R1200GS Brake Failure - Scary!

[MartinL]

Had brake failure yesterday on the way home from work. No warning just sudden lever back to the bars and very low brake effort. Fortunately this was on a quiet industrial estate, pulled in and found brake fluid leaking down from under the tank. Not a good sign on any bike but especially on a 2 month old, 2k miles machine!

BMW assist arrived within the hour and we stripped the bike between us and found one of the steel lines to the ABS block was fractured or pin holed and leaking badly. All the unions were tight so it looks like there is a flaw in the pipe itself which has blown out. Bike and me eventually taken home by recovery service, currently awaiting the transport to turn up this morning to take it back the the dealers (Southport).

Any body had a similar experience? The strange thing was I was only braking gently when the failure occured. After the running in period I gave the brakes a really good work out practicing E-stops hard enough to lift the back wheel but never had any poblems or subsequently any fluid level drop noted during pre-ride checks.

I guess the only good thing is that it happened now and not on our hols due in a couple of weeks. The consequences of a similar failure 2-up and luggaged on an Alpine pass are a sobering thought.

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

Feckin scarey alright. Be interested to know the diagnosis, was pipe damaged or manufacturing defect?

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Had brake failure yesterday on the way home from work. No warning just sudden lever back to the bars and very low brake effort. Fortunately this was on a quiet industrial estate, pulled in and found brake fluid leaking down from under the tank. Not a good sign on any bike but especially on a 2 month old, 2k miles machine!

BMW assist arrived within the hour and we stripped the bike between us and found one of the steel lines to the ABS block was fractured or pin holed and leaking badly. All the unions were tight so it looks like there is a flaw in the pipe itself which has blown out. Bike and me eventually taken home by recovery service, currently awaiting the transport to turn up this morning to take it back the the dealers (Southport).

Any body had a similar experience? The strange thing was I was only braking gently when the failure occured. After the running in period I gave the brakes a really good work out practicing E-stops hard enough to lift the back wheel but never had any poblems or subsequently any fluid level drop noted during pre-ride checks.

I guess the only good thing is that it happened now and not on our hols due in a couple of weeks. The consequences of a similar failure 2-up and luggaged on an Alpine pass are a sobering thought.

Make sure all the parts affected by leaking brake fluid are replaced too

Tank/plastics/telelever/shock/engine casings et al

I would want a replacement bike


Brake fluid will have ruined lots of the bikes finish

 

[Fanum]

First time I can remember this being reported on a 12......but I don't watch this section that closely....hopefully just a one off!

Agree with JB........check the damage very carefully!

 

[patzx12]

Hi Martin, Did the back brake fail as well ?

 

[mumbo]

was this connected with the replacement brake system recall? i just had the pipes replaced recently as a recall!!

 

[st247]

Thought i'd seen some mention of it before -

I don't know if this is connected, but my feb 08 1200 went in for its 6000 mile service today. All went well with the routine stuff. I was packing up to leave when I saw the tell tale shimmer of an oil leak on the wet ground under the bike. Had a good look and I could see oil coming down from under the tank. Thought the only way oil could be up there would be from the air box and crank breather. Back to the workshop, tank off and blow me, every time the front brake lever was squeezed, a thimble full of brake fluid came from the front brake union on the ally block distributor thingy!
All the unions were tight but it would appear that either the brake pipe (bundy tubing) was split, or the upset ferule was split. Either way, front brake failure would have preceded any 'low level' warnings!
Of course, none in stock but a spare was found

I think I have had a bit of an escape - better have a glass or two of vino tinto to settle my nerves!!!

Andy

From this thread.

 

[Temple]

same problem

this sounds exactly like what has happened to me recently

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153169

took the bike back to dealer (battersea) on return to london. i'm waiting on replacement parts for all the damaged areas effected by the leaking brake fluid. i will be inspecting it carefully to make sure they get everything!

G

 

[kbada]

Have just had brake piping/hoses that are located in the area under the tank/seat replaced under a BMW recall.

The symptoms to watch out for is a falling level in the reservoir - exactly as you describe, the brake fluid gets sent to 'dump'

I would think that the recall would be international - providing your bike is amongst the affected production run......

Just finished with this recall and the next one arrived - this time antenna/key sensor thingy is to changed.......

 

[talonfs]

Had exactly the same happen to me about 3 months ago(about the same time as the recall for the ABS fittings was announced on this site), I was approaching a roundabout and imagine my surprise and horror when the lever came right back to the bar with no resistence at all. luckily engine braking and a little bit of residual braking left over brought me to a stop.

The bike got recovered to Battersea, where I had only bought the bike 2 weeks previously(an ex-demo), they had no knowledge of the re-call!!!!!

The pipes were replaced as was the gearbox casing which got covered in brake fluid.

about a week after I got the bike back I had to get BMW assist to pick me up again. The mount on my starter had somehow sheared off and the cog stripped. this was also replaced under warranty./

Love the bike, but the niggles do put a small dampener on things.

 

[Malcvtr]

Had brake failure yesterday on the way home from work. No warning just sudden lever back to the bars and very low brake effort. Fortunately this was on a quiet industrial estate, pulled in and found brake fluid leaking down from under the tank. Not a good sign on any bike but especially on a 2 month old, 2k miles machine!

BMW assist arrived within the hour and we stripped the bike between us and found one of the steel lines to the ABS block was fractured or pin holed and leaking badly. All the unions were tight so it looks like there is a flaw in the pipe itself which has blown out.

Well mate, you might want to check out this thread (and others) by Nemezis:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140118&highlight=nemezis+brake+lines

This guy gets serious stick and abuse on this forum for being critical of BMW design faults, yet most of the time he's simply posting information. Which people don't want to hear...

 

[Paul Wakefield]

This guy gets serious stick and abuse on this forum for being critical of BMW design faults, yet most of the time he's simply posting information. Which people don't want to hear...

Cobblers.

He gets serious stick and abuse for being on a crusade, for going on and on and on and on, for spamming the site, for overstating his case, etc.

And occasionally raising issues of dubious importance.

He has raised some interesting issues which are worth being aware of but NOT having rammed them down your throat ad nauseam.

 

[Malcvtr]

Yeah right. Some people won't credit him with being right even when he's right. He might not always strike the right tone in his posts, but how good are you at expressing yourself in German?

The guy who started this thread had exactly the kind of brake failure Nemezis described. It's a life-threatening failure. But you (and I suspect you're not alone) can't even show enough decency towards Nemezis to admit that he was right and raised a very important issue.

 

[BeemerBaz]

was this connected with the replacement brake system recall? i just had the pipes replaced recently as a recall!!

Ditto

 

[MartinL]

R1200GS Brake Failure - Update

After playing telephone tag for half the day finally had a long chat with Southport's service manager. Fault is confirmed as failed steel brake pipe to the ABS module. Bike has been thoroughly cleaned down and the only damage from the fluid is to be the gearbox casing which is stained, probably due to fluid pooling on it overnight. It will be replaced with a complete new box from the factory. To be fair I gave it a good look over this morning and I could not see any paint damage even where the fluid had been running over the lower frame rails and stand.

They were quite open about this being a known fault and said BMW had addressed it (in the UK at least) by means of a "service campaign" rather than a full recall. The worrying thing is BMW have stated my bike was already built with the revised pipework and retaining clips so should have been OK. Southport have been instructed to return the affected parts to BMW for analysis.

BMW also told them that they have experienced failures attributed to the sleeve nuts being overtightened resulting in stress fractures where the pipe end is flared. Something to bear in mind if ever working on this unit - invest in an 11mm crows foot adapter for your torque wrench!

Anyhow the new pipework is UK stock so they plan to repair the brakes Saturday morning and have the bike back to me in the afternoon. The gearbox is a German stock part so that will be ordered and done in conjunction with the 6K service when we get back from Europe.

 

[MartinL]

I'm a fairly new here so I can't comment on Nemezis other than to say I'm glad he posted this particular information. I'm sure the only reason Southport were so open with me was because I made it clear I had done my research and knew there was a big issue here. So thanks!

 

[Malcvtr]

I'm a fairly new here so I can't comment on Nemezis other than to say I'm glad he posted this particular information. I'm sure the only reason Southport were so open with me was because I made it clear I had done my research and knew there was a big issue here. So thanks!

Good news mate

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

I'm a fairly new here so I can't comment on Nemezis other than to say I'm glad he posted this particular information. I'm sure the only reason Southport were so open with me was because I made it clear I had done my research and knew there was a big issue here. So thanks!

Martin

Is your 1200GS a 2007 or a 2008 (Revised) Model

 

[MartinL]

It is the latest '08 spec. new June 5th, 1925 miles on the clock and just starting to loosen up and smooth out.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

It is the latest '08 spec. new June 5th, 1925 miles on the clock and just starting to loosen up and smooth out.

Feck..................better check mine