• 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?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

'94 K75S Right-side tipover in the driveway; gas now possibly in crankcase?

Z

Zagando

BMW uber alles!
Unloading my fully packed saddlebags the other day my bike tipped over on it's right side. Felt really stupid and now I know which side to unpack first...

The bike's PO had the sidestand built up so that it wouldn't lean so far down on the left side, so that was also a major contributing factor to the spill. The bike was only a few degrees left of vertcal when I parked on the sidestand; in 20/20 hindsight I should have put it on the centerstand...

The damage was 90% cosmetic that I'll be able to remedy myself over time but the thing that worries me now is the fact that my full tank of gas was leaking a bit during the 20-30 minutes it was on its side*. As far as I could tell the leak was coming from a vent underneath the tank as there was no puncture or damage to the tank itself. The right saddlebag, right brake lever, handlebars and right side fog light took the brunt of the impact.

(*I waited for a neighbor to come over and help me lift the beast upright as I didn't want to strain a muscle like I did the first time this sort of thing happened a while ago.)

In searching for a sticky throttle fix here (now fixed by simple clamping screw adjustment) I ran across a mention of gas leaking into the crankcase via a vent or breather tube of some sort.

Now I am reluctant to start the bike again until I know whether I'm at risk in this scenario. I only started the bike for about 30 seconds shortly after righting it to make sure all was ok and have not started the engine again since.

Perhaps I should play it safe and go ahead and do an oil and filter change before starting the bike again---what say you the experts, please?
 
Do you have the cup (air accumulator) under the two right rear tank vent tubes?
If so, there is no way for fuel to get into the crankcase.

If, on the other hand, you have hoses connected to those tubes with the front one going to the top of the block just under the fan motor, I'd change the oil (and think about putting the air accumulator in).

I hope the paint and the tank made it through unscathed.


:dance:dance:dance
 
Whew! That's a relief, Lee---yes, I do have the little plastic cup thingy underneath the two rearward vent tubes; I must have been thinking about that second tube that runs from the front left side of the tank (next to the fuel line that goes to the fuel rail/injectors) to somewhere behind the radiator.

So I'm good to go although another oil and filter change wouldn't hurt sometime soon.

Fortunately the only bodywork that got scrunched were two tiny portions of the right side fairing. The right saddlebag got pretty scratched up but failed to break! That BMW ABS is tough stuff!

One latch (the one that locks the bags onto the bag frame) did pop most of its rivets off so I will need to figure out how to drill holes to reinstall it with some nuts and bolts in place of the rivets.

Now I also have an excuse to take off both saddlebags, peel off the reflective tape, sand them and fill all the imperfections before spraying them flat black this time around.

I didn't prep them well enough last year before I had them painted hence all the reflective tape I put on them. I'll look into some spray-on bedliner or good flat black paint and call it a day. The small damaged sections of fairing are only an inch or so long and I can touch those on with some metallic black spray paint that is amazingly close to the steel gray color, so after a while (without a close inspection) the bike will look as if nothing happened.:brow

Guess I lucked out. Thanks for the good news!
 
nh7robmw said:
I must have been thinking about that second tube that runs from the front left side of the tank (next to the fuel line that goes to the fuel rail/injectors) to somewhere behind the radiator.
Click to expand...

That hose is the return from the fuel regulator.


nh7robmw said:
One latch (the one that locks the bags onto the bag frame) did pop most of its rivets off so I will need to figure out how to drill holes to reinstall it with some nuts and bolts in place of the rivets.
Click to expand...

Why don't you just repop rivet it. 1/8" pop rivets work well, if I remember correctly.





:dance:dance:dance
 
Lee to the rescue

98lee said:
Why don't you just repop rivet it. 1/8" pop rivets work well, if I remember correctly.

:dance:dance:dance
Click to expand...

Guess that would make more sense. I've never used a riveter before but that might be easier come to think of it. Do the rivets "pop" in from one side (i.e., the inside of the case half) and somehow expand on the other? Do they need anything further to affix them?

Since I don't see how one gains access underneath parts of the latch anyway (to install/tighten nuts and bolts) I suppose that's exactly what I will need to use, huh? I'll head down to Home Depot next day off and pick one up. (1/8" size rivets noted; steel or aluminum or?)

Thanks again for your help, Lee.
 
98lee said:
That hose is the return from the fuel regulator.




Why don't you just repop rivet it. 1/8" pop rivets work well, if I remember correctly.





:dance:dance:dance
Click to expand...

Use aluminum rivets, not steel. In a tip over you want the rivets to break not the bag. Just as yours did.
 
nh7robmw said:
Unloading my fully packed saddlebags the other day my bike tipped over on it's right side. Felt really stupid and now I know which side to unpack first...

[/B]
Click to expand...

Put your bike on the center stand when taking off or putting on bags, your problem would never have happened.
 
in hindsight, you should have removed the extender on the sidestand. ONLY rationale for keeping it on is that the bike is too heavy for you to lift off the sidestand at that increased angle. in which case, you just need a smaller bike.
but yeah, c-stand works great for saddlebag work.
 
I agree, Bikerfish and one of the next things I'm doing with the bike is getting out my hacksaw and cutting off about half of that sidestand "club foot." Then things should be about right all of the time thereafter. I must admit that thing always had me a bit concerned, especially trying to make a brief stop on 99% of the highways where the road is crowned; it was often next to impossible.

Only thing is is that I may have to have a flat plate welded back on as the extension looks like it is made from hollow pipe---but that shouldn't be a problem for any local welding shop to do.

I have also seen that pinklady video before but the thought leaning backwards and lifting the bike up gives me the creeps---my luck the sidestand would give way once it was upright and over it would go in the other direction...
 
nh7robmw said:
I

I have also seen that pinklady video before but the thought leaning backwards and lifting the bike up gives me the creeps---my luck the sidestand would give way once it was upright and over it would go in the other direction...
Click to expand...

Put the bike in gear so the wheels don't roll as you lift it, and use a bungee or a strap to hold the sidestand in position. Sometimes you are nowhere there is help available. It works, DAMHIK!
 
the backward creep is the best way to go for a 1-person lift. your legs are much stronger than your back or arms, and once the bike gets in a more upright postuure its easy enough to change handholds and body position to something more normal feeling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
almost $30K bike, 2 years old, fails to start
2
Replies
27
Views
1K
oneillsrmtnc
O
J
Leaky Carbs
Replies
11
Views
3K
pglaves
pglaves
9
/5 leaky fuel line
Replies
4
Views
732
gregfeeler
gregfeeler
dfisher1
2023 F750GS issues
Replies
8
Views
3K
stormbringer
S
S
r1250r starting problem
Replies
15
Views
1K
stevenpchristensen
S
Back
Top