tessler
univers zero
My brand new R1200 GS is hobbled after only 480 miles on the clock and I'm royally bummed trying to figure out what the problem is exactly.
I took a short but necessary trip on Friday to New Jersey and decided to take the bike. A relatively hot day (86??+ for this area, pretty warm for this time of Spring) there was an almost surreal amount of stop and go traffic in practically all the areas I needed to visit. The traffic on the last leg of my trip, heading back to NYC, was beyond aggravating, with a lot of stopping and crawling (I practically duckwalked a quarter mile to the entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel--there wasn't even room to sneakily lane-share) and I was aware of the heat coming from the right cylinder. Besides the heat, nothing seemed amiss (no alerts, oil indicator on OBC was "ok" and no smells or signs of smoke, etc). Believe me, I wanted nothing more than to get home, power down and give this baby some rest. A trip that should have taken me only a few hours had me finally crawling back to where I live, at around 6pm.
The next morning, after packing up for a day ride upstate, I turned the engine on only to be met with an off-sounding idle. However, (and judging from the look on the traffic cop's unfriendly face) I had to move from my street parking spot and get back to my apartment building, about a block away, where I could inspect the engine. Almost as soon as I started to move I realized from faint smoke that something was wrong but I was able to pull up to my house in a few minutes to take a look. There was a leak at the base of the left cylinder and dripping oil had been smoking on the left exhaust manifold. I inspected the oil glass. Very low. I added oil to the engine and turned it over. The leak was definitely coming from the rear side of the base of cylinder. About a drop every two, three seconds.
I called my dealer (MAX: Albany, NY) for advice. They need to inspect the engine. From my description of the problem, they told me that this was unprecedented in all '10 GS's, in their experience. But at over 160 miles north of me, and with the leak at the frequency I described, they advised in no uncertain terms that I not risk riding up. They'll send their bike van down here for a pickup this week. So the bike is parked and waiting.
Oddly, they claim that they'll have to charge me for the pickup. Does this seem right? I'm a little confused right now. I just bought the thing and as I mention in title of this thread, I have barely 500 miles on it. I'm new to oilhead ownership. Did stop and go urban traffic in hot weather, the day before, do me in or is it something else?
I took a short but necessary trip on Friday to New Jersey and decided to take the bike. A relatively hot day (86??+ for this area, pretty warm for this time of Spring) there was an almost surreal amount of stop and go traffic in practically all the areas I needed to visit. The traffic on the last leg of my trip, heading back to NYC, was beyond aggravating, with a lot of stopping and crawling (I practically duckwalked a quarter mile to the entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel--there wasn't even room to sneakily lane-share) and I was aware of the heat coming from the right cylinder. Besides the heat, nothing seemed amiss (no alerts, oil indicator on OBC was "ok" and no smells or signs of smoke, etc). Believe me, I wanted nothing more than to get home, power down and give this baby some rest. A trip that should have taken me only a few hours had me finally crawling back to where I live, at around 6pm.
The next morning, after packing up for a day ride upstate, I turned the engine on only to be met with an off-sounding idle. However, (and judging from the look on the traffic cop's unfriendly face) I had to move from my street parking spot and get back to my apartment building, about a block away, where I could inspect the engine. Almost as soon as I started to move I realized from faint smoke that something was wrong but I was able to pull up to my house in a few minutes to take a look. There was a leak at the base of the left cylinder and dripping oil had been smoking on the left exhaust manifold. I inspected the oil glass. Very low. I added oil to the engine and turned it over. The leak was definitely coming from the rear side of the base of cylinder. About a drop every two, three seconds.
I called my dealer (MAX: Albany, NY) for advice. They need to inspect the engine. From my description of the problem, they told me that this was unprecedented in all '10 GS's, in their experience. But at over 160 miles north of me, and with the leak at the frequency I described, they advised in no uncertain terms that I not risk riding up. They'll send their bike van down here for a pickup this week. So the bike is parked and waiting.
Oddly, they claim that they'll have to charge me for the pickup. Does this seem right? I'm a little confused right now. I just bought the thing and as I mention in title of this thread, I have barely 500 miles on it. I'm new to oilhead ownership. Did stop and go urban traffic in hot weather, the day before, do me in or is it something else?
