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BMW R1100S frame failure and repairs
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As some of you may recall (and if you're still interested) on a ride
back from Merimbula through to Orbost in February, a mate on his BMW
R1100S ran wide through a right hander and ended up kissing the
embankment.
He wasn't hurt, just annoyed. However, when we checked the bike over, we
couldn't find a scratch on it, except for slight damage to the left side
rocker cover which caused an oil leak.
It was when he sat on the bike that he discovered that the sub-frame
that supports the seat, rear cowl, etc. was broken. It had snapped at
its mounting points on the main frame.
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I just picked up on this. I have a '98 R1100S, about 60k on the clock,
which I bought near new.
A few months into my ownership I travelled the dirt road between
Crookwell & Boorowa, to get to get to Mudgee.
Long story short, when I got back to Nowra after the obligatory pub stay
at Mudgee for a day or two, I noticed the seat seemed 'wonky' and the
panniers were moving about.
I took it over to Dave Byrnes, who had the BMW dealership back then.
Several welds on the frame under the seat etc had broken. Dave had a
very strong opinion about the quality of welds when he saw them. He also
arranged repair. I wasn't charged anything so suspect BMW came to the
party.
PS: I get the frame checked at every service now. Good as gold so far,
as is the bike.
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It was jerry rigged with wire rope and gaffer tape to allow him to ride
to a mate's place, 3 hours away in Gippsland (the fellow lives near
Shepparton). They trailered it to the BMW dealer in MEL (dunno which
one).
BMW refused to acknowledge that it was a design problem and therefore
wouldn't look at it under any sort of warranty. BMW said that it
probably broke due to the crash.
Anyway, his insurer picked up the tab.
The dealer did what it could to help out. But it needed BMW to come to
the party, which it didn't.
We don't know whether he went into the corner too hot (unlikely, given
the guy's skill - he's an ex-250cc Proddy racer), or whether the frame
failed as he was entering the corner and that forced him wide or to lose
control. Thing is, the lads following didn't think that he was going
that hard at the time.
Whatever, the impact against the dirt bank was slight. The fairings,
etc. had no damage to them whatsoever. Only thing was the left rocker
cover, where it furrowed through the dirt.
The mate's not too happy about this, but at this stage he's not sure
whether it's worth it to pursue it further - at the very least get BMW
to refund his insurance excess.
It's a remarkable case. I thought that BMW prided itself on its
engineering excellence. If it (the R1100S) can't handle the weight of
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Well, they *did* do a recall on those wheels, so I'd hardly say they
ignored the problem.
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the rider and his luggage (around 110 kilos, probably), or worse, him
and a pillion and their combined luggage, then it speaks volumes of the
quality of build for this particular model.
with the seat removed. As you can see, the darn thing looks unscratched
and that's the side that would've hit the bank.
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searching the web R100s frame faults brings up the fact its not the first to
break like that
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