PREAMBLE
About 5k Km's ago I started noticing that a lot of dirt clogs around my engine when I cleaned my bike. At first I thought this was normal as most engines to sweat oil to some degree.
The problem started worsening, and about 3 weeks ago I went on a long dirt ride with some of the fellow dogs (https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=98888.0), it was about 150Km to get there on the highway and I was not exactly patient. When I got there I had just about a little puddle of oil forming in the recess of the engine when the bike is on its side stand. Also a nice complimentary oil stain on my pants as big as a plate. Topped up the oil and decided to take a chance and ride like that for the day. The gravel is much easier on the motor and I lost almost no further oil. On the way home I went from the full mark down to the empty mark again with plenty of oil now coating the side motor.
The whole leak was quite unplanned and knocking my budget quite badly. Especially considering that I paid R4300 for my 30k Km service at BMW just because I did not know that they would charge me R750 a set of front brake pads, of which the bike takes 2 sets. It would have cost me about R200 a set for good non-BMW pads and 10mins of effort to change them had I known better. So I decided SCREW THIS, never again will I allow BMW to rip me off like that again.
So I decided its time for some DIY-ing, looked around the internet for the workshop manual, found it and realized that with the manual and the right tools the job was really not that huge. I also found some other bikers posts also detailing how he changed the seal himself (https://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=711970), I write these posts as a contribution and a thanks for his effort.
So what follows is some instructions and pictures detailing the process to some of the more apprehensive F800 riders out there that would like to know how do-able a DIY project this is.
TAPPIT COVER INSTALLATION
Phoned BMW and found out which kit was the right one. BMW upgraded the kit after the numerous complaints about the F800's. (- yet they would not replace the seal on my bike due to 100million excuses
) Anyway, drove there and bought this over the counter for R807 (about $100, in South Africa):
(You get the two different seals, and four new bolts with special seals on them as well. The small packet with the grey glob in it is the sealant that is used by BMW, I asked the mechanic for a little bit as I did not want to go buy a whole tube and use less than 1 ml. Its some Wurth silicone sealant.)
About 5k Km's ago I started noticing that a lot of dirt clogs around my engine when I cleaned my bike. At first I thought this was normal as most engines to sweat oil to some degree.
The problem started worsening, and about 3 weeks ago I went on a long dirt ride with some of the fellow dogs (https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=98888.0), it was about 150Km to get there on the highway and I was not exactly patient. When I got there I had just about a little puddle of oil forming in the recess of the engine when the bike is on its side stand. Also a nice complimentary oil stain on my pants as big as a plate. Topped up the oil and decided to take a chance and ride like that for the day. The gravel is much easier on the motor and I lost almost no further oil. On the way home I went from the full mark down to the empty mark again with plenty of oil now coating the side motor.
The whole leak was quite unplanned and knocking my budget quite badly. Especially considering that I paid R4300 for my 30k Km service at BMW just because I did not know that they would charge me R750 a set of front brake pads, of which the bike takes 2 sets. It would have cost me about R200 a set for good non-BMW pads and 10mins of effort to change them had I known better. So I decided SCREW THIS, never again will I allow BMW to rip me off like that again.
So I decided its time for some DIY-ing, looked around the internet for the workshop manual, found it and realized that with the manual and the right tools the job was really not that huge. I also found some other bikers posts also detailing how he changed the seal himself (https://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=711970), I write these posts as a contribution and a thanks for his effort.
So what follows is some instructions and pictures detailing the process to some of the more apprehensive F800 riders out there that would like to know how do-able a DIY project this is.
TAPPIT COVER INSTALLATION
Phoned BMW and found out which kit was the right one. BMW upgraded the kit after the numerous complaints about the F800's. (- yet they would not replace the seal on my bike due to 100million excuses
) Anyway, drove there and bought this over the counter for R807 (about $100, in South Africa):(You get the two different seals, and four new bolts with special seals on them as well. The small packet with the grey glob in it is the sealant that is used by BMW, I asked the mechanic for a little bit as I did not want to go buy a whole tube and use less than 1 ml. Its some Wurth silicone sealant.)
