BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

A brief update on my maintenance: 
Thorough cleaning, inspection and re-assembly mostly complete.  The front and rear brake pads were due for replacement.  I initially purchased a set from the local dealership, but for $355CDN for a set of brake pads, I was in shock.  I did a bit of research, and have purchased a set of EBC HH sintered pads instead, the BMW branded pads will go back.  I paid approximately 1/3 for EBC pads.  Ouch. 


Dropped the front wheel off at a wheel repair shop.  The owner indicated aluminum's brittleness will require building up the bent lip with some new aluminum and re-machining and refinishing the wheel again to ensure its straight.  That should be ready in a week.


After new plugs and checking the valve gaps, I have a ticking sound (when the bike is running) from the right cylinder.  Not sure if one of the coils is not fully plugged in or what, but I am going to pull both plugs, inspect closely, swap them, re-seat coils, and check it out again.  Not sure if its a valve tick, or arc spark that is making the sound.  But it sure looks fresh and clean - probably almost as clean as the day it left the factory.  Frighteningly clean! 


Wheel comes back from the shop, new front tire, new pads front and rear, and it should be ready for another summer of thrashing.

With aftermarket pads watch your disc wear very carefully. 

EBC HH pads are superb. I have had them on many bikes including BM's. Top performance, great initial bite and powerful, no disc problems whatsoever. You can progressively brake or throw the anchor out. Far Superior to standard pads on V strom 650,1000, Kawasaki Versys 650, 1000 and as good as original Pads on BM's ( if not a bit better) but loads cheaper.

Ok, I have a potential situation.  Any for real BMW mechanics in the house? 


Following re-assembly, I started my bike and the right-side cylinder made a ticking sound.  Concerned me, so I shut it down, undressed it, and pulled the spark plugs to see if there was something unusual.  Both looked good, I figured it was either a valve ticking or a plug coil arcing.  Nothing to see there, so I took off the valve cover, and out falls a cam follower and circlip.  Yikes! 


The real crux of the situation is that I can't find the semisphere that goes in the cam follower.  The semisphere is swapped out to adjust the valve gap.  It would appear the semisphere fell out and ran with the oil down into the sump.  I drained the oil, and didn't spot the semisphere, and it wasn't attached to the magnet in the oil sump.  So I'm wondering where it went - I'm going to inspect the valve springs again and see if I can spot it there. 


I'm thinking about the flow of oil.  If the semisphere went down into the sump, then the only things down there would be the oil pump pickup (which has a screen in it, I believe), and the oil drain plug.  I'm concerned that the semisphere might get caught in an oil galley or somehow restrict oil flow.  I'm thinking I need to go fishing with a magnet via the oil galley or the oil plug.  I don't think there's an oil pan per-se. 


Thoughts?  If I can't find the semisphere, would that be concerning?  I don't know what size semisphere I need, so I would need to go and pick up a few, try them, set the valve lash, and return what I don't need, I guess. 


I'm going to get a magnetic pickup tool and do some fishing.  Hopefully I can find the semisphere.  Any other thoughts on the matter?  What else can I do? 


*nervous*

Ok, I found that little sucker.  It was lodged in the head beside a head fastner here:


https://goo.gl/photos/KqKd8dYHaLUgKL2h6



I'm so relieved!  I re-assembled everything and all is good again! 

Good on you there mbro, you are a lucky boy. Incidently, did you renew the Cam Follower Circlips after adjusting the clearances ?.

I didn't replace the E clips (circlips), and didn't even have them off.  On a twin cam, you can insert feeler gauges without taking anything apart.  I think I dislodged the E-clip when I was putting the valve cover back on.  Someone else mentioned that those clips are not supposed to be re-used.  I didn't know that - I'll have to pick one up and replace it when I am next at the dealership.

mbro wrote:I think I dislodged the E-clip when I was putting the valve cover back on. Someone else mentioned that those clips are not supposed to be re-used. I didn't know that - I'll have to pick one up and replace it when I am next at the dealership.

Was it the upper or lower exhaust E-clip which became dislodged.

The Haynes manual says, "Secure the follower with a new E-clip. Ensure that the open end of the E-clip securing the upper exhaust cam follower faces the cylinder head."

Perhaps this is the reason why.

All this sounds very strange. You didn't have to remove the Cam Follower and E-Clip as presumably your clearance was in spec but on re-assembly you think that fitting the Cam Cover dislodged the E-Clip allowing the Follower to slide of the shaft. Can't see that being possible. Have the clearances checked before and if so was the E-Clip renewed or indeed fitted correctly. ?

I thought it was very unusual too.  I bought this bike 2nd hand 18 months ago, and the previous owner provided me all the maintenance records done by the dealership to that point, and everything had been done according to BMW's maintenance schedule religiously.  I don't know if the dealership re-used the e-clip or not.  It went on with a good solid click, and I could see why it would be a good idea to use a new one.  I'm wondering if I should go order a new one and put it in.  The e-clip might have been turned slightly, and then bumped and come off when I was installing the valve cover the last time. 


Live and learn, I guess.... 

I'm expecting a phone call from the wheel repair shop.  I'll have a very close look at the wheel once its back.  Curious tho - each manufacturer has a maximum wheel runout spec (runout is the variance one way or the other as the wheel spins as measured by the lip of the rim).  Does anyone have any idea what BMW's maximum runout spec might be for an RT cast wheel?  I'll ask when I go to pick up my wheel.  I haven't read anything about a runout value in the manual, and haven't seen anything posted so far.  typically its measured in thousandths of an inch.  I've seen the runout spec for laced '70's honda wheels of around 40 thousandths.  I expect BMW's cast spec would be tighter than that. 

mbro wrote:Does anyone have any idea what BMW's maximum runout spec might be for an RT cast wheel?

The Haynes manual says, "Maximum wheel runout (axial and radial) for Cast wheels (front and rear) is 1.5mm"

BMW manual agrees

Wheel came back from repairs today, looks mint, but cost me a kidney and a left arm.  It will be going on my balancing stand to check for runout and balance (without tire).  It looks very close to perfect, so I suspect maybe a few thou of runout, but certainly much less than 1.5mm.  I've done some initial looking, looks like the discs should be re-torqued with loctite to 12nm and then 24nm.  Is this correct?  Tire will go on, new brake pads, and then I'm ready for spring. 

It just says in the BMW manual (tighten in stages in a diagonal opposite sequence) 19Nm this is for 2014 lc  Thread locking compound micro encapsulated to be used.