what could possibly go wrong

[fizzer]

just bought a r1200gs 2011 twin cam,17500 miles on it .in fab condition.anyway it has no extras at all its a base model ,no abs,tps, fancy suspension,nowt ,only heated grips.the previous gs,s i have had problems with fpc,abs,tank sender twice. etc.admittedly the 09 plate that i sold to bryn was ok ,but the first 05 i had was a nightmare.
is this twin cam a sorted bike,does it have a fuel strip or a float.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

It has a float so at least that's one less thing to go wrong.

Generally the tc's are fairly sorted but the FD can and does still fail.

 

[comberjohn]

Just put 13000 miles on my 2010 TC since March. Now at 24k and absolutely no problems.
Reckoned to be the most sorted of the line.

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

I have put 75K kms on mine in Saudi, and it is a joy to ride. Powerful, torquey, great brakes.

I think mine has a strip sender but so far no prob. I wonder if there is a relation between budget fuel and strip problems?

I had one problem - misfiring after riding at top speed in +40C - thought I had burnt a valve but stripped and all found perfect. Looking back, I think it might have been a limp-mode event.

I fitted a booster-plug to richen it a bit, it made a slight (10%) inc in fuel consumption, slightly smoother too, but not really a necessary thing.

Must-fit accessory - big-foot for the side stand.

There are two recall items that I know of:

Rear brake disk mounting screws - cracks in the bosses of the mounting spider.
Fuel pump discharge connector - crack in the plastic at the push-fit connector.

Great bike, enjoy!

 

[GeorgeM]

Rear wheel bearings , despite the design change still failing.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[StewMcGrew]

Where do I start ...................................

Ignition barrel,
Speed Sensor
Crown race bearing (twice)
Starter motor
Exhaust flap
final drive rubber boot things
new rear axel


That's all ........ so far

 

[fizzer]

ha ha thanks lads,some good news and bad news eh

 

[Bendy toy]

Keep a check on rear wheel side play. Mine was technically within limit when it began to leak oil. Rather than have a new wheel bearing I sent the FD to MikeyBoy. He said all internal bearings were "ready" but his charges are very reasonable.

The rear paralever has a heavy needle roller setup. Unfortunately these are a poor design for a rocking action bush. The grease gets rubbed away from the rollers and wear sets in early. However, you can recirculate the grease when you change the FD oil. Do it the old way.

Take off brake caliper - always good to get a proper look because it eats brake pads
Remove the speedo sensor/oil filler.
Unbolt the paralever bush and swing the FD down and let oil drain from the filler. This rubs grease around those needle rollers.
Swing it back, refill the oil and box it up.

You could consider heavily packing the needle rollers but you'll need a heat gun to loosen the thread lock and a suitable torque wrench. Over packing wheel bearings is a bad idea - they overheat. Doing the same on rocking bearings is good because the grease is merely shunted back and forth.

 

[fizzer]

cheers mate

 

[Neil W]

The twin cams have a better FPC, proper fuel sender float, gearbox appears more sorted with a better change , all in all the best of the best

 

[Roymondo]

Why is it that pretty much every time this sort of subject crops up, someone always pipes up about how their five year old bike has covered something like 5,000 miles a year without anything breaking and this is somehow a measure of a good/durable machine? These are supposed to be "unstoppable" bikes, premium machines capable of traversing continents, not bloody shopping cars - the vast majority of which appear to be capable of doing at least double that sort of mileage without needing major surgery.

 

[comberjohn]

Not sure what your point is, Roymondo.
As I said, my GS has done 13k miles since March this year and I expect to have taken that up to 16-17k miles by next March. A fair annual mileage on two wheels or four.
I'll get it serviced when required and I'm not expecting any problems. If there are, I'll get it fixed with the BMW extended warranty.
Traversing continents? Did 2000 miles in September going through France, over the Pyrenees into Spain and back in under a week. Does that help?
I know guys who do a thousand miles a year on their bikes. It's their money, as long as they're enjoying themselves.
I will turn 60 next month and expect to do at least the same mileage next year and enjoy every minute. Ride it while you can.

 

[Bendy toy]

I think Roymondo means 5000 miles a year is no measure of a bike's durability.
My 08 has now done 55K with a rebuilt FD at 50K and some frame paint issues. The front shock is original. Rear was replaced at 27K and current shock feels off colour.
But to be fair the shocks are wear n tear. Otherwise it's been pretty solid.
I forgot it had new primary coils around 40K the old black type are not too strong.
Apart from the FD it's compared pretty well with cars I've owned.

 

[comberjohn]

I agree, bendy.
Don't think you can compare any bike with 'bloody shopping cars'.
They don't have as many exposed 'bits' as a bike for a start. Plus, even our old, air cooled twins redline much higher than the typical puddle jumper and produce roughly 100bhp per litre.
They are a leisure vehicle. It's a bit like comparing an Ariel Atom with a Renault Clio.
Any manufacturer who produced a car with full bodywork and a low revving engine with modest power output, would die a death very quickly.
Seen it so many times in the motorcycle press over the years. What yer average motorcyclist, whoever that is, says he wants, would never sell.
Prime example is chain enclosure. I've had a couple of bikes with it. For a chain drive bike, it's brilliant!
No mess and the chain lasts for ages. Couple of firms even tried to offer kits for the Honda 750. Where are you now, Furlong?
My point is, manufacturers don't build what motorcyclists SAY they want, they build what they know people will pay to have.
If you don't like it, don't buy it. (There's nothing else available, by the way.)

 

[Bendy toy]

I want to see a radial four 2 stroke with direct injection and turbo charging. If the performance of DI converted old clunkers and the stunning Rotax 800 are anything to go by it would be very powerful and very clean. Being a radial four there is zero primary vibration and firing four times per revolution almost no torque vibration. Inline fours always buzz. V twins don't but they hammer the transmission.

Gearbox - why can't we have a design like the Rholoff cycle hub. Mount it in the frame with just 7 instead of 14 speeds and scaled up to manage the power but the power losses are low, epicyclic gears don't vibrate and can be used to step up or down 2 speeds for the costs of one (sort of).

Drive chains. Slab sided chain cases indeed look horrible, But some of the proper performance MZs (e.g. 250GE) look pretty cool with small chain tubes. They also allow a double row chain. Small links mesh more evenly and the three or four side plates per link will handle serious torque loads.

The problem with bike desing is nobody want to think out of the box. The Britten 1000 came close but never made it to production before the sad death of John Britten. This could have an enclosed chain drive and look virtually identical to the race bike. Obviously too much hassle on a race machine but does anyone change the chain ratio on a road bike?

Check out the (almost) hidden chain and a hugger that might actually protect the bike. Not to mention the fab front end. The back end suspension is too fussy for my liking, but hey it works very well according to Guy Martin.

MZ GE 250 (42bhp) East German GDR form follows function. Restyle that back end and the chain cover could melt away from view. Put rollers ahead of the chain wheel and the chain could be tucked in close to the swing arm (above and below) and end up looking like a shaft drive.

How about Citroen style full hydraulic powered brakes? With high working pressures the brakes can be (a lot) smaller. The trade off is weight of hydraulic pump etc but that's close to the engine and not hanging out in the wheels - better handling and it provides the ABS power. Hydraulics can also control the suspension height. At speed the bike rises for ground clearance. At low speeds it drops down so the rider can reach the floor. On huge tourers it can drop side stand style undercarriage so the car sized bike becomes (erm) a car.
Wash my mouth out and cue jokes about kiddy stabilisers.

Anyone who drove one of the old Citroens was surprised just how well they handled. Funny French maybe but some handy ideas in there as well.

 

[The bigun]

I want to see a radial four 2 stroke with direct injection and turbo charging. If the performance of DI converted old clunkers and the stunning Rotax 800 are anything to go by it would be very powerful and very clean. Being a radial four there is zero primary vibration and firing four times per revolution almost no torque vibration. Inline fours always buzz. V twins don't but they hammer the transmission.

Gearbox - why can't we have a design like the Rholoff cycle hub. Mount it in the frame with just 7 instead of 14 speeds and scaled up to manage the power but the power losses are low, epicyclic gears don't vibrate and can be used to step up or down 2 speeds for the costs of one (sort of).

Drive chains. Slab sided chain cases indeed look horrible, But some of the proper performance MZs (e.g. 250GE) look pretty cool with small chain tubes. They also allow a double row chain. Small links mesh more evenly and the three or four side plates per link will handle serious torque loads.

The problem with bike desing is nobody want to think out of the box. The Britten 1000 came close but never made it to production before the sad death of John Britten. This could have an enclosed chain drive and look virtually identical to the race bike. Obviously too much hassle on a race machine but does anyone change the chain ratio on a road bike?

Check out the (almost) hidden chain and a hugger that might actually protect the bike. Not to mention the fab front end. The back end suspension is too fussy for my liking, but hey it works very well according to Guy Martin.

MZ GE 250 (42bhp) East German GDR form follows function. Restyle that back end and the chain cover could melt away from view. Put rollers ahead of the chain wheel and the chain could be tucked in close to the swing arm (above and below) and end up looking like a shaft drive.

How about Citroen style full hydraulic powered brakes? With high working pressures the brakes can be (a lot) smaller. The trade off is weight of hydraulic pump etc but that's close to the engine and not hanging out in the wheels - better handling and it provides the ABS power. Hydraulics can also control the suspension height. At speed the bike rises for ground clearance. At low speeds it drops down so the rider can reach the floor. On huge tourers it can drop side stand style undercarriage so the car sized bike becomes (erm) a car.
Wash my mouth out and cue jokes about kiddy stabilisers.

Anyone who drove one of the old Citroens was surprised just how well they handled. Funny French maybe but some handy ideas in there as well.[/QUOTE "what possibly could go wrong " with that lot !! You'll have the Bmw engineers worried if you put all that lot together can think why it's never been done

 

[comberjohn]

Yup. There's nothing really new.
That's the same chain enclosure I had on my first, um, legal road bike. A 1972 MZ 250 ETS. Compete with leading link front forks.
Seem to remember that the Benelli 900 six had a duplex drive chain as standard. That and a well designed enclosure would not be too far away from shaft drive in practical terms. Lot cheaper to produce, too.
That exposed chain would be the one thing that would put me off an 800GS.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Citroen have adaptive headlights forty years ago? And then there was the original plumbers nightmare, the Citroen Maserati!

 

[Bendy toy]

BMW have shovelled complexity into the Hexheads and Toilets so I guess they cant possibly go back. That would be retrograde. More always = better.
The Citroen DS was mega money at the time but was well built ( should be for the money).
The BX had a simple little hydraulic pump about 3" long by 2" dia driven by the fan belt and an accumulator tank. That would take space but can't be beyond the wit to find space. Seat hump maybe. Hexheads already have a fan belt.
None of my suggestions are complicated. The two stroke is actually a lot LESS complicated - all valve gear and timing chains vanish. I'm suggesting a turbo or driven blower because spannies are so bulky.
Hub gearbox designs are already done. The Rholoff is way over engineered so scale it up. Solid Worx will do that in a few wafts of a CAD operator's mouse.
Sitting it in or by the engine reduces complexity.
The MZ GE was a competition special that looked like a TS engine but with 2x the power. Obviously smokey but that's what DI injection sorts out.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Only trouble is Bendy that 2 strokes are banned in many parts of the world over a certain size. Doesn't matter if they are clean or not 2 stroke = not allowed. Although you say they are clean I would love to see some proof. They were anything but clean in the past and for all their simplicity they couldn't half be a right pain in the backside to keep running properly. Direct injection may be an option for cleaning it up a bit although not so good for lubrication. Would be especially beneficial with forced induction as so much would blown straight out the exhaust port otherwise. I am in no way saying it couldn't be done just it wouldn't be easy in the modern age where emissions mean everything.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Meant to say as well re the chain case. Using a coaxial frame (swingarm pivot in the center of the front sprocket) would make it so much easier. I can only ever remember Spondon doing a coaxial frame which us a shame. Zero tightening or slackening of the chain through the rear wheel arc should help chain life as well as meaning you could run the chain tight so less clearance needed on the enclosure.