Mouse
Registered user
Bit of a contrived thread title there, sorry! I have a few pics to share, of some small jobs I've done on my bike recently. Firstly I've been investigating just how waterproof the electrical system is and cleaning mud and dirt out of various connectors. I finally got round to making a Dahoum-style "hugger" to keep mud off of the rear shock and battery compartment. Also a cheap and cheerful headlight protector, which I'm not totally happy with yet, but it works. And finally a modification to the BMW branch guards so it doesn't cost you five quid every time you knock them 
It was Saturday afternoon in Bakewell when I decided, on the spur of the moment, to see just how waterproof the R1200GS really is (photo courtesy of Mr Ifan).
Well it still ran after that! The next day I set about checking all the exposed electrical connections. As you can see, all the connectors have a waterproof rubber seal protecting the metal contacts. Mud and water has got into the connector, but not past the rubber seal.
I cleaned all the mud off with a stiff nylon brush, and gave the contacts a tiny squirt of WD40. I also applied a small amount of rubber grease (as used on brake caliper seals) to the rubber parts before reassembly.
You can also see that mud has got into the cavity housing the primary ignition coil, but again no water made it past the rubber plug cap.
So, it all looks pretty good, the electrical connectors are good quality and waterproof, including the high tension parts. But if you routinely submerge you bike (as I do) I would suggest spending some time once every month or so checking and cleaning all the electrical connectors, just in case.
Here's the headlight protector I made. It's simply cut from a but of perspex about 2mm thick, and supported by two brass strips which are claped in place by the indicators. The strips had to be prettyy thin to fit behind the indicator mount, so I added two more bits of thinner plastic, attached to the screen mounting screws, for added stability. I'm not totally happy with this bodge, but it does work
The BMW branch guards are actually quite a clever design. The guard can pivot on the end of the handlebar, and is attached via a small bit of sacrificial pastic to the mirror clamp. Therefore, in theory, a large impact will only break a small, replaceable, part rather than the whole thing.
And it works, but this being BMW the small replaceable parts cost £5.01 each. So here's my solution - cut from a sheet of rubber coated fabric, as used to make foot flaps (I got this from The Civil One who sent me some of his foot flaps to try out on the 1200, sadly I couldn't make them fit).
Here you can see that if the guard takes a knock, the rubber allows it to move round the bars, rather than just snapping. Remember if this happens to you, to check that the guard isn't fouling the control levers before you set off
And finally, inspired by Dahoum's cheapo hugger made from car footmats - I made this from similar stuff that my neighbour was throwing out
Haven't actually got round to testing this yet, but I'm hoping that next time I go off roading, my tool tray will not end up full of mud!
It was Saturday afternoon in Bakewell when I decided, on the spur of the moment, to see just how waterproof the R1200GS really is (photo courtesy of Mr Ifan).
Well it still ran after that! The next day I set about checking all the exposed electrical connections. As you can see, all the connectors have a waterproof rubber seal protecting the metal contacts. Mud and water has got into the connector, but not past the rubber seal.
I cleaned all the mud off with a stiff nylon brush, and gave the contacts a tiny squirt of WD40. I also applied a small amount of rubber grease (as used on brake caliper seals) to the rubber parts before reassembly.
You can also see that mud has got into the cavity housing the primary ignition coil, but again no water made it past the rubber plug cap.
So, it all looks pretty good, the electrical connectors are good quality and waterproof, including the high tension parts. But if you routinely submerge you bike (as I do) I would suggest spending some time once every month or so checking and cleaning all the electrical connectors, just in case.
Here's the headlight protector I made. It's simply cut from a but of perspex about 2mm thick, and supported by two brass strips which are claped in place by the indicators. The strips had to be prettyy thin to fit behind the indicator mount, so I added two more bits of thinner plastic, attached to the screen mounting screws, for added stability. I'm not totally happy with this bodge, but it does work
The BMW branch guards are actually quite a clever design. The guard can pivot on the end of the handlebar, and is attached via a small bit of sacrificial pastic to the mirror clamp. Therefore, in theory, a large impact will only break a small, replaceable, part rather than the whole thing.
And it works, but this being BMW the small replaceable parts cost £5.01 each. So here's my solution - cut from a sheet of rubber coated fabric, as used to make foot flaps (I got this from The Civil One who sent me some of his foot flaps to try out on the 1200, sadly I couldn't make them fit).
Here you can see that if the guard takes a knock, the rubber allows it to move round the bars, rather than just snapping. Remember if this happens to you, to check that the guard isn't fouling the control levers before you set off
And finally, inspired by Dahoum's cheapo hugger made from car footmats - I made this from similar stuff that my neighbour was throwing out
Haven't actually got round to testing this yet, but I'm hoping that next time I go off roading, my tool tray will not end up full of mud!
