluid.

 

[FOGGY]

put black tape over it.

home service may be cheap, but think of the long term when you have a warranty issue ( quite rare i believe ) within aub period and your missing a service stamp ( is this not in the small print ). suddenly becomes very expensive with a void warranty.

if you buy extended warranty afterwards you still need the service stamps.

 

[John Armstrong]

if you buy extended warranty afterwards you still need the service stamps.

I seem to remember it is a requirement. Whether it has to be a BM stamp, or able to show direct equivalence (ie independant using BM parts / tools / schedule etc), I'm not so sure about.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

For the extended warranty, you will need to have the bike serviced at the dealer. Not sure how BuMW would look on a warranty claim in the normal warranty period if you haven`t had the bike serviced by them either.

I think the service costs aren`t too bad and given the complexity of the canbus, I`m happy to let my dealer do the work on my 1200GS-A. My 1100 is different though.

I do quite a high mileage and the servicing works out at @ 20ppm which I`m happy with.

 

[Pukmeister]

I think the service costs aren`t too bad and given the complexity of the canbus, I`m happy to let my dealer do the work on my 1200GS-A.

On an older 1200 out of warranty (like mine) there's little to be afraid of. Servicing is pretty basic.

The CANBUS looks after itself, its three or four microchips chatting to each other down a wire. There aren't even any fuses to check or change.

Servicing is servicing: Change the oil and filter, replace gear/FD fluid at intervals, clean the K&N, set rocker endfloat and valve clearances, balance the throttle bodies, flush the brake fluid and check the brakes & tyres, lights & horn etc. Clean and inspect, apply ACF 50 etc. Ride and enjoy.

 

[wilbjr21]

All I recon you need for a service is a good set of vacuum gauges to set the throttle bodies (tick over balance looks after itself) Oil, filters and the usual tools you'd be quite familiar with.

Really ! If this chap's got one of the new model's with the service lights,then howz he going to get round the service light problem?

It's to be taken care of in the next software release.

 

[ebbo]

All I recon you need for a service is a good set of vacuum gauges to set the throttle bodies (tick over balance looks after itself) Oil, filters and the usual tools you'd be quite familiar with.

Really ! If this chap's got one of the new model's with the service lights,then howz he going to get round the service light problem?

The makers of the GS-911 are working on a reset function as far as I know,

 

[Sgt Bilco]

On an older 1200 out of warranty (like mine) there's little to be afraid of. Servicing is pretty basic.

The CANBUS looks after itself, its three or four microchips chatting to each other down a wire. There aren't even any fuses to check or change.

Servicing is servicing: Change the oil and filter, replace gear/FD fluid at intervals, clean the K&N, set rocker endfloat and valve clearances, balance the throttle bodies, flush the brake fluid and check the brakes & tyres, lights & horn etc. Clean and inspect, apply ACF 50 etc. Ride and enjoy.

Fair point and i`d probably do a lot more servicing if I didn`t have the extended warranty cover

 

[skywalker]

Foggy - Do you know where I can get some of this black tape please.Have you got a part number for it please ?
Agree with the service stamp issue. If I recall part of the service schedule is to check the fault memory using BMW's diagnostic kit & issue a printout to the customer (got one of these at last service).It says on the sheet "checking fault memory with BMW GT1" so I suppose if you haven't got one of these then you haven't really serviced the bike as per the manufacturer's schedule have you ?
Sounds petty but its something they could nitpik on should they need to

 

[skywalker]

Ps Foggy - are there many warranty issues with these bikes or am I missing something?

 

[cookie]

Ps Foggy - are there many warranty issues with these bikes or am I missing something?

 

[FOGGY]

Ps Foggy - are there many warranty issues with these bikes or am I missing something?

black tape is available from most good dealers (part no. GAFFA-DUCK-TAPE).

only 2 warranty issuses i currently know of are:

black tape discolouring and the other is loosing its stickyness.

other than that nowt to worry about.

 

[Geoff Crowther]

Hi all
Thanks for al the replies so far.
The diagnostic tool's a good tip, thanks. It's about a quarter of the price of the Touratech version. I wonder if it'll work on the 850R though. Do I need to buy one for each bike, I wonder?
Just to be clear re some of the comments; I'm thinking ahead to a time when neither bike is under warranty. I'm well aware of the conditions of warranties but my 850R will be out of it's AUB warranty in the Spring of 2009. I don't think I can extend that, (the bike's already 5 years old), but may consider it for the GSA.
Still want to consider DIY maintenance in the future though.
Any further comments are welcome.
Cheers
Geoff

 

[Pukmeister]

DIY Maintenance/Servicing

The only personal concern I have is if my Servo ABS pump were to develop a fault. They are damned expensive to replace and due to the CANBUS system I believe removing the pump and changing to a non-ABS system may be more involved than doing the same on an 1150 with conventional wiring.

I suspect that dealer involvement would be required with a GT-1 diagnostic computer to change a few settings in the electronic controller modules to 'deactivate' the ABS feature when removing the pump.

Does anyone here have a definitive answer about converting a Servo ABS 1200 model to conventional hydraulic brakes ?

 

[Steptoe]

The diagnostic tool's a good tip, thanks. It's about a quarter of the price of the Touratech version. I wonder if it'll work on the 850R though.

Works on all post 2001 850 and all 1150 and 1200. In fact any model fitted with the round diagnostic socket.

 

[skywalker]

:

black tape is available from most good dealers (part no. GAFFA-DUCK-TAPE).

only 2 warranty issuses i currently know of are:

black tape discolouring and the other is loosing its stickyness.

other than that nowt to worry about.

I woz thinking about material- PVC or cloth.Think PVC might be affected if you been touching cloth