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Good News, all problem with leaking seals on my 2005 r1200gs finally solved forever.

espressoforyou

New member
Everybody knows my leaking engine output and counterbalance seal saga, so I will not repeat the details.

Well, while dual sporting with friends in Colorado the first two weeks of August I had a "slight moving dismount" on the Ophir Pass trail. My motor had died at the very top of the pass and would not jump start even with the help of a passing jeep. So I had to ride it down the mountain without the motor running. Almost made it out of the really rough stuff when I hit a big rock and "dismounted" going about 15 mph. No big deal, just scratched the bike and dented it a little. Picked it up and rode it the rest of the way down the mountain and even through 3 water crossing(pretty interesting with the engine not running). Made it to the town of Ophir and called a wrecker to haul my bike back to Durango. I rode on the back of my friends 2005 r1200gs for 2 1/2 hours through a driving rain storm. I now know that it is possible to fall a sleep on the back of a bike. Fortunately we brought a KLR 650 as a back up bike so I had a bike to ride the rest of the week. Fun trip and love the mountains trail riding.

So we hauled the bikes back to Memphis and a week later the insurance company tells me my bike is totaled. So that is how my leaking seal problem is solved forever!

The insurance company ended up giving me $7,500 for the bike, $3,000 for the accessories and payed the sales tax. So after my $1,000 deductible I ended up with a check for $10,354.17. My coverage only covered up to a maximum of $3,000 for accessories or I would have gotten more. I suggest that you check your insurance policy to make sure you have enough coverage to cover all the accessories you have on your bike. I had $4,700 worth of accessories so I removed anything that I could sell from the bike before I let the salvage company pick up the bike. I sold my panniers on ebay for $595 this week and will probably raise another $500 in sales of salvage parts. So I will end up netting around $11,500 for my totaled bike. Not bad considering BMW NA offered me $1,241.17 as a buy back and BMW Nashville offered me $4,000 trade-in.

So what did I do with all the money? The first thing I did was contact Anthony Cavanaugh at BMW NA and see what kind of "goodwill" BMW might be willing to offer considering all the problems I had with my bike. BMW NA offered me 8% off the purchase of a new bike under their "customer loyalty program". I appreciated the offer and tried to find a f700/800GS but could not make the numbers work.

So what did I do? One of the guys on the Colorado trip was riding a 2012 Suzuki 650 Adventure that is all tricked out with $3,700 worth of farkles. The owner of the Suzuki rode my friends 2005 r1200gs and liked it very much. When we go back to Memphis he decided to order a new 2014 wethead. So I bought is tricked out Suzuki 650 Adventure with over four years of warranty on remaining. So I have a "new" bike with only 5,000 miles on it. I like the Suzuki very much and have ridden it 14 of the last 20 days. I would have bought a f700gs but could not make the numbers work and I was tired of dealing with BMW. My wife still rides a 2003 f650gs and loves her bike and has never had any trouble with it.

Of the 8 riders that are in my riding group I am the 5th that has bought the Suzuki 650 Adventure. Most of the guys have several bikes and can afford to buy whatever they would like to ride. But because of all the problems I had with my GS only two own BMW's. As I mentioned the previous owner of my Suzuki has just ordered a 2014 wethead GS.

I still think that the 1200gs is probably the best bike on the road and would love for someone to give me one. But I don't like BMW NA enough to give them my money.

Thanks to everyone for helping me with all the issues with my bike. Enjoy the cooler riding weather.
 
Thanks John, I think I will

The wee-strom handles as well as my GS except for when you hit ripples in the road at speeds over 70 mph. The big GS was smoother in situations like that. I have not checked it out, but the friend that I bought it from and that is buying a new 2014 wethead says that the wee-strom is faster than the new GS in
0-60mph.

I still think the GS is the best all around bike on the road but the wee-strom fits my budget better and can be serviced by any dealer.
vstrom the day I bought it.compressed.jpg
 
Glad to know you've found a bike you like and is working for you. I'm just hoping your saga doesn't turn into my saga. I turned my 2013 R1200RT in at my dealer today for an oil leak. It's not bad, just a drop or two after a ride. I didn't even notice it for the first couple of months. The rear of the transmission is just damp. Anyway, I got a call from the service manager and he said they identified the problem as a rear main/counterbalance oil seals leak. He said it's a major tear down to get to them and it will probably be toward the end of next week before I get the bike back.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Ride Safe,
Steve R.
 
The wee-strom handles as well as my GS except for when you hit ripples in the road at speeds over 70 mph. The big GS was smoother in situations like that. I have not checked it out, but the friend that I bought it from and that is buying a new 2014 wethead says that the wee-strom is faster than the new GS in
0-60mph.

I still think the GS is the best all around bike on the road but the wee-strom fits my budget better and can be serviced by any dealer.
View attachment 41817

Gee! Does your State allow you to ride a Suzuki while wearing a BMW patched jacket...LOL!!! Nice looking machine by the way.
 
Good point Motodan.

I just I need to remove the patches like when you are demoted in the army.

I hate to say it but when people ask me what kind of bike I ride I miss saying "BMW". Most people expect you to say Harley and if you say anything else they give you "that look" like i'm sorry. But when you say you ride a BMW they say "oh". You can pull up to a Harley dealership on a BMW and feel like you are part of the "elite club". I know it is just a pride thing but I miss saying that I ride a BMW but I will get over it.

I still like the wee-strom very much and look forward to riding it anytime I can. The only problem is that the friend that I bought it from already had it farkled out so I can not find any thing to add to it except for driving lights. I guess that is a good problem to have.
 
I just I need to remove the patches like when you are demoted in the army


I still like the wee-strom very much and look forward to riding it anytime I can. The only problem is that the friend that I bought it from already had it farkled out so I can not find any thing to add to it except for driving lights. I guess that is a good problem to have.




It looks like it is already equipped for some serious LD Travel. I am sure you will enjoy it. I don't think I have ever spoken with a dissatisfied wee-strom owner.
 
Thanks ducster, so far I really like the bike

Rode to breakfast Saturday morning but none of my riding buddies wanted to ride. The weather was perfect so on the spur of moment I decided to go on a two day trip. Called the wife and told her I would back late Sunday night. Ended up riding 550 miles, spent the night with my sister and had to borrow a toothbrush from her. Rode to the Tennessee River and up toward Kentucky. Got to ride in a parade in Perryville TN, I just joined in with the floats and decorated golf carts. Went to Loretta Lynn's Ranch and the gate was open on their motorcross track so I rode around it a few times. End up riding around 120 miles on gravel roads. Got to cross the TN River at Big Sandy on a ferry. Drove by the Camdon Dirt Track facility and asked the owner if I could ride around the track, he said sure. So I got the ride around a oval banked dirt track. The track was very rough from the Saturday night races so I could only get it up to 63 mph. Still a lot of fun. Made it back to Memphis right before dark and there was pizza in the oven when I walked through the door.

It was a perfect "spur of the moment" weekend. I encourage everybody to forget about mowing the yard and take a long weekend ride.
 
Thanks ponch1

And to top off a perfect weekend I just sold my damaged top case and mounting bracket for over $240 on ebay tonight. Sold my panniers last week for $595 on ebay and still have a couple hundred dollars of more parts off of my totaled gs to sale. Wrecking the gs is turning out to be the perfect solution to a 7 year thorn in my side.

I am sure the 700gs is a great bike but for the money the Suzuki 650 Adventure is a great bike.
 
And to top off a perfect weekend I just sold my damaged top case and mounting bracket for over $240 on ebay tonight. Sold my panniers last week for $595 on ebay and still have a couple hundred dollars of more parts off of my totaled gs to sale. Wrecking the gs is turning out to be the perfect solution to a 7 year thorn in my side.

I am sure the 700gs is a great bike but for the money the Suzuki 650 Adventure is a great bike.

Can't go wrong with a Weestrom. I believe you'll have many trouble free years and miles on it. Good luck and be sure to send pictures with you smiling on the bike to relevant recipients. :D
 
Your fortunate the insurace company let you sell off the accessories. I've only had one claim, which was handled very well and quickly, however, I was to turnover each and every component which I was reimbursed for. Good luck with the new bike.
 
Good point concerning the accessories

My insurance policy paid off the NADA of the bike plus up to $3,000 worth of accessories. I had around $4,700 worth of accessories on the bike so I was allowed to remove any accessories OVER the $3,000 value that had to remain on the bike.

It is amazing the dollar amount of farkles that we put on our bike.

I suggest that everyone call their insurance agent and review their policy. For my new bike I have the same coverage of up to $3,000 of accessories but it wou*ld only cost around $10.00 per year to increase the accessories coverage by another $1,000. Probably will increase the coverage.

Consider that the top case, panniers with mounts can top $2,000 pretty quick. Add crash bars, bash plate, bar backs, tank bag, throttlemeister, gps and other ram mounts, add on driving lights and led brake lights, custom seats, fuzeblocks and other electronic farkles and it can add up to over $5,000 pretty quick.

Enjoy this beautiful riding weather.
 
Glad to know you've found a bike you like and is working for you. I'm just hoping your saga doesn't turn into my saga. I turned my 2013 R1200RT in at my dealer today for an oil leak. It's not bad, just a drop or two after a ride. I didn't even notice it for the first couple of months. The rear of the transmission is just damp. Anyway, I got a call from the service manager and he said they identified the problem as a rear main/counterbalance oil seals leak. He said it's a major tear down to get to them and it will probably be toward the end of next week before I get the bike back.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Ride Safe,
Steve R.

Finally got a call from the dealer today. Should be able to pick it up tomorrow some time. I did get to see the bike after they got it torn down. The leak turned out to be the counterbalance seal. They had the bike split in two, literally. From the engine forward was on the lift, on blocks. The rear half was, basically from the battery back, was sitting on the floor on the center stand. It was pretty cool actually. Got a good look at the clutch and other mechanicals that I didn't think I'd be seeing for a much longer time than this but hey, it is what it is. The real test will be to see if it all holds up. As before........

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Ride Safe,
Steve R.
 
Glad to hear your leak is getting repaired.

Yea, I have seen my bike broken in half 8 times on my 2005 r1200gs, not a pretty sight. I have had 8 counterbalance seals replaced, six engine out put seals, 3 transmission input and 2 transmission output seals replaced. Along with the 3 clutch slave cylinders, the counterbalance itself and the front counterbalance bearing. All replaced under the 3 year factory warranty or the 2 year parts and labor warranty. You will probably not have any more leaks but keep an eye open for the tale tell oily line where the transmission and engine bolt together.

Enjoy the bike, it is a great bike.
 
Yea, I have seen my bike broken in half 8 times on my 2005 r1200gs, not a pretty sight. I have had 8 counterbalance seals replaced, six engine out put seals, 3 transmission input and 2 transmission output seals replaced. Along with the 3 clutch slave cylinders, the counterbalance itself and the front counterbalance bearing. All replaced under the 3 year factory warranty or the 2 year parts and labor warranty. You will probably not have any more leaks but keep an eye open for the tale tell oily line where the transmission and engine bolt together.

Enjoy the bike, it is a great bike.

Darn Espresso,

You're not encouraging me. Yours does sound like an extreme situation. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this for quite a while. This leak was so slow that it went unnoticed for the first couple of months of ownership. They've had the bike for two weeks now. It's a small shop and while I have no complaints about how they treat me, they do seem to be giving preferential treatment to paying customers. I can understand that to a point except that I'm a paying customer too. I bought the darned bike from them. At this point, the problem is that the mechanic damaged one of the control cables on the exhaust butterfly valve and they had to order a replacement. That part hasn't arrived yet so I, and they, are stuck for the time being. They're paperwork says it's been shipped and they "say" they're expecting it any time. I'm really hoping to get the bike by the end of this week sometime. We'll see.

Oh, and I do "really" like the bike. I had no idea what I had been missing. I'm just really ready to get back on it.

Ride Safe,
Steve R.
 
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