Do exhaust butterfly valves still jam on later model 1200\1250's ? or is it solved?.

ChazzyB said:
Hmm, graphite. I wonder how hot the exhaust after the cat gets? Possibly not hot enough to oxidise graphite, especially as it's not exactly oxygen-rich in the exhaust.
Click to expand...

Interesting thought certainly needs a bit of scientific bods to jump in, found this interesting below.

Graphite can be heated up to 3000°C and more, and is indeed used as heating element in some high-temperature furnaces. Moreover, it is also used as susceptor in induction furnaces, reaching 3000°C without problem. But for doing so, it must be protected against oxidation, as it remains an organic material. In other words, it is prone to burn if exposed to oxygen. There is no problem for heating graphite in a stream of highly pure nitrogen up to 1000°C. Above 1000°C, you have to use argon, as carbon and nitrogen react together at very high temperature.
 
Sale of goods and services acts cover it "if it's faulty" the legislation for consumers is pretty clear and if you need to prove your rights under the act it's very easy to do it yourself and if you are "right" you will win..................the government web site is easy to follow and it worked for me.
 
Smogbob said:
Interesting tip below to add on to the Anti seize, credit to the gent

Click to expand...

Good to see that the valve can be unseized and lubed up. Seems easy enough todo for a bit of piece of mind.
 
G&T said:
Good to see that the valve can be unseized and lubed up. Seems easy enough todo for a bit of piece of mind.
Click to expand...

Might depend on how corroded or seized up it is, but at least worth a try, suppose patience and let some WD40 soak in for a few hours....;)
 
ChazzyB said:
I've a feeling the headers on my current GS were changed twice under the original 2 year warranty, because of the squeak. The last set (done at 24K) is squeaking again at just shy of 30K and less than 4 months later. I've bought the lube...
Click to expand...

My first LC had a squeaky flap when I picked it up at 13k miles and it still squeaked when turning the key at 32k miles.
 
G&T said:
Good to see that the valve can be unseized and lubed up. Seems easy enough todo for a bit of piece of mind.
Click to expand...

wow - i can't get mine to go anywhere near as free as that! - certainly there's no chance of it returning on the spring tension alone - if you move it to the 'shut' position its staying there until you move it back to open.

Ive wiggled that valve open / shut for what feels like hours and bathed it in all sorts - WD40, Penetrant oil, PTFE oil - its all been in there and it still requires fairly significant force to open or close it!

I do actually have some graphite powder kicking about so i might give it a go - i had just assumed that none of them "returned under spring tension"
 
Geekay said:
wow - i can't get mine to go anywhere near as free as that! - certainly there's no chance of it returning on the spring tension alone - if you move it to the 'shut' position its staying there until you move it back to open.

Ive wiggled that valve open / shut for what feels like hours and bathed it in all sorts - WD40, Penetrant oil, PTFE oil - its all been in there and it still requires fairly significant force to open or close it!

I do actually have some graphite powder kicking about so i might give it a go - i had just assumed that none of them "returned under spring tension"
Click to expand...

Suppose it depends just how much the flapper valve is corroded, maybe he got his a little earlier on.
 
Smogbob said:
Suppose it depends just how much the flapper valve is corroded, maybe he got his a little earlier on.
Click to expand...

yeah maybe.

My mistake was to use other bikes over winter i think. it seized up because it was barely used between december and march - I'm sure that's when it stuck.

My bike is a 2016 with 9,000 on the clock.
 
The more i read the more i think " why did i buy one?"..............all my big bikes for the last 20 years ie Honda, Yamaha etc have never been any/little trouble and yet BMW seem not to be able to sort out this exhaust valve.My Royal Enfield may prove it's worth.
 
Geekay said:
yeah maybe.

My mistake was to use other bikes over winter i think. it seized up because it was barely used between december and march - I'm sure that's when it stuck.

My bike is a 2016 with 9,000 on the clock.
Click to expand...

Found this video below very interesting, now we know the Flappy is in the headers in the LC, but headers removed winter time, and maybe give this ago, seems it will do the job.


 
firemanphil said:
The more i read the more i think " why did i buy one?"..............all my big bikes for the last 20 years ie Honda, Yamaha etc have never been any/little trouble and yet BMW seem not to be able to sort out this exhaust valve.My Royal Enfield may prove it's worth.
Click to expand...

Nothing worse than reading forums to scare you off. No one posts about what isn’t broken.

My bike has 14k on it now and has had no seized valve, no corrosion on engine etc and no failed suspension. I suspect that is the norm not the exception for the vast majority of bikes sold.

Having had many marques and have friends with other marques, I can say that in my experience the grass isn’t really any greener reliability wise.
 
firemanphil said:
The more i read the more i think " why did i buy one?"..............all my big bikes for the last 20 years ie Honda, Yamaha etc have never been any/little trouble and yet BMW seem not to be able to sort out this exhaust valve.My Royal Enfield may prove it's worth.
Click to expand...

You have been really lucky then. All my bikes over the last 40 years have all had issues. I had a VFR that the wiring was made out of cheese wire and burnt out on a regular basic. Yahama FJR that spent loads of time being repaired, along with a couple of Harleys, one of which had 7 recalls and 6 warranty claims in the first 2 years. The difference with BMW is they tend to fix things even if the warranty is finished or show some good will. You mentioned the sale of goods act, if anything fails in the warranty period it is fixed. If it fails after the warranty period and you don't have a warranty how can you claim under the sales of goods act. Not all flaps fail, seems to be more of a EU problem, very little noise on the North American forums about this issue. I had two failures in 5 years, both outside of warranty and BMW replaced the headers at a cost of £1300 each time, free of charge, apart from a £60 contribution the first time. Try that with Honda, Yamaha or Enfield.
 
Bike been in for service and they said the butterfly valve was still moving freely so keep an eye on it. They did sort the other problem of emergency call flagging up a false msg on TFT of "emergency call failure" . They said they connected bike up to BMW and there was an update to the emergency call module to fix it.
 
malcopopolo said:
14k miles is not a great amount. Your suspension WILL fail as your exhaust valve will sieze. These are known failures.
Click to expand...

Wow so with all the GS, GSA and RTs, all their exhaust valves will fail and the suspension with mileage. BMW must be spending £1000s on sorting and all those owners must be livid. Oh wait, maybe not all have issues, who knows :)
 
casbar said:
Wow so with all the GS, GSA and RTs, all their exhaust valves will fail and the suspension with mileage. BMW must be spending £1000s on sorting and all those owners must be livid. Oh wait, maybe not all have issues, who knows :)
Click to expand...
The actual cost for components is buttons compared to the cost bmw will actually charge. This way the gullable public think the warranty is a bargain and their motorcycle is s bargain premium machine

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 
Well, it seems my manifold will be swapped out because of the dry flap squeak. BMW have agreed to replace under warranty so FOC. Rybrook Wolves have been helpful in the process.

I’m lead to understand the nickel paste doesn’t help, so I’m not sure doing anything to the flap bearings from new will make any difference.

I will ask if this is a modified version compared to the original manifold.
 
G&T said:
Well, it seems my manifold will be swapped out because of the dry flap squeak. BMW have agreed to replace under warranty so FOC. Rybrook Wolves have been helpful in the process.

I’m lead to understand the nickel paste doesn’t help, so I’m not sure doing anything to the flap bearings from new will make any difference.

I will ask if this is a modified version compared to the original manifold.
Click to expand...

Yep we know it is a carbon buildup inside the area you cannot get at, Nickel paste will just help keep it smooth for as long as it lasts, and if it squeaks or jams after warranty, the flamethrower will be out....:D
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Bigcats
Bloody Exhaust Flapper Valve
2
Replies
34
Views
2,793
Bigcats
Bigcats
A tale of two or three bikes and a starter. (Or my trail to GS happiness)
Replies
6
Views
308
Paul Young
Paul Young
mrklunk
1200 > 1250 To upgrade or not? (cost to change, warranties etc)
2
Replies
36
Views
6,170
N111BJG
Spareparts
So good it has ruined biking
2 3
Replies
43
Views
8,790
GeorgeM
Mark Hooton
Rattling engine and seizing exhaust flap.
29 30 31
Replies
606
Views
87,735
malcopopolo
malcopopolo


Back
Top Bottom