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2012 chain tensioner failure

Hey Rick and Professor. Would love to hear back on your student with the new GTL. I am going to go on a little ride today and record my bike. If I can figure out how to post it I will. I also wander back and forth on being in denial about the bikes issues. One minute I
say I'm just going to ignore it and enjoy the bike. Hey it's got a warranty I tell myself. Then the other side says hey it's almost a 30K bike and it's not right. Also in the back of my brain is with that metal on metal noise I worry about some catastrophic failure and the rear wheel locking up or something in the middle of a turn. I just hope BMW is aware of it and is at least thinking about it. I just want someone of authority and mechanical prowess to say that noise your hearing is the fetzer valve engaging with the whirly gig when your throttle is on lightly. Its not doing damage and we're working on the problem. As of today I've heard only speculation as to it's cause and boy has this subject been talked about. Pretty much since the release of the bike to the original preorder group. I wonder if any mags or consumer products have done a long term product review on the 1600? I am going to wait a few days and call BMW of Denver and see if they have done any diagnosis of my old bikes. I think they would like to get it figured out and maybe use as a demo bike. So in the mean time I'll just sit on the fence..

Rick how long are you in Parker for and do you use your own bike for the class or do you use a loaner of some type when your on the road. Just watched a cop in a LEO course doing the cone test on youtube. Pretty impressive on a big old cop bike.
 
OK I'm no tech guy and my attempt to load the recording was not possible with my small brain size. I don't think the web site likes apple attachments. Tried loading it as a quick time movie and as an iTunes file. Anyway if anyone really wants to hear it I did figure out how to email it. So drop me your email address and I'll mail it.
 
Hi Damon84 and Professor: At this point I am not sure what to think. It may be possible that this is some kind of weird engine harmonic noise unique to the 1600/6 cylinder engine, but I would be surprised if that were the case. If I didn't know better I would swear that I can almost feel something in the engine when the noise is at its worst. Some have said this noise is related to the slipper clutch but I find that really hard to believe. There is no noise at all in mine when the engine is cold but once hot it sounds for all the world like a bad tappet. It would be interesting to really dig into your old engine Damon84 see if there is anything out of sorts. I keep thinking back to one K1600 owner who took his bike in for an 18000 mile checkup and they found a bad valve that was worn and had to be replaced. So for the time being I guess I will just have to wait till I get home and see what my dealer has to say about this matter. I didn't say anything to the student that just bought his GTL a week ago but after I drove it I could hear a similar noise in his engine, but much subdued compared to mine. If I didn't know better I would think I was hearing things, but even my dealer agrees that something isn't right.

So Damon84, have you decided to call your dealer or are you going to stand down and see if others have problems? I will send you a PM with my email address so you can forward the audio recording you made. Thanks...

Rick
 
Rick, your description of it sounding like a bad tappet is exactly right. But other than that one situation, the bike sounds fine and runs like a bat out of hell. I'm going to just quit worrying about it for now. If it gets worse, I'll have it looked into before the warrantee runs out. The more I ride this bike, the more I love it. It is the finest motorcycle I have ever owned - or has ever owned me. ;)
 
Hey Professor: Glad you can just ignore the noise, I could not. It just drove me nuts listening to it. Perhaps it is my reduced or changed hearing in my old age and it's possible that certain sound frequencies just affect me differently than others. All I know is the rattle noise in my engine drove me absolutely nuts. After a couple hours on the bike listening to it I just HAD to get off it for a while or I would have beaten it to death with a sledge hammer. Good luck with your bike and I hope you two get along for now.

Rick
 
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