► Steering head Bearings

Suspension on max....?

I am surprised you have preload at max.

I am 5ft 11 tall an 11 1/2 stone. I ride my bike with rear preload at minimum and it is perfect. The rebound damping is best (on my bike) at a quarter turn out ie less than standard.

My gs is April 2009 and I had steering head bearings replaced a month ago. I had notch in centre position. Not too bad but I had noticed the bike fell into corners at low speeds meaning you had to counter steer round corners.

New bearings mean steering is 100% neutral ie no force on bars required round corners at any speed. I was pleasantly surprised and I realise my bearings must have been trashed from new since I had always had oversteer ie the bike falls into corners!

With so much pre-load your rear will be topping out and causing horrible wobbles and twitches and a loss of confidence that you are going to get round corners. If you have the rebound damping wound up to compensate then the bike will squat over bumps and round corners.

Try setting suspension to standard preload and damping.
Basically a common mistake is too much pre-load and extra damping to control the topping out twitches will give you diabiolical handling and a zero confidence feeling round corners.

With damping only dial in just enough to prevent any oscillations and no more. Back it off first and dial in a little if needed. Like I say my bike on standard damping handles best with a smidge less than standard for me.

Just my 2 pworth.

My original bearings were loose and BMW adjusted them ha ha. I insisted once they are loose they are shagged and sure enough they had to replace them a month later.

Also check Tourances are approved for GS800. With tubes in you should really only fit tube tyres since tubeless will have thicker stiffer side walls.

I ended fitting OEM BA's after talking through with BMW uk technical.

(please please no mention of dampening in any replies....)
 
arcotplayer said:
I have a BMW R1100s and thinking of something smaller, why do so many low mileage bikes head bearings need changing, is it a design fault. Normally balls can be replaced by 'taper rollers' and that's it

Sorry if it's been asked many times before but I'd like to know before I dive in also what is the typical cost of replacement

Ta

Ed
Click to expand...

I think that part of the problem is that they don`t put enough grease in at the factory.
 
It depends what you mean by low milleage.

I had the head bearings replaced on F650 GS twin at 31,000 miles and that was after some heavy off road sessions.

I got the steering head bearings from Motorworks for £14.40 (same for F800GS) and BMW charged £90 to fit. I think a fair few people here have fitted the bearings themselves.

Hope this helps.
 
I have an 800Gs with 31,000 km and I think its time to change the head bearings. I note it is a standard SKF bearing, so thats good. SKF 320/28 X/Q

I suspect that this will be the lack of grease problem that BWM seem to have !
 
Stearing bearings and rear bearings

Put my F800GS into Park Lane as the clicking on the front end was being noticed again, among other minor issues. Bike has done 11600 miles, and has been in before in which they tightened the steering bearings - but the knock has been back for the last 4000miles or so.

Despite the bike still being in warranty (for another 2 weeks), they're stating the issues isn't warrantable and want to charge for bearing replacements for the front and rear end (£300+). They say it's normal wear-and-tear, like tyres or brake pads. Doesn't seem right to me and far below the BMW UNDER WARRANTY service standard I expect. Anyone had a similar issue?? Should I write to head office or something??
 
If you have had dealer servicing for the whole time, then it is either they have missed or done something.
I do not think bearings should wear out in less than 2 years, even with the state of our roads. Write to head office and complain, it is not living up to the BMW standard IMO.
 
Hi Jonno,

I had a similar issue with mine a while back...went to park lane they said nothing wrong with the head bearings :blagblah:blagblah....i know what isn't right on my bike. I booked it in at South London Mottorad (now part of the Vines group) and they replaced the head bearings and wheel bearings and sorted out the replacement chain and sprockets (another thing park lane was reluctant to do!).

You are well within your rights to get these items done under warranty, they aren't normal 'wear' items in that small mileage :augie of bike ;)

You could always try battersea mottorad if you don't fancy going to caterham, they even gave me a cup of tea whilst i waited....something Park Lane BMW isn't aware actually keeps people happy.

Good luck and happy riding :)
 
BMW consider headrace bearings a 'wear and tear' item and will not provide warrenty for worn parts!

If however your local friendly dealer was to file a warrenty claim on the basis that the bearing is defective (must be its only done a few miles and its knackered now :augie) then there would be a case for the claim being valid ;)

as explained to me by a friendly local dealer! :)
 
they wanted labour costs!! 25 min argument and late for dinner

Very useful reply chaps. Just came away from park lane having had to convince them to let me take the bike, they wanted to charge for the labour involved despite not fixing the problem! I have to speak to the manager on monday, they still think I owe them. Its infuriating to take your bike in due to a clacking noise only to be told it's £300 or money just to take the bike away without it being fixed, despite it being under warranty. Needless to say I'll be making some calls to some people and feel my bike should be repaired wihtout charge. Any further suggestions welcome (such as who to call!). BTW I onlu weight 61kg and ride the bike bike softly. Genuinely believe this shouldn't have worn them out prematurely based on your fe
edback.
 
My steering head bearings done twice under warranty, the first time was in Italy :eek:

Change your dealer :thumb

:beerjug:
 
In Australia BMW replaced my rear wheel bearing under warranty and even though warranty has expired they are sending me some steering head bearings at no cost ... I pay for labour.
 
madame's head bearings replaced under warranty at about 12k. Hardly and play at all and they did it at service without being asked.

As Micky says - change your dealer. I seem to hear lots of iffy stuff abolut Park Lane.
 
Thanks for the advice

Thanks again chaps, each experience very valuable. Dodgy Park Lane! Might try Vines again, or check out Coopers or that one in Hertfordshire to try and get some sense from a more 'local' dealer.
Any further input/experiences very welcome.
 
I could understand the argument that a wheel bearing might need replacing due to wear at 12,000 miles... but a steering head bearing is pretty much a life-time-item. The only way it'll wear is if it has got dirt into it, and on a bike like the GS, if dirt gets into it, it's a design flaw.
Don't pay for it.
 
Just had my steering head bearings replaced under warranty 09 bike 12400 miles
no problem, as before check with a different dealer.
 
Change of dealer

Okay, have taken the bike back down south which is where I should have taken in the first place, had my 6000 mile service there. They've confirmed informally bearings are usually warrantable, as you all thought. Park Lane is hounding me by phone to pay the bill (£88) for the diagnosis of the not-under-warranty problems (including the bearings), which I'm becoming stressed about. They're so adamant and keep arguing me down! Missed another call from them yesterday - I guess they'll just put the bill in the mail :nenau

To give you the full picture, I had also got them to check the fuel gauge (fuel ran out once with 23 miles left on the meter!), rusty pipes where they exit the engine block, and look into accumulation of oil around the filler plug which had occurred despite me not having touched it, so part of their argument was that they spent time looking at those issues and nothing was wrong. I understand these checks took some time. But if they’d replaced the bearings (since they ARE under warranty) due to the clicking like I’d asked – and calmly tried to negotiate – they wouldn’t have had ‘non-warrantable’ issues and be demanding money :mad:. They did find a heated grip was busted and replaced it.

Should I capitulate and pay the bill? Don’t want fees to accumulate, this would stress me out! Maybe BMW head office will refund it? I feel like I’m skipping out on a bill – but the bill is totally illegitimate in my opinion.
 
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Jonno,

you're best taking this up with BMW Head office:ymca, i don't think they will quibble at £88 fault finding mission for the sake of you being a happy customer....write them a letter:type with everything you've mentioned :blagblahon here and i'm sure they will sort you out :comfort

:banana
 
Hi all, just stumbled on this thread as Pro-tyre told me they noticed a rough rear wheel bearing when balancing my new Anakee 2. As anyone who has followed the chain failure thread over the past couple of years will know:

1. F800/650GS has been built with quite a few poor quality parts.
2. BMW customer service and head office don't give a f..k and will deny any problem.
3. Some dealers take it upon themselves to try to maintain the level of service BMW used to be renowned for (good on them) - other don't.

BMW now appears to be concentrating on broadening it's product range and market segment at the expense of quality and service with many of it's products and this is a shame. As for Park Lane, just tell them they can take you to court if they want the money - the cost to them of doing this would be prohibitive and you would probably win anyway!
 
Fixed. No cost.

Fixed with no fuss whatsoever by Vines :thumb2- credit to them. Picked it up on the Saturday and got a free curry and ride of the 1000RR thrown in (that's a tempting piece of machinery)! Such variation in service between dealers, very hard to understand. Thanks Vines for being somewhat close to London but having 'local' type understanding and service. Have written to the manager at Battersea about the stupid bill, giving them first right of official reply (have argued with them three times about it now, so its letters only. Verbal back-and-forth wasn't getting me anywhere) before I take it to head office. Thanks for your help everyone.

BWT front end handling feels amazing now - F800GS riders don't put up with an F800GS that has crap-all front-end feel and significant clicking over bumps/rutts that's not from the brakes. Yes it's a bit 'dive-ey' with braking (that's 'normal') - but it seems the race bearings can be loose and/or faulty so check it out.
 
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FWIW BMW Park Lane is not a normal dealer but is owned by BMW itself.

Plenty of stories of money-grabbing stinginess and poor service on here. I don't know how they stay in business.

I doubt they'd go to court to argue that an important bearing is a 'wear and tear' item with about the same service life as a front tyre
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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