Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Long Term Test: 2007 BMW K1200S post #8

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I have had to start over, in a sense, with the K1200S. My bike, before things went sideways, wore the BMW sport saddlebags and had the SW-Motech adapter installed for a top case. It also had a set of  auxiliary driving lights that have been useful on more than a few occasions. Now, I am in a position to need to re-install the bags, along with the components needed to hold the bags. Given that the opportunity has presented itself, I felt that this was the right time to add a Kaoko throttle lock, which has sat uninstalled in my garage now for a few months. The next time the bike goes into the shop, which may need to be soon, I will need to have a few additional items addressed as well.


First and foremost, there is now also a slipping clutch that is causing significantly lower than normal fuel economy and is leading to starts that are sometimes not as smooth as I like. That same slipping clutch has also caused a few false neutrals in higher gears and a few couple of embarrassing engine stalls when trying to maneuver at low speed. I am confident that a good shop should be able to address the issue, but I am also concerned that this is going to be a pricey problem to correct. Stories of exorbitant costs for clutch replacements have me holding off until the time is right, though I also have the possibility of getting stuck somewhere with a non-operational bike lingering in the back of my mind.

The other major issue that needs to be looked into is a non-functioning ABS controller. It seems that the bike does the ABS check and the controller is returning an error, resulting in the ABS not being available. With the minimal rain in Southern California, and my propensity to avoid using the motorcycle when it does rain, it has not proven to be a major issue so far, but it is one of those safety features that I prefer to have, especially since I do a fair amount of lane-splitting. This one may just require a single component replacement, so hopefully it is a relatively simple fix, though I expect the cost to be high.

These are the kinds of things you put up with when you have decided you have found the perfect bike.

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