I just read through all this entire thread, and must say it is most disturbing since I have a 2006 R12RT, which no doubt has the plastic pulleys. What is the motivation behind doing it this way? it surely can't be to save a couple of ounces of weight as these bikes are hardly lightweight sport bikes. So apparently this must be a cost cutting measure, and one wonders just how much extra it would cost to use metal pulleys. Seems pretty cheap to do this since these bikes are not low budget economy models.
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Broken Throttle Body Pulleys 2009 R1200RT
- Thread starter ponch1
- Start date
ponch1
Ponch
I feel the same way and I am sure others do as well. May be BMW bought a lot of stock in Mattel?. I don't know. The Germans are a frugal bunch I guess.
jimvonbaden
Kool Aid Dispenser!
If it makes you feel any better this is FAR from a common occurrence. As a matter of fact, I have only heard of this twice, and it may be from the same guy! There are lot's of more likely issues than this to fear. Though, as always, the internet can make any issue seem bigger than it is. (Not to belittle the one who is actually suffering the issue.)
Jim
ponch1
Ponch
If it makes you feel any better this is FAR from a common occurrence. As a matter of fact, I have only heard of this twice, and it may be from the same guy! There are lot's of more likely issues than this to fear. Though, as always, the internet can make any issue seem bigger than it is. (Not to belittle the one who is actually suffering the issue.)
Jim
It is rare, but there has been more than two instances and not just from one person. I would also say that based on the photos from eBay, there are probably more that are cracked, but haven't broke yet. Still a small number probably, but enough that it's a fair question to wonder why the hell BMW uses plastic. That said, imagine the poor sap that pays $1400 for new throttle bodies installed by the dealer because of crappy plastic parts that wouldn't have failed if it was metal. Just saying. At this point I'll hang the old ones in the garage as a reminder.
jimvonbaden
Kool Aid Dispenser!
Same reason they use plastic on other parts. It makes sense. Plastic is pretty resilient stuff. Maybe these break from the bike significantly overheating, maybe just bad luck on the very very few that crack.
Jim
pglaves
#13338
I don't have a bike with plastic pulleys. That said, my big problem is / would be the lack of available replacement parts. Bing Agency International sells replacement shafts etc for older throttle bodies. There is no real excuse for not selling replacement shafts with pulleys for these throttle bodies.
I suspect we are seeing time lag. Early on when we began finding rattling wobbling shafts on R1100 throttle bodies the answer was to buy a new throttle body. The replacement parts were not individually available. But soon they were. I hope this is the case with these pulley/shaft assemblies. Or even new pulleys with the appropriate "glue".
I would suggest that everybody who actually needs/wants new pulleys to contact Bing Agency in Kansas. I think if there is more than one or two requests they can/will get the parts from Bing.
I suspect we are seeing time lag. Early on when we began finding rattling wobbling shafts on R1100 throttle bodies the answer was to buy a new throttle body. The replacement parts were not individually available. But soon they were. I hope this is the case with these pulley/shaft assemblies. Or even new pulleys with the appropriate "glue".
I would suggest that everybody who actually needs/wants new pulleys to contact Bing Agency in Kansas. I think if there is more than one or two requests they can/will get the parts from Bing.
ponch1
Ponch
I would also suggest that people inspect their pulleys from time to time. Can't hurt.
Hi, I wonder if this is what is happening with my 09RT.
Recently it started stalling as I geared down to the point it stalled out completely ( in traffic of course)
It went in for repair @ a BMW Motorrad (just turned over 60,000km)
The invoice stated "left throttle body not engaged with the manifold" and was fixed no labor cost to me
( wow)
I've had it back on the road for 5 days and last night I suddenly lost all throttle and it stalled out while on a major highway doing 125m per hour. (About 77mikes per hr) not fun.
Now it won't even start?
Any ideas?
K
deilenberger
A bozo on the bus
Same reason they use plastic on other parts. It makes sense. Plastic is pretty resilient stuff. Maybe these break from the bike significantly overheating, maybe just bad luck on the very very few that crack.
Jim
My WAG - it's someone who smacks the throttle wide open and has adjusted all the free-play out of the throttle, so the TB actually hits the stops - putting a shock on the pulley. Just a WAG - but I've never seen one firsthand that broke. FWIW - the steel ones on the 1100-1150 weren't flawless either. There was a long writeup of a balls to the walls ride to Alaska by someone totally unprepared who had the steel ones come off his throttle bodies. He fixed (bodged) them with sardine can lids and I believe JBWeld (miracle stuff) to get back to civilization.
deilenberger
A bozo on the bus
K- it sounds VERY unlikely that this was your problem. This is a '09 R1200RT?
Their description implies the throttle body came out of the rubber mount that fastens it to the intake port on the cylinder head. Under those conditions the bike will run very poorly or not at all, but I can't imagine how that condition came about. The throttle body is normally supported at both ends by rubber - the intake mount on the cylinder and the rubber tube from the airbox. For it to come off/out/whatever would requires some fairly major parts to fail or fall off. Something would have to physically happen for this to occur.
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Evidently the TB pulley is available, and here is the link from the Bing Agency
http://bingcarburetor.com/store/p18/TYPE_77_THROTTLE_BODY_PULLEY.html
It is plastic molded over metal, the plastic is in tension, it is clearly a bad design.
Everyone that has one break should file a report with NHTSA so they force BMW to remove their head from a dark smelly place and fix it correctly.
I am going to a set for my 09 just in case BMW decides to insist there is not a problem and shuts them down like then did Magura on the clutch slaves.
Rod
http://bingcarburetor.com/store/p18/TYPE_77_THROTTLE_BODY_PULLEY.html
It is plastic molded over metal, the plastic is in tension, it is clearly a bad design.
Everyone that has one break should file a report with NHTSA so they force BMW to remove their head from a dark smelly place and fix it correctly.
I am going to a set for my 09 just in case BMW decides to insist there is not a problem and shuts them down like then did Magura on the clutch slaves.
Rod
calnalu
Off shore and glassy
A Few Years Later: Still on Broken Throttle Body Pulleys
Over the past two years, the throttle bodies on my 2012 1200GS (57K miles) have been going out of synch, producing a rough idle. My tech diagnosed cracks in the plastic throttle body cams/pulleys and after a forum search, I found this thread from a few years ago.
My tech recommended replacing them with these aluminum machined replacements: http://www.beemerbits.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=745
BMW does not sell replacement parts for these plastic cams. You have to buy the entire OEM throttle body at $650+ per side so $450 for two aluminum replacements sounds like a bargain. Anyone have experience in recent years with replacing these cams? Any other third party fix recommendations?
Thanks,
MT
Over the past two years, the throttle bodies on my 2012 1200GS (57K miles) have been going out of synch, producing a rough idle. My tech diagnosed cracks in the plastic throttle body cams/pulleys and after a forum search, I found this thread from a few years ago.
My tech recommended replacing them with these aluminum machined replacements: http://www.beemerbits.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=745
BMW does not sell replacement parts for these plastic cams. You have to buy the entire OEM throttle body at $650+ per side so $450 for two aluminum replacements sounds like a bargain. Anyone have experience in recent years with replacing these cams? Any other third party fix recommendations?
Thanks,
MT
ponch1
Ponch
Well, I am the originator of this post. You can say I was an early adopter/victim of BMW poor engineering in this case. Bing sells the parts. There are a few threads on BMW Sport Touring Forum on it. Dirt Rider is amazing as usual. When mine broke, Beemer Bits wasn't available. Neither were the parts from Bing. I bought a used set of TBs. If these break, I have the originals and would do beemer bits. No use putting the same crappy engineering back in a second time.
https://www.bmwsporttouring.com/topic/91991-throttel-body-throttle-shaftcam-install-procedure_/
https://www.bmwsporttouring.com/topic/91897-throttle-body-more-cracked-cable-camspulleys/
https://www.bmwsporttouring.com/topic/91801-throttle-body-pulley-repair/
Everyone speaks
Hey guys I see you have already disccussed this issue for a long time. If you don't mind I'll put link from other thread that has the same content.
https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?104994-Throttle-Body-Plastic-Pulley-are-breaking!
Truly this is a problem that ppl still are talking about and some even doesn't suspect
. Maintain your bike guys, this is really important!
I sent my BMW R1200GSA 2010 to my mechanic to make full inspection about clutch, brakes, drive shaft, throttle bodies, etc...
Hey guys I see you have already disccussed this issue for a long time. If you don't mind I'll put link from other thread that has the same content.
https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?104994-Throttle-Body-Plastic-Pulley-are-breaking!
Truly this is a problem that ppl still are talking about and some even doesn't suspect
. Maintain your bike guys, this is really important!I sent my BMW R1200GSA 2010 to my mechanic to make full inspection about clutch, brakes, drive shaft, throttle bodies, etc...
ponch1
Ponch
Hey guys I see you have already disccussed this issue for a long time. If you don't mind I'll put link from other thread that has the same content.
https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?104994-Throttle-Body-Plastic-Pulley-are-breaking!
Truly this is a problem that ppl still are talking about and some even doesn't suspect
I sent my BMW R1200GSA 2010 to my mechanic to make full inspection about clutch, brakes, drive shaft, throttle bodies, etc...
Maintaining the bike won't change the outcome in terms of whether they break or not, just discovery, which can be done separately from maintenance. At the time when I had it happen, almost no one had experienced it. The reason I think is heat, I live in AZ. That was 2015. Now 8 years on, it's become common. Even sadder is the attitude of BMW.
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