Tank slap ?
- Thread starter bobsnew
- Start date
They have tried both, problem still exists.
Rear wheel was changed, difficult to believe, that this issue has not arisen before.
J biker
Registered user
If its in warranty, straight to BMW to sort. There is no good reason for it. Probably the most stable bike on the market, even with luggage, up to 120mph. Autobahn tested 1200, 1250 and 1300..
Insist on a courtesy bike while they sort it.
Insist on a courtesy bike while they sort it.
Have you recently changed the tyres ?
I had horrendous issues on my 2018 r1200gsa due to a faulty set of Dunlops , also on my 2011 r1200gsa I had a fauly front Continental TA 2 that caused a wobble
I had horrendous issues on my 2018 r1200gsa due to a faulty set of Dunlops , also on my 2011 r1200gsa I had a fauly front Continental TA 2 that caused a wobble
I had a faulty front Tourance on my Super Tenere. It had a severe wobble at high speed. The tyre place replaced it and it was gone. The tyre had no visual sign of faults or damage.
It's a new bike 700 miles.
They are Tourance as come with the bike, wheels and tyres have been changed, no difference.
They have supplied one.
that's rather disappointing, keep up the fight
I guess you have taken out a demonstrator on the same spec tyres and tyre pressures (ideally with same luggage, screen size and position etc.) and found the other bike seems normal / distinctly different to yours ?
I would also check vehicle height both ends - both unladen and with the rider on board - and if one has the ride height drop (maybe not working) and the other was without / or with it functioning normally that would introduce a geometry change....
I had a KTM that went in to the dealership for a recall on its software - 24 months old 6k miles and like a brand new bike - it came back with a massive front end vibration / weave - like super severe wheel balance ("outside this country" at 110mph you could see the front wheel spindle vibrating front and back around 30mm at such a frequency you think the forks would snap) - it was utterly horrific, and super dangerous - I could see no damage or issue with the bike - but it did have crappy electronic suspension control. And even when they had it back things only got worse - third visit ended up with no damping on the front forks for 18 months, then a new rear shock, still wrong. Another dealership re calibrated the "stroke sensor on the rear shock" and somehow that magically made the front damping wake up ??? But the vibration never left - sold it never found the issue
when I traded it in, I took off the top box they thought contributed to things - and the front fender extender - neither made an iota of difference
Only once did I have this problem, which was on my 1200 GSA in around 2012.
I had new tyres fitted, which were Dunlop something or other, a full on road biased tyre.
The bike, unloaded with no panniers, would suddenly deliver a very sharp and repeated shake of the head at about the same speed as you describe. In other words, feeling like the start of a full tank slapper that never matured into something. Not every time, but often enough to confirm that something was very amiss.
The tyre’s were both checked and rebalanced. But still it persisted, becoming very disturbing at night in particular.
BMW Park Lane borrowed the bike for one of their technicians to take home, who agreed that there was something definitely wrong, everything pointing to the tyre(s). The tyres were exchanged for some other brand and Bingo! The problem vanished.
The tyres were then sent back to Dunlop. I never heard the end result.
It’s very rare but, now and again, a tyre will have some defect that is invisible. I just seem to have had one.
I had new tyres fitted, which were Dunlop something or other, a full on road biased tyre.
The bike, unloaded with no panniers, would suddenly deliver a very sharp and repeated shake of the head at about the same speed as you describe. In other words, feeling like the start of a full tank slapper that never matured into something. Not every time, but often enough to confirm that something was very amiss.
The tyre’s were both checked and rebalanced. But still it persisted, becoming very disturbing at night in particular.
BMW Park Lane borrowed the bike for one of their technicians to take home, who agreed that there was something definitely wrong, everything pointing to the tyre(s). The tyres were exchanged for some other brand and Bingo! The problem vanished.
The tyres were then sent back to Dunlop. I never heard the end result.
It’s very rare but, now and again, a tyre will have some defect that is invisible. I just seem to have had one.
It's a very unusual problem, the handle bars shake and go from side to side but not enough to lose control, only at that specific speed 45/48 and then levels out. It's remaining at the dealers until they resolve the issue. They say they have carried out complete wheel and tyre changes. The bike is is on Metzlers.
No weave, just excessive vibration and side to side on the bars.
I had similar, but was the rear. …. Shook its head due to bad rear tyre. Tyre shop replaced it free of charge, and sad they did occaisionally get defective tyres.
Reject the bike…..
It’ll always have a doubt in the back of your mind even if they state it’s fixed.
It should be rock solid at all speeds, wit( or without luggage.
Reject the bike and if they are not playing ball ask the dealership to have a representative from BMW UK test staff to take the bike out and explain the issues
My new 2014 R1200GSA had numerous issues with the suspension (and many other things) and in the end BMW UK on the instruction of the factory fitted a telemetric recording and monitoring device to the bike and it was ridden for a few weeks by staff at the dealership , every time it was ridden live data was sent to the factory and then after the ride downloaded onto BMW's database .
It helped but even after 3 rear and 3 front ESA shocks and a multitude of ECU updates (in 30 months ) they never really bottomed out the problems because the bike was basically a complete and utter turd , it was later after I part Exed it shipped back to Germany to be further tested (and was eventually crushed )
My new 2014 R1200GSA had numerous issues with the suspension (and many other things) and in the end BMW UK on the instruction of the factory fitted a telemetric recording and monitoring device to the bike and it was ridden for a few weeks by staff at the dealership , every time it was ridden live data was sent to the factory and then after the ride downloaded onto BMW's database .
It helped but even after 3 rear and 3 front ESA shocks and a multitude of ECU updates (in 30 months ) they never really bottomed out the problems because the bike was basically a complete and utter turd , it was later after I part Exed it shipped back to Germany to be further tested (and was eventually crushed )
An unbalanced wheel will go in and out of phase, therefore vibration will come in, then go as you speed up until it reaches the next octave, as it were - unless of course it's so badly buckled it just goes into self destruct!
I think you have the answer. Especially with a faulty like this AND they can't seem to diagnose it
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