I bought my K1300GT on 3 January 2011. After nearly 13 years and 124,980 trouble free  miles I have decided that the time has come for a change so today I put a deposit down on a very reasonably priced 2022 K1600 GT SE with all the bells and whistles. It will take a couple of weeks to raise the full asking price so should be on the road in 2 to 3 weeks’ time.

As the K1300’s age and mileage do not meet with BMW’s requirements I have had to sell the bike privately and the motor trader rode it away this afternoon.

A very sad day but I am eagerly anticipating the turbo charged flying armchair and new adventures next year. Christmas eh? Best time of the year to pick up a bargain motorbike

Good evening all and I hope you have all had a merry Christmas and are looking forward to the new year.

I have just bought a new Tomtom Rider 500 direct from Tomtom.

As is usual with North American Tech I cannot understand any of the “support” information.

To begin they have included a USB cable but I cannot see anywhere on the device where I can plug it in. This being so is the only way I that I can charge it is to plug in into the bike? Is there no way that I can charge it via my computer’s USB port? It can take up to five hours to fully charge. I have been for a ride and after filling up the device would not start up so I have taken it home, connected it direct to the wiring loom and it will now only power up after a couple of minutes with the engine running. This leads me to think that some of my earlier connections were not good so the device no longer has sufficient charge to power up.

My previous Tomtom which was a Start25 car sat nav that lived in a waterproof case used to tell me when it was charging but this new Rider 500 makes no mention of whether or not it is charging. Am I missing something?

I have tried to connect it to my home computer’s WI-FI. It faffs about, tells me that it has connected then says that there is a problem. Letting me know what the problem is seems to be too much bother for the device. Out of interest I am using my router’s password which I believe is the correct one to use.

I didn’t have any of these problems with the old Start 25 so will be grateful for any help you can give me. 2022 seems to be a year too far for this old codger!!



I will be grateful for any words of wisdom

Good afternoon all, a little help from your collective wisdom is required. I am afraid that my battery has seen better days and will shortly need replacing.

Previous posts on this forum suggest that the Odyssey PC 680 is a straight replacement but looking at photos on the Net the terminals seem different. My OE battery has the usual terminals that stand proud and the wiring is attached by a standard nut and bolt whereas the Odyssey seems to have threaded terminals. Does anyone know if the Odyssey will accept the OE wiring without any fuss and will it sit snugly in its compartment?

I popped in to Halfords this morning and they can sell me a Yuasa YT19BL-BS which is a straight replacement for the OE battery. Again, has anyone had any experience of this battery and if so is it a straight replacement? Also, of late, when the engine is hot it sometimes takes a few stabs at the button to get it started. Will the Yuasa battery solve that problem? I understand that the Odyssey will.

The Odyssey is about £20 more than the Yuasa. Is it worth the extra money?

I look forward to your thoughts.

I am thinking of buying a K1600GT Sport and want a suitable sat nav to fit into the hole in the dashboard. I understand that a Garmin 660 fits but is no longer available. Its replacement is the Garmin Zumo 395 LM. Does anyone know whether that will that fit into the dashboard? It's much cheaper than the Navigator and, to my mind, much easier to use.

Cheers all,
Tony

Does anyone have or know someone that has a spare LH pannier for a K1300 GT or alternatively know anyone that can put the lower latch locking mechanism back together? Preferably silver grey cover for the Exclusive Edition but any colour will do. I think one off an RT would fit as well.

Both Coopers, my dealer, and Motorworks, say it is cheaper to replace the inner half of the pannier rather than pay a BMW technician to reassemble the lower latch mechanism. Both think it will take well in excess of 2 hours, which you might think is excessive for only 2 screws! So, anyone related to a gynaecologist??

Thanks for your time,
Tony

I wonder if there is anyone out there who can help me.

I am trying to replace the rear disc pads on my K1300GT but cannot get the retaining pin to budge. The existing pads have done about 30,000 miles in all weathers so the retaining pin is probably rusted in.

So far I have pushed the pistons back, removed the spring retainer and am using an old drill bit as a drift to knock the retaining pin out. I am hammering the drift from the silencer side of the bike so that it comes out on the calliper side.

I have tried soaking a rag in boiling water then putting it over the casing to try to expand the metal but to no avail.

I have just squirted WD40 over the pin whilst shielding the disc. It has not worked so far so I shall leave it for a few hours then try again along with the boiling water trick.

Does anyone have any bright ideas? Has this happened to anyone else and if so how did they solve the problem?

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.


Cheers all,
Tony