• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

What No DIY/Tech Data for Alt. Belt R&R 2008 RT?

cookie

Jeff
I am so impressed and continue to pay my annual dues to this great club. One of the attractions besides this great forum is the tech. help. I am surprised though, there is no alternator belt replacement procedure in the do it yourself section.
Is there a gasket or sealer for the cover?
Are there any tricks?
Am I missing something?
Help
 
The current R1200 belt is a stretch belt- you literally stretch it on and off and the only wrench needed is one to turn the pulley after the cover is removed. BMW makes a pricey but cute little tool to assist that is a favorite of some but a bit of plastic sliced from an old plastic bottle works as well.
FWIW, the factory recommended change interval is quite conservative. Belts changed that early typically look almost new and still have good stretch capability, not being worn, cracked or over stretched. Breakage is not common. Some folks carry the older one as a spare but I've yet to meet anyone who told me they got to use it...

If you've never changed a stretch belt you may find it a bit of a nuisance initially compared to older stuff with tensioners to adjust but it is simple and easy once you "get it". If you pay a dealer, the cost should be modest, no more than 30 min of shop time. The belt was $27 last time I bought one, maybe a couple $ more now..You can pinch a finger if you're sloppy doing it so watch where you put them.

Your 08 RT doesn't have the foam talked about in that GS posting- there is nothing under the cover to remove. Also, use a correct socket with extension to turn the pulley if you don't use the BMW tool- that way you don't need an assistant to turn the rear wheel...
 
Last edited:
I am so impressed and continue to pay my annual dues to this great club. One of the attractions besides this great forum is the tech. help. I am surprised though, there is no alternator belt replacement procedure in the do it yourself section.
Is there a gasket or sealer for the cover?
Are there any tricks?
Am I missing something?
Help

Glad that you find the DIY's useful (since I had a bit to do with them existing..) but no one is paid to do one, and due to the litigious nature of our society, we have rather strict rules/format used to do them. We also are limited to one photo per posting, which adds a bit to the chore of writing them.

So - no one got around to the alternator belt.. but if you'd like to contribute one, I can get you access to a secret development subforum where it can be worked on, and when it's complete it gets moved over to the DIY public forum. At least I could have done that - but since some parts of the forum aren't working since the virus attack, it may or may not be a good time to do it.

Ping me off-line if you're interested. I have a step-by-step writeup on writing a DIY in the format we use.. be glad to direct you to it.
 
I'm doing a major service on my R1200R. Putting the belt on is the easy part. Removing and replacing the crash bars, auxilliary lights and the oil cooler is the tedious part.
 
I'm doing a major service on my R1200R. Putting the belt on is the easy part. Removing and replacing the crash bars, auxilliary lights and the oil cooler is the tedious part.

Kevin why remove the oil cooler? Did you leave your beer in it?
 
Kevin why remove the oil cooler? Did you leave your beer in it?

On the R it seemed the only way to get to the front engine cover. No beer was spilled in any case.

To get to the alternator belt one needs to remove the front engine cover. Two of the fasteners that hold the cover on to the engine are behind the oil cooler. Once I had the cooler loosened I decided to remove it to determine how much oil was remaining in there. It also appeared to be that trying to replace the belt with the cooler just leaned forward might be more trouble than it's worth. Probably added 10 minutes to the job by completely pulling it off the bike. For the more anal amongst us, pulling and draining the cooler will mean the oil in the bike is just a bit cleaner and it is easier to access places on the engine for cleaning. While I admit to sometimes going overboard in such matters, I will not be pulling the cooler for every oil change. By the way, after sitting for 24 hours with the drain plug and oil filter removed there was still 6-8 ounces of oil hiding in the cooler.
 
Last edited:
BMW Belt Replacement Recc. Now 24000 miles

I was passing through San Jose, CA on a trip during 9/2012 and had SJ BMW do my 24,000-mile Service. They told me that BMW had changed the alt-belt replacement interval to 24,000 miles, down from 36,000 miles.
 
Back
Top