Hi everyone!

It's summer, so of course my bike (K13S) is out to play again. I'm toying with the idea of changing the oil cooler for one of greater capacity to help with the cooling.

I'm already resigned to replacing the radiator every few years, but even with a fairly fresh rad, I find the bike is sometimes marginal on cooling (engine working hard at top of an Alpine pass, lots of low-speed hairpins etc). So, to give it a helping hand, I figure just swap the oil cooler for one that can cool more oil - can't hurt, right?

I've been looking at getting one made, but I've noticed from photos on ebay etc that the K1300GT oil cooler seems to be thicker (and therefore more cooling!) that the K13S version. They certainly have different part numbers. Is anyone able to confirm if these things are different sizes?

Thanks

Steve

Just after some ideas please, folks.

The title says it all really, but here's the longer version:

Last year, touring through Spain I was forced to leave my K13S (2014 model) out in some heavy rain, all night long.
The next morning, it worked perfectly when I started it up. We rode 3/4 mile to a petrol station and filled up.

About 2 miles after leaving the petrol station, there was a momentary glitch in the throttle - halfway round a corner it just lost power for half a second, then recovered.

Over the next 5 miles, the throttle glitch got progressively worse, with throttle response becoming more of an on or off affair, especially at part throttle. Eventually the bike stalled halfway up a mountain and wouldn't restart (ie it turned over OK but wouldn't run - definitely not the 'Hot start' problem).

I freewheeled back down the mountain 2 miles to a village, where I could take a proper look at it. My first thought was the throttle sensor, so disconnected the battery and went through the TPS reset process (open throttle wide 3 times etc).

Nothing I tried helped - so after 10 mins or so I stopped trying to start the bike for fear of flattening the battery.

20 mins later, prompted by the imminent arrival of a massive thunderstorm, I thought I'd give it one last try. The bike worked perfectly from that point onwards. Current theory on this is that the run after the petrol station got enough heat into the engine to warm up whatever was causing the problem - it just took a while to do so.


So, does anyone have any theories about where I should be looking for the culprit on this one? Obviously, TPS is still a suspect, and will be waterproofed as much as I can when I find it. Could it be anything else?

Thanks for any ideas.


Steve

Ebay ad: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-K1200GT-final-drive-2007/223150217928?hash=item33f4ca1ac8:g:zJAAAOSwCf9boADb

Very little used, almost new final drive. No corrosion whatsoever.

£500 on ebay, but if any Eurokclub member is interested I'll find a way to give a discount on it - send me a message here before pressing the buy it now button.


Steve

I got my '14 plate K1300S a few weeks ago, just in time for a big service before I go to Spain in 2 weeks.

So far, I've found a few things the previous owner didn't quite get right...:

• Brake Fluid used instead of mineral oil in the clutch hydraulics, despite the warning on the reservoir cap!
• Rear drive overfilled - around 350ml of gear oil drained off. Refilled with the normal 180ml.
• Front fork pinch bolts loose - in fact, loose doesn't do it justice - they were both 3 full turns out from seating, and about to fall out!

I can almost see how the wrong fluid was used in the clutch - brake fluid has been used in hydraulic clutches for years. Even the rear drive oil might make sense - if they used the upper aperture as a filler hole, rather than just doing everything through the ABS sensor hole. But the fork pinch bolts? And to think I rode this thing 50 miles before I started servicing it...

Needless to say, I'm going over the rest of the bike with a fine toothcomb before I get on the ferry to Spain. Some form of breakdown cover might be in order too...

Just want to gauge opinion on clutch rattles - lots of K's seem to do it, but I don't see that many people worrying about it until something breaks, or starts making noises that scare the neighbours. Feel free to post more info on what you've tried for fixing clutch rattles (other than just throwing it at the dealer under warranty for a new clutch - that isn't trying to fix it, that's just getting bits replaced, which may or may not cure the original issue!)

Thanks!


Steve

Hello everyone....

I don't have a bike at the moment, so I can't check this out, but the thread on seat alternates gave me an idea....

Would it be possible to raise the seat height on an S?

I think our seat height is listed at 820mm. Several bikes in the BMW range are a lot higher - some GS's are 900mm for example.

Being long of leg, I could do with a slightly higher seat on my next bike (which may well be a K1300S, if I win the lottery soon).

So here's the question: the front of the seat locates on a couple of lumps of aluminium. The rear locates in the locking mechanism, and the seat is supported midway by the frame. If I were to make some new lumps of metal for the front bit to hold the seat higher, and suitably longer rubber bushes where the midway support is, could I have a higher seat? (by maybe 20mm or so)

This is only a theory at this stage - can anyone see any objections?


Cheers

Steve

New toy time!

Many people use the ride height adjuster plates from Sandbar composites, but I have decided on a different one...

Picture here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/m4kzifzp9ajzsjb/IMG_1487a.JPG?dl=0

It's made by a company in Germany, called Schwabenmax. I chose this over the Sandbar ones as they offer a range of adjustment heights (the higher you go, the less stable the bike is at speed in a straight line, although even the highest have been tested, and cause no issues). I chose the 25mm version (the lowest in the range) - it still makes the bike turn much better (I'm told...!), it's the least likely to cause straight-line stability issues (and our bikes have steering dampers in any case), but also it's about the same as the lift kit fitted to the K1200R Power Cup bikes, so effectively it's a (more-or-less) BMW sanctioned mod. Even better, they're TÜV approved.

They arrived a few mins ago, and they look great - I'm quite impressed with the quality. They cost (including shipping) £81. The Sandbar ones were £71 without shipping - with shipping it was pretty much going to be the same price, so price ceased to be a factor in my choosings.

All looking good so far. Will fit at earliest opportunity, and report back on handling!


Steve

I have a K1300S engine going spare. I was going to put it in a kitcar when I bought it a year ago, but the project never got off the ground, so this engine needs a home.

The engine has 22k miles on it, and is complete, including:

Top end (valves polished, clearances checked)
Coils
Water pump
Clutch
Gearbox

There's no damage at all, but there is the usual paint flaking - I haven't got round to sorting out the cosmetics yet.

If anyone wants to buy this space-consuming lump, please be prepared to haggle interminably over the price!

If anyone happens to have a K1300S/R with a broken engine, I'd be interested in purchasing it.

Either way, please PM me in the first instance.

Thanks!


Steve