K11 Owners Group

ThomasJ2352 · Joined: 24 Jun 2010 Posts: 15 Location: West Sacramento, CA

Greetings to the Forum...having the FD on my current cycle blown out (01 R1150GS) I'm looking into other long term cycle options....was wondering if the K1100 models were as prone to FD problems as the newer (R1150-1200, K1200's) bikes seem to be.
Thanks
Tom
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2001 R1150GS

Tim (Midland Section) · Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 3:56 am Post subject:

Greetings, In a word No, well almost. There have been FD bearing failures, but MUCH less common. IMHO tis because the power pulses are smaller than the gobs of torque from the twins.
May be tempting fate here, in 60,000 miles of K riding two up & loaded, never had a failure.
There is a suggestion of the use of "cheaper" bearings being fitted on the newer models to which you refer.
HTH
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#485

jr'sbmw · Big Brick Rider Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 54 Location: Fl

My LT has 90k on it without FD problems. I just attended the GA MTN BMW rally at Hiawassee Ga. and met a fella that loves his 1150, but has had a couple of FD failures on trips. One dealer repair only lasted a few days down the road. New dealer install was like $1600. He now builds his own and keeps an extra at the house, so a neighbor can ship it if he has a failure on the road. He found the bearing preload on his new FD shimmed at .010 instead of .004. Seems like a good idea having a spare if you really like the bike.

ThomasJ2352 · Joined: 24 Jun 2010 Posts: 15 Location: West Sacramento, CA

Thought there might be some interest in the fixed FD.....
Took the cycle to a very reputable BMW repair outfit in Chico, CA and their mechanic did/said the following (I asked him a bunch of semi-related questions cuz its not often I'm paying for expert repairs)
1) I believe 4 bearings were replaced along with seals
2) He didn't think there was anything I necessarily did to cause the failure thought he wasn't a fan of the oil I put in it 5k ago (AMSOIL 75W90).
3) He did say that putting lots of weight behind the pillions seat was not good
4) He recommended, and used, BMW 75W140 full syn
5) Told to change it after 500 mi
6) And, of course, had to ask him about engine oil! He recommends using BMW dino 20W50 and replace every 3k...said the full syn could get out to 5k or 6k but would prefer the former. He rides a K12LT like he stole it and that's what he uses.
7) Seemed to be a group of very nice guys...easy to chat with and discuss various related topics...also asked him about K11's...funny, the guys in the front desk area give the mechanic a hard time about his LT. Let me in the work shop while he was doing the work....
Would definitely recommend these guys....labor rates very good too.
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2001 R1150GS

ablackrat · Joined: 17 May 2011 Posts: 20 Location: United Kingdom

I had the FD fail on my work K when it was about 6 years old with about 60k on the clock. It had been subject to 'extreme' riding for its entire life, although never particularly heavily loaded. Our mechanic at the time said it was the first one to fail and I haven't heard of one doing since, although we stopped using them in about 2010/11.

SugarHillCTD · Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 3:52 pm Post subject:

Tom,

IIRC, Paul Glaves (one of THE experts on K bikes) and our deceased member- Phil Marvin- both recommended 75w-140 for the transmission but nothing higher than 90 weight in the final drive.

Will be interested in your results.

John
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John & Cathy

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