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Messages - stevel

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1
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Additional cooling...
« on: May 14, 2024, 11:38:14 am »
As has happened to many other folks, I've had problems with cooling on my K1300S, especially when in hot weather and slow riding in European towns with their 30kph speed limits - it's not long before the temp climbs and the fan kicks in - and when it gets that far I get quite nervous about it overheating.

My radiator is new (and yes, it was vacuum filled) coolant is the BMW stuff that must contain a fair amount of gold particles or something, given how much it costs. I don't think there's anything wrong with the bike, other than poor design. So I'm thinking about adding some extra cooling - a radiator would be tricky as there's nowhere to put one, but I think I can squeeze in a small additional oil cooler under the headlight somewhere. Has anyone tried this? And can any of you lot see any problems with doing this? I'm thinking it'll add some extra cooling capacity (not much, but I don't think it needs much extra capacity - a little bit extra should help, in any case), and it's still thermostatically controlled if I run the lines off the existing oil cooler.

Any thoughts before I waste approx £150 and a LOT of time?


Thanks!

Steve

2
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Re: K1200s instrument cluster issue
« on: May 14, 2024, 11:28:30 am »
If you change the clocks at all, even to the HP dash, the bike's ZFE (computer) will need re-programming. You cannot use a 2nd hand instrument cluster as it's already programmed to the bike it came off.

3
How To - Tech & Forum support / Re: K1300GT Clutch drag
« on: May 08, 2024, 11:46:58 am »
Clutch drag is a common issue on K1300's. The issue is caused by the material the clutch basket is made of - it's a bit soft, so the dogs on the friction plates wear the clutch basket and create a notch which then prevents the clutch plates separating properly when the lever is pulled. I would imagine in your situation (having replaced the worn clutch plates with new ones which will be thicker) the engagement dogs are now sitting a bit further up in the basket, so they are now at the limit of where the old clutch plates have worn the notch in the basket, leaving little/no room for them to separate.

 The best answer is the most expensive - replace both clutch plates and the basket at the same time (I think BMW won't sell the clutch plates on their own anymore, last I remember). It is possible (ie I've done it) to take the basket off and dress the notches with a fine file, being very careful to seal up the bearings first and to wash the filings off thoroughly - don't really want those going around the engine. Using the correct oil (5W-40) will help over 10W-40, but it'll only help, rather than cure the problem.

The working fluid in the clutch lever shouldn't make any difference as it's not hygroscopic, but if you can find a little bottle of it cheap then by all means give it a try - made no difference to mine.

4
I got the last one! Absolute bargain, now fitted and vacuum filled! My one one wasn't even in that bad a shape, but nice to have a shiny new one.

5
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Re: The dreaded clutch slip?
« on: February 21, 2023, 08:55:53 am »
What's not interchangeable?

I ran a 1300 clutch for a long time on my K12S. As long as you've got the correct oil pump drive sprocket, it all works as it should.

6
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Re: Oil Cooler options
« on: July 05, 2022, 08:43:28 am »
Or...

If there's anyone that's able to measure the thickness of the 1300GT oil cooler, I can then compare that to mine.

Many thanks if anyone ever gets round to it!

7
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Oil Cooler options
« on: June 30, 2022, 04:14:20 pm »
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

8
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Re: Dead K13S
« on: July 01, 2021, 01:08:47 pm »
Idiots like me would still fit the triangle into the square hole.

I've no idea how I managed it - the nozzle fit into the tank with no problems at all.

Good news though - the bike passed it's MOT yesterday, so went for a good ride afterwards, all working fine. And feeling strangely lubricated (the bike, not me.... I don't drink & ride!)


9
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Re: Dead K13S
« on: June 30, 2021, 11:18:07 am »
Y'know, one of the first things I did was to sniff it, and the odd thing was, it DIDN'T smell like diesel! I know full well what diesel and petrol are supposed to smell like (hell, I've been known to sniff petrol simply 'cos I like it), but this stuff was more like paraffin. I'm guessing that's 'cos it was a mix of 3/19ths petrol and 16/19ths diesel? Mind you, it was the high performance diesel... maybe that smells different? In any case, I've now got an interesting mix to throw on the bonfire in 5 odd months time.

10
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Re: Dead K13S
« on: June 30, 2021, 09:10:11 am »
Chris Canning wins this one...

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that it must've been diesel... despite me not wanting to admit such stupidity. The bike is now running, and running well.

GS-911 showed no faults, so I kept cranking (with appropriate breaks to let things cool down). I drained and recharged the battery twice, but in the end it did fire up. Ran rough at first, and slowly cleared up over the next 10 mins or so. LOTS of white smoke out the back (diesel in the exhaust burning up). Now idles purring like a tiger, as it should.

For anyone who manages to do this in the future: the fuel pipe and injector rail holds a lot of fuel - I guess about 150ml (as I managed about 1.5 miles after my fill up). It takes a lot of cranking on the starter to clear that, but I feel it's the best way to clear it. The alternative is to dismantle half the bike to get to the injectors - it's an airbox off job to get to them otherwise. And when you do get the bike running, watch out for diesel in the exhaust catching fire. With hindsight, when it first fired I should have taken the end can off and cleaned the diesel out of the lowest point of the exhaust system. Luckily, my exhaust valve, O2 sensor and cat all seem to have survived intact (this time...).

The big clues on this one were that the bike stopped shortly after a fill up, and that it died completely, and quickly (rather than running rough on a few cylinders and gradually getting worse). Also that there was no petrol smell from the exhaust when cranking the engine.

Many thanks to everyone here - it's really useful to have a knowledgeable sounding board for my random theories!


Steve

11
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Re: Dead K13S
« on: June 26, 2021, 07:31:46 pm »
Thanks guys.

I did try the fresh petrol theory, but that didn't do the trick. However... I'm now wondering how long it would take for the fresh fuel to get to the injectors - all the bad fuel needs to get out the way first...

My bike ran for about a mile and a half after filling up. I normally get about 150 miles, and it's around 15 litres to fill up, so easy maths, it's 1 litre per 10 miles. I went around 1.5miles, so that would mean I used approx 150ml. If it was bad fuel (and that's only a theory at the moment), then now that I've put good fuel in there, I've got to use another 150ml of bad stuff before the good stuff gets there....

That's a lot of cranking it over on the starter. Anyone know of any other way to get the bad fuel out the way? (apart from dismantling the fuel injection system - I've looked into that, and I'm not keen).


Cheers

Steve

12
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Dead K13S
« on: June 25, 2021, 05:43:39 pm »
Hi everyone!

My K13S came out of hibernation last week.

I'd drained the tank before putting it away (in 2019!) as much as I could.

Got it out to go to MOT last week - replaced the battery, and it fired up just fine. I let it idle for a couple of minutes, rode it up and down the drive a few times, no problem, all feels good. As it had very little fuel, I went straight to the petrol station, and managed to fit in 16L of the high octane stuff (and it's a 19 litre tank, so there was around 3 litres of old fuel in there.

Set off towards the MOT place, but I only got another mile and a half before it lost all power at 60mph, and coasted to a stop. Now, the engine turns over OK, but doesn't fire up.

It was at this stage I discovered my old (10 yrs old!) GS-911 has stopped working.... (new fangled wi-fi one arrives tomorrow!) Until it arrives, I'm stuck with guessing and trying to work out logically what's happened. So far, I've replaced the fuel pump, and tested it. I've tried bypassing the fuel pump controller too - still doesn't start. I've taken an air filter off and sprayed carb cleaner in whilst cranking the engine over - it did fire up temporarily, so I think I've narrowed this down to a fuel problem.

I was thinking it might be crud from the tank blocking up the injectors, but I think that would cause 1 or 2 cylinders to misfire - what I got was a complete lack of power, rather than rough running, so it's something that has affected all 4 cylinders at once.


Any ideas, anyone?

Cheers

Steve





13
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Re: decent brake disc bolts
« on: February 08, 2020, 09:43:00 am »
Your friendly local BMW dealer might be able to help.

I wouldn’t buy them anywhere else - they’re stretch bolts - anything other than BMW originals isn’t going to do the job right.


14
The Euro K Club Lounge / Re: Follow on
« on: January 14, 2020, 08:26:03 am »
Drum - I had that scenario, although I was going forward out of my drive. Saw the cyclist instantly, but he was about 10 ft away going fast. I managed to stop my car about halfway over the pavement, he braked as hard as he could but ended up with his back wheel off the ground, so he lost directional control. His front wheel hit my bonnet, he went over the top of it. As I got out the car to help him, he picked up his bike and cycled off without a word.

Concerned that he'd later try it on with the police, I went to them first to ask if it needed to be reported. The nice officer I spoke to said it was 100% the cyclists fault, as there's no way I could be expected to account for a speeding cyclist on the footpath. Had it been a pedestrian or a runner, both he and I would have been able to stop in time.

Back to the original post - the driver of the Subaru is actually the chairman of the Subaru International Drivers Club - the posts on their website supporting their man are comical - they just can't see what a (insert your favourite expletive here) he is.

15
K1200 / K1300 Forum / Re: Erratic throttle when wet
« on: December 06, 2019, 04:34:20 pm »
Not a single fault code since the incident happened.

Well, so far it looks like i’ll be forgetting about this unless it happens again!

Thanks for the help folks.

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