My suspicion is that low mileage bikes will be more susceptible to flapper valve problems than higher mileage bikes. If you only ride short journeys at weekends then the bike goes into the garage still with condensation in the exhaust and sits there for a week. If you ride your bike everyday then there is no time for any corrosion to form to the extent that is affects the valve. This is one of those things that will also come from the misguided people who start their bikes up and let it run for a short while when it is the garage and they have no intention of riding it.
Exhaust Flap Fault
- Thread starter mrklunk
- Start date
Just removed the servo and cables from my 2013 LC with 10k on the clock because its as starting to make noises and replaced it with a servo buddy. 1500miles on and no issues so far. Reading reports it seems you need to add the servo buddy and cannot just disconnect the cables because the servo needs some tension, not too sure about that but as you say the servo buddy is cheap enough. I did put a bit of graphite oil on the spindle workings twice now as I had to remove the exhaust to put pannier rails on. was moving freely so maybe not having to open and close the while time also helps...who know but this is probably my last BMW. The designs are getting stupid and service even more stupid. Had to pay £24 for them just to balance a rear wheel, handed it in loose with new tyre already on it. If you have an 1150 without ABS, then stay with it. Much less hassle.
Tis piss poor , all these problems on new , and newish supposedly premium mark “ unstoppable “ motorcycles !
I won’t be buying another BMW ,, too many issues for machines at this kind of money .
I won’t be buying another BMW ,, too many issues for machines at this kind of money .
Quick question then. If you were running your own business and had a £2000 wheel balancing machine that you had bought, a garage that you paid rent and rates on, and then someone brings you a 20 minute job, how much would you charge them? Probably at least £24.
If your philosophy is that the more simple the better, then could I suggest that a nice 2 stroke twin from the 1980s might suit your needs? You might have to rebuild the engine every 20,000 miles, suffer no ABS on the greasy roads, no fuel gauge that shows you are only doing 25 mpg. No thanks I will stick to my 1250 with all the bells and whistles.
Buy a nice premium brand Ducati, I have just sold mine, check the forums first though, they have the same problems with exhaust valves. I suspect that many other manufacturers do too.
I am sure that no one really cares what make of bike any individual buys, it is a free world.
Not the case either. The 2015RTp and one of the 2020 1250s are blood bikes and get lots of use, the RTp has over 50k on it and the other blood bike has over 8k in 6 months and that had new headers a month ago. My 2014 had 40k used all year around and had two sets of headers one at 20k the second 20k later which was 2 years, so 10k a year in all weathers.
You are correct ,, that no one cares what bike an individual buys - - This individual has had many BMW Bikes and is free to spend my money on whatever brand I choose ,,,, If however MANY individuals choose not to buy BMW ,,,, someone in BMW head of sales is going to care !
For the kind of trips I do reliability trumps almost all of the modern gizmos . So when I repeatedly read about all these issues ( and I know one only hears of the bad stuff ) it does not fill one with confidence .
If it takes them 20 min to balance one wheel then maybe that is the problem, when I get my car tyres done it takes them less than 10 min to balance all 4. I had the tyres put on and front balanced for £10 at my local bike shop. He just doesn't have the adaptor for the GS rear wheel as it doesn't have bearing. My grandfather used to say, these new cars must have beautiful engines because you see them next to the road, hood up and someone staring at it. I am not saying progress is bad but adding new technology and then not backing it up when it goes wrong is pretty poor. How many threads have we had for ta sticking flappy valve and most GS owners I know look after their machines so can't all be blamed. Is oiling the flappy valve part of the service routine?
Coming from an aircraft engineering background, my opinion would be to avid oil for various reasons. The oil will get contaminated with road grit and dust and become grinding paste. Using oil in such a high temperature area would not really work as it would burn and leave a carbon like residue, again like grit. The only lubricant that could be used in an area like that would be copper, but that melts at high temperatures, or molybdenum disulphide which can be used as a dry film lubricant and in that state is reasonably heat resistant. Rain will still get into the workings of the valve at some stage and cause problems.
Did you buy the tyres from your local bike shop by any chance?
Nope, I bought them second hand off here because I wanted to make sure I liked them. Always used Metzeler Tourance on my 1150GS and was keen to see how the Tourance Next would be in wet Scotland. I use graphite oil on the spindle. Oil probably burnt off after the first 10 min and only the graphite left.
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It’s really easy to see if you look in the right place. In this case the anti tampering/emissions/noise etc regulations to which manufacturers have to comply when they produce a vehicle. Older twincam etc GS’s were provided with a separate exhaust section containing the flap valve betwixt the headers and end can. Simplicity itself to remove it and replace it with a section of pipe.It is really hard to see why BMW designed it like this. It would be easy for it to have been a separate section, to make replacement easy and cheap
The LC models have the flap built into the headers so you, the owner/user can’t fiddle with the approved design.
As to lubricating the flap? The external bits are not the parts that seize: the internal bushings subject to blowtorch heat and pressure whenever the engine is running are the bits that eventually (in some but not all cases) bind. Solutions? Other than a beefier servo to keep the flap shaft moving, I have none. It’s a poor design.
Alan R
of course on the other hand ive had about 7 bmw bikes with an exhaust valve and never had one problem in or out of warranty,or a final drive problem for that matter,it aint all bad!
Take the valve off, get a blow torch and heat the bent over bit on the opposite side to the cable connector to f hot, bend the bent over bit until you can get the cap off, bout the size off a penny. Drill out whatever the stuff is that goes round the end of the shaft. 2mm drill from memory. Put the penny back in.. heat to f hot again and bend the ends over to hold it in. Put valve back on bike. Did mine a few years ago, no problem since.
UPDATE - email reply. from dealer.
"Good morning Gary
I will have a look into what the story is with the exhaust flap. The flap in the exhaust is all part of reaching emission requirements, it just opens and closes depending on throttle position and mode.
Your original manufacturers warranty expires in September and your approved used warranty is valid until November '22, so no worries there about it being covered.
I'll get back to you later today when I find out more information about what has failed."
"Good morning Gary
I will have a look into what the story is with the exhaust flap. The flap in the exhaust is all part of reaching emission requirements, it just opens and closes depending on throttle position and mode.
Your original manufacturers warranty expires in September and your approved used warranty is valid until November '22, so no worries there about it being covered.
I'll get back to you later today when I find out more information about what has failed."
Who is the dealer Gary? He must have come across this many times as this is a common 'fault'.
Not just BMW bike's that have this problem, even the Japanese bike's suffer from the same problem the suzuki v stroms 2014 onwards have the same issues.
Ian.
Ian.
even as early back as the yamaha fazer 1000,they also has a similar problem
M30SJM
Registered user
Just for the record, i have a 2015 bike with 36k miles, and i have not had any issues with my exhaust flap. I did take the actuator and cables of and greased them last winter, just for something to do.
I was wondering two things.
1. How could BMW design and make it any differently? They cant use bearing due to the temperature, so the minimal simple design seems to me the best way. I dont even recall the pins on my flap being a tight fit in the bushes, so i cant imagine how they would ever seize up.
2. When does the flap work? I only ever really notice the change in exhaust tone when i really give it a fist full from quite low revs. Maybe its the way or the normal revs used by the rider that determines whether or how often the flap is activated that contributes to the flap seizing up? I very rarely let the revs drop below 4000, so maybe my flap opens, and stays open?
Only my thoughts.
Stu
I was wondering two things.
1. How could BMW design and make it any differently? They cant use bearing due to the temperature, so the minimal simple design seems to me the best way. I dont even recall the pins on my flap being a tight fit in the bushes, so i cant imagine how they would ever seize up.
2. When does the flap work? I only ever really notice the change in exhaust tone when i really give it a fist full from quite low revs. Maybe its the way or the normal revs used by the rider that determines whether or how often the flap is activated that contributes to the flap seizing up? I very rarely let the revs drop below 4000, so maybe my flap opens, and stays open?
Only my thoughts.
Stu
Yes true I also think same as member has posted it comes from small rides leave humidity in pipe, and also some who have over sensible ears.
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