MCMXCIVRS
More toys than space
I sure am glad I carry a good tool kit with me on my F800GS.
I had a couple opportunities to use them, once to help out another rider, none other than Paul Glaves who needed my GS-911 tool to diagnose a problem on Voni's F800S while at the Bee Cee Beemers rally in Nakusp BC last weekend. She was concerned that her odometer was not logging her miles and Paul wanted to confirm what he suspected the problem to be so he could order the part to get that fixed. After all, when you're closing in on a million, you don't want to miss any.
The next opprtunity to break open the tool kit was for my own bike and was a bit more dramatic and serious in nature.
I left the rally on Sunday with the intent of spending several more days touring back roads and finding fishing spots to camp and catch supper. My route for Sunday took me well up a mountain road, one in pretty decent condition, where there were a few small lakes. Not far from the lake I had chosen as the best spot to end the day, I rode over a flat stone on the road and it kicked up hard under the bike off the front tire. The stone clanked off the skid plate as have many before, that's what its there for after all. I thought little of it and continued the last couple kilometers to the lake.
I was just in the process of getting my tent set up shortly after arriving, when i noticed something dripping under the bike. A quick inspection revealed it was oil, the stone had dented the skid plate in quote badly, and I figured had also damaged the sump. A few minutes of panic ensued as I abandoned the tent and began to figure out what to do. Give up on the lake and fishing and make a run for civilization? Try to patch the damage out in the mountains? No cell coverage, little chance of anyone coming along to help, oh crap!
After the panic subsided and clearer thinking returned, i dug out the tool kit and set to work getting the skid palte off to assess the true nature of the damage. Sure enough, the sump had been cracked and a slow but steady drip of hot 10w 40 was issuing from the wound. With no way to get anything to stick to the damaged area while the oil continued to flow, I realised i would need to drain the remaining oil and remove the sump to effect any sort of repair that might have a chnace of getting me out of this predicament. I got out my Ortlieb folding dish pan and used it to catch the oil, then used my map case from the tank bag to cover it and try to keep the forest debris from getting in, or at least most of it.
Now that I had the oil drained, I got to work removing the sump which is fortunately a very easy task on the F800GS. With the sump removed, I was able to clean the oil from the damaged area, scrape it somewhat clean, and then apply a coat of JB Weld to cover the damage. Once that cured, I repeated the process on the inside just to be sure it was going to hold oil in.
With the damage patched, the sump went back on and I used one of my disposable paper funnels to return the oil to the engine. So far so good, no sign of a leak and only down to add mark on the dipstick. I left the skid palte off so I could keep an eye on the repair for the rest of the evening. By morning it was still dry, so on went the skid plate, which I had beat somewhat flat again (ironically using a large rock to do so).
This bad situation turned out not so bad after all, certainly not as bad as it may have been with a bit less luck or less preparedness. That bulky tool kit was worth every square inch of space it took to carry it.
Oh, and the fishing was fantastic. Even after doing the repairs, I still was able to pull in a nice pair of trout in time for supper.
The sump off
It's cracked
scraped clean
Repaired
Skid plate dent
From the underside
The "workshop"
View from the "workshop"
Supper
I did end up changing my travel plans and headed for Kelowna and the new dealer there Bentley Motorad. They inspected the repair, cleaned up the oily mess and gave me the OK to proceed with confidence with fresh oil and filter and a cleaned and lubed chain to boot. The emergency repair was showing no sign of leakage, and held up just fine for the remainder of my wandering trip home. I will be replacing the sump though just to be sure.
I had a couple opportunities to use them, once to help out another rider, none other than Paul Glaves who needed my GS-911 tool to diagnose a problem on Voni's F800S while at the Bee Cee Beemers rally in Nakusp BC last weekend. She was concerned that her odometer was not logging her miles and Paul wanted to confirm what he suspected the problem to be so he could order the part to get that fixed. After all, when you're closing in on a million, you don't want to miss any.
The next opprtunity to break open the tool kit was for my own bike and was a bit more dramatic and serious in nature.
I left the rally on Sunday with the intent of spending several more days touring back roads and finding fishing spots to camp and catch supper. My route for Sunday took me well up a mountain road, one in pretty decent condition, where there were a few small lakes. Not far from the lake I had chosen as the best spot to end the day, I rode over a flat stone on the road and it kicked up hard under the bike off the front tire. The stone clanked off the skid plate as have many before, that's what its there for after all. I thought little of it and continued the last couple kilometers to the lake.
I was just in the process of getting my tent set up shortly after arriving, when i noticed something dripping under the bike. A quick inspection revealed it was oil, the stone had dented the skid plate in quote badly, and I figured had also damaged the sump. A few minutes of panic ensued as I abandoned the tent and began to figure out what to do. Give up on the lake and fishing and make a run for civilization? Try to patch the damage out in the mountains? No cell coverage, little chance of anyone coming along to help, oh crap!
After the panic subsided and clearer thinking returned, i dug out the tool kit and set to work getting the skid palte off to assess the true nature of the damage. Sure enough, the sump had been cracked and a slow but steady drip of hot 10w 40 was issuing from the wound. With no way to get anything to stick to the damaged area while the oil continued to flow, I realised i would need to drain the remaining oil and remove the sump to effect any sort of repair that might have a chnace of getting me out of this predicament. I got out my Ortlieb folding dish pan and used it to catch the oil, then used my map case from the tank bag to cover it and try to keep the forest debris from getting in, or at least most of it.
Now that I had the oil drained, I got to work removing the sump which is fortunately a very easy task on the F800GS. With the sump removed, I was able to clean the oil from the damaged area, scrape it somewhat clean, and then apply a coat of JB Weld to cover the damage. Once that cured, I repeated the process on the inside just to be sure it was going to hold oil in.
With the damage patched, the sump went back on and I used one of my disposable paper funnels to return the oil to the engine. So far so good, no sign of a leak and only down to add mark on the dipstick. I left the skid palte off so I could keep an eye on the repair for the rest of the evening. By morning it was still dry, so on went the skid plate, which I had beat somewhat flat again (ironically using a large rock to do so).
This bad situation turned out not so bad after all, certainly not as bad as it may have been with a bit less luck or less preparedness. That bulky tool kit was worth every square inch of space it took to carry it.
Oh, and the fishing was fantastic. Even after doing the repairs, I still was able to pull in a nice pair of trout in time for supper.
The sump off
It's cracked
scraped clean
Repaired
Skid plate dent
From the underside
The "workshop"
View from the "workshop"
Supper
I did end up changing my travel plans and headed for Kelowna and the new dealer there Bentley Motorad. They inspected the repair, cleaned up the oily mess and gave me the OK to proceed with confidence with fresh oil and filter and a cleaned and lubed chain to boot. The emergency repair was showing no sign of leakage, and held up just fine for the remainder of my wandering trip home. I will be replacing the sump though just to be sure.