- Joined
- Jan 24, 2006
- Messages
- 5,159
- Reaction score
- 345
- Location
- Brakpan, South Africa
- Bike
- BMW R1200GS HP2
In December I was heading down towards Mosselbay for my December break. Just before Phillipstown I noticed Honey did not accelerate when I twisted the throttle but instead went into a sputtering frantic.
Note: ± 2 Weeks earlier she did the same and when the guys at Bavaria checked her out, a suspect coil was blamed. As it turned out the coil was pulled off the plug and once pushed back she purred like a Lion.
Now en route to the sea she displayed the exact same sympthoms, so as I looked down I noticed the coil was protruding from the end of the head, so logically the coil has somehow pulled off the plug again, so all I had to do was to push it back onto the plug.
I stopped at a garage in Phillipolis and promptly started to remove the protective cover and then proceeded to push the coil back. As I started Honey, she did not sound well. Spluttering and generally not a happy girl. I held the coil top the engine block and it was gooiing a mean spark. I then proceeded to remove the plug which had a nasty black stripe in it, probably a crack.
A quick call to the guys at Bavaria confirmed that I should swop the two plugs as the lower one was not really working that hard - the primary plug is the one that goes into the top of the cylinder.
Once this was done I fired her up and although she was running, she was not smooth. I decided to ride to Colesburg where my chances of getting a new plug would be much greater.
However ± 40 km's from Colesburg I heard a loud noice and then something that resembles a dumpbell being banged on the inside of a 200 lt drum. As I turned around white smoke was pouring out the exhaust, so much that I could see nothing behind me.
Well to cut a long story short, she was recovered back to home and promptly delivered to Bavaria for an assesment of what went wrong.
Today it was confirmed that she had dropped a valve with subsequent damage to piston, conrod, sleeve, head and whatever else came in the way of those flying pieces of metal.
A rough estimate puts the damage at ± R40k. As this is an '07 model she is no longer covered by warranty
Honey was on the verge of hitting the 175 000 km mark, so she had given me good service. At the moment I am contemplating whether I should upgrade to a new model or fix and ride her for longer.
The guys at Bavaria reckon I should not replace the other piston, but somehow it seems to me that one brand new piston and a fairly used one will not make a good combination? What do you technical guys reckon?
Here's a pic of the head and the piston. :mwink:
Note: ± 2 Weeks earlier she did the same and when the guys at Bavaria checked her out, a suspect coil was blamed. As it turned out the coil was pulled off the plug and once pushed back she purred like a Lion.
Now en route to the sea she displayed the exact same sympthoms, so as I looked down I noticed the coil was protruding from the end of the head, so logically the coil has somehow pulled off the plug again, so all I had to do was to push it back onto the plug.
I stopped at a garage in Phillipolis and promptly started to remove the protective cover and then proceeded to push the coil back. As I started Honey, she did not sound well. Spluttering and generally not a happy girl. I held the coil top the engine block and it was gooiing a mean spark. I then proceeded to remove the plug which had a nasty black stripe in it, probably a crack.
A quick call to the guys at Bavaria confirmed that I should swop the two plugs as the lower one was not really working that hard - the primary plug is the one that goes into the top of the cylinder.
Once this was done I fired her up and although she was running, she was not smooth. I decided to ride to Colesburg where my chances of getting a new plug would be much greater.
However ± 40 km's from Colesburg I heard a loud noice and then something that resembles a dumpbell being banged on the inside of a 200 lt drum. As I turned around white smoke was pouring out the exhaust, so much that I could see nothing behind me.
Well to cut a long story short, she was recovered back to home and promptly delivered to Bavaria for an assesment of what went wrong.
Today it was confirmed that she had dropped a valve with subsequent damage to piston, conrod, sleeve, head and whatever else came in the way of those flying pieces of metal.
A rough estimate puts the damage at ± R40k. As this is an '07 model she is no longer covered by warranty
Honey was on the verge of hitting the 175 000 km mark, so she had given me good service. At the moment I am contemplating whether I should upgrade to a new model or fix and ride her for longer.
The guys at Bavaria reckon I should not replace the other piston, but somehow it seems to me that one brand new piston and a fairly used one will not make a good combination? What do you technical guys reckon?
Here's a pic of the head and the piston. :mwink:
