GSA center stand breaks:(

[Polarbear]

Yep! Went to my bike in the garage last night to go to work and a broken bolt is lying under the GSA'07. Hmmmmm, I'm in an immediate concern state of mind! I cannot see right off, just where the broken bolt is from, but clearly it appears to be BMW and from directly under my bike. Well, its the center stand bolt alright(broke in half), with closer inspection and I learn something new about this bike and perhaps all the newer twins and others. This is apparently a servicable item to be taken apart occasionally and cleaned, lubed and put back together! Each side of the center stand has a bolt through a bushing and rubber o rings and clearly needs attention every 30-50000 miles or so. I will keep mine greased from now on. Its 45$ for the kit from BMW, which includes all new mounting parts for the C'stand. My dealer says its going to be covered under warantee and should never have broke, so I'm happy they have my six on this. Just a heads up FYI thing here. Randy....PS, I'm lucky my bike never fell over and I'm surprised by that, with one leg not supported very well. "Faired" bikes , this could be a much more expensive concern if the bike fell. R

 

[marchyman]

Fixing a busted pivot bolt on an '05 GS: http://www.snafu.org/pics/r1200gs/2009/1031-center-stand/

I didn't know they also broke on the newer (square brace) stands.

 

[AZ-J]

So glad my R12 does not have a center stand, a racing stand is easier to deal with.

 

[greenwald]

Yep! Went to my bike in the garage last night to go to work and a broken bolt is lying under the GSA'07. Hmmmmm, I'm in an immediate concern state of mind! I cannot see right off, just where the broken bolt is from, but clearly it appears to be BMW and from directly under my bike. Well, its the center stand bolt alright(broke in half), with closer inspection and I learn something new about this bike and perhaps all the newer twins and others. This is apparently a servicable item to be taken apart occasionally and cleaned, lubed and put back together! Each side of the center stand has a bolt through a bushing and rubber o rings and clearly needs attention every 30-50000 miles or so. I will keep mine greased from now on. Its 45$ for the kit from BMW, which includes all new mounting parts for the C'stand. My dealer says its going to be covered under warantee and should never have broke, so I'm happy they have my six on this. Just a heads up FYI thing here. Randy....PS, I'm lucky my bike never fell over and I'm surprised by that, with one leg not supported very well. "Faired" bikes , this could be a much more expensive concern if the bike fell. R

Both of mine snapped - lucky the centerstand didn't fall back into the tire (already a suspected scenario in two BMW fatalities).

I rigged some wire as a retaining system, so if the bolts fail again, it stops the stand from tangling up in the rear wheel. Typical 'FD' odds - low percentage of it happening, but if it happens to you, it's 100%.

Yes - I notified BMW of the incident.

Yes - in typical BMW fashion, they ignored me.

Glad you noticed it in time!

 

[Polarbear]

More info;

Looking at my broken bolt, I see its a rated 8.8 hardness bolt! This is really a very hardened bolt, for those not up to speed on the grade ratings. 8.8 is one of the hardest I think. Now I'm not certain this a proper bolt for this application??? Seems a very hardened bolt would do just this and break under shock loads, like a center stand scenario? I'm theorizing here. Maybe, just maybe a grade 5 bolt would do better and have a better life here. THX for the safety wiring tip and this may be a great idea. I'll look into this myself....Anyhow, one good inspection every now and then would be a GREAT idea from now on. Randy

 

[greenwald]

Looking at my broken bolt, I see its a rated 8.8 hardness bolt! This is really a very hardened bolt, for those not up to speed on the grade ratings. 8.8 is one of the hardest I think. Now I'm not certain this a proper bolt for this application??? Seems a very hardened bolt would do just this and break under shock loads, like a center stand scenario? I'm theorizing here. Maybe, just maybe a grade 5 bolt would do better and have a better life here. THX for the safety wiring tip and this may be a great idea. I'll look into this myself....Anyhow, one good inspection every now and then would be a GREAT idea from now on. Randy

One more tidbit of info, Randy. When I held my two broken bolts in my hand, they had 'blue' on their ends. Is this perhaps a locktite paste?

Maybe they cannot be routinely removed and checked?!

 

[marchyman]

New bolts from BMW come "micro encapsulated".

Yeah, that's thread locker. And 8.8 isn't all that hard. It is about the equivalent of US grade 5. The hard stuff is 10.9 (about US grade 8) and 12.9 (harder than grade 8).

 

[stkmkt1]

I just had one of mine break on my '09 GSA. I now carry a spare. I too was told it was serviceable and needed greased. But grease, or lack of, will not cause this problem. It very clearly is the wrong design or at least hardness of bolt. Mine was still well lubed up, with only 18,000 miles on it.

Really did not need a new bushing. I actually went to my local hardware store and found a metric bolt for a temporary fix. Worked great. I now have it fixed properly and carry a spare.

On a side note, I ust replaced the bushings on the side stand last weekend. They too are serviceable and do wear out - especially if your short in the legs and stand on the side peg to climb up on the beast.

I now have learned to point the handlebars to the right and then I can get my short legs up and over while standing on the ground. At least unless I have a bag or whatever strapped on the pillion seat spot. Then I know I will again have to climb up on the pegs.

 

[Polarbear]

Grease'em

The bushing, with grease or even WD40 applied every now an then will help take some stress off the twist of the bolt holding it, I think. If the bushing dries up, the bolt takes more twist forces to it and this is my theory on why it broke, plus the shock load of the center stand carrying the weight of the bike every time its used. The bike slaps back onto the stand, as designed, but its got to be a shock every time. WD40 would be a lot easier to apply, but certainly needs done more often, because of its character(light oil goes away quickly)...I did try my local hardware ACE Store and they only had the "same" non metric bolt on hand. Bad luck. BMW has one"Kit"on the way to me. Kit includes the entire mounting hardware system, for the center stand. Bushings, bolts,orings and ?maybe? springs too. 45$ from BMW, FYI. Certainly everyone should take heed and look at the center stands before tragedy strikes! Even a simple fall off the stand will cause a great deal of $$$$ out of pocket for a faired bike. I hear even the mirrors are quite expensive alone. Best regards, Randy

 

[AZ-J]

After reading of the problem, its fall out, and all its "required" maintenance, I have to repeat:

So glad my R12 does not have a center stand, a racing stand is easier to deal with.

I never liked center stands and now I know why.

 

[Polarbear]

My other too;

KLR '08 has no center stand and I don't really miss it on that bike. My GSA has a wimpy sidestand however, compared to the heavy, heavy duty KLR stand, go figure. A 5000$ bike with twice the stand my GSA has? They were not kidd'in around on this KLR sidestand...Randy

 

[Polarbear]

Fyi;

I happen to find the bolts at a hardware store too. EXACT same bolts and now have many extras in my toolkit as well. BMW still has me on the list to receive a bolt kit from them, which I'll carry along too. Anyhow, you may find these exact bolts@ about .50 cents a peice at your local store. I did...Good luck. Randy

 

[advenbob]

Very interesting. Heading home Sunday late afternoon, 140 miles from home, the bike begins shuddering, like I lost a cylinder. Added more throttle, and it would not accelerate. Pulled in the clutch, engine rev'd fine. Let out the clutch and really bad shaking. Coasted to a stop along side the hwy. Will not move in gear, any gear. Locked up, fine in neutral.
No cell phone coverage.
Finnally reach Heidi and 4 hrs later she arrives with truck and trailer.
Into Iron Horse Tues morning.
Spoke with them yesterday afternoon. First question from them was "did you know you had a broken center stand bolt?" answer: no
Diagnosis of problem: Front joint on drive shaft locking up, some internal damage,AND, an inpending final drive failure. This is the "LUBED FOR LIFE" final drive, that I had the fluid changed every 6k miles.
Glad I purchased the extended service contract. Parts are ordered.

07 GSA , 84333 miles, 3.5 years old.

Will need to speak with the dealer re the center stand bolt. One more issue BMW apparently does not want to address.

bob
bob

 

[racer7]

The bolt looks a bit undersized (it appears smaller to me than I would consider wise for a centerstand on a 600 lb bike that might take some lower impacts and that some riders will ride off the center stand) and impacts might contribute to some of the failures.

Most center stand bolts are loaded in shear, not tension, so I doubt the grade of bolt has much practical importance. Not much cross section in shear so the plus or minus percentage isn't huge. Is the GS attachment also a shear loading or is something else carrying the shear and the bolt is just a tensioned retainer? Might be worth a fastener specialists opinion on what could easily be subbed or improved, in addition to safety wire restraint.

Anybody know about any RT failures?

Where are the original reports about the fatalities thought to be attributable to centerstands?

Anybody want to comment on why they thought the one on their GS died or fell out?

 

[dhgeyer]

I'm glad I saw this thread. I've used my centerstand more often than not since I got the bike. Most of the time there's no real need to. I think from now on I'll only use it when there's some reason to. In the meantime, I'll check it over tomorrow for any sign of trouble. Maybe I'll rig up a safety wire, too.

I may be in a little better shape, since the Roadster is somewhat lighter than the GS or the RT.


Dave Geyer
Merrimack, NH USA

 

[greenwald]

I'm glad I saw this thread. I've used my centerstand more often than not since I got the bike. Most of the time there's no real need to. I think from now on I'll only use it when there's some reason to. In the meantime, I'll check it over tomorrow for any sign of trouble. Maybe I'll rig up a safety wire, too.

I may be in a little better shape, since the Roadster is somewhat lighter than the GS or the RT.


Dave Geyer
Merrimack, NH USA

I'm not thrilled with the wires sodered together beneath my R1200RT, but both sides of the center stand are now prevented from tangling up in the rear wheel assembly should my bolts fail again. Peace of mind.

When I notified BMW (and the NHTSA) of the issue, I received a polite reply from BMW thanking me for my concern, but that no changes were contemplated - they also refused to compensate me for repairs.

I had even suggested to them that they might simply consider a slight modification of the existing mount, where extending the bolt channel a bit and rigging cotter pins on both sides of each bolt would at least retain even broken parts and prevent a catastrophic entanglement when the center stand releases and tumbles back into the FD at 60 MPH. Obviously, having just examined a buddy's 2010 R1200RT closely, that didn't impress them either.

 

[Polarbear]

Totally different response from BMW dealer;

From my BMW Dealer in CA., they immediately offered to fix it and said that should never have happened! I do have the 7 year warantee and the initial 36000m BMW warantee expired. I think they still put this under the extended warantee plan, for reimbursement. Either way, I got complete service from a dealer front line and did not make any contact with BMWNA on this. I got the impression, the fix would have been made on house, warantee or no warantee. A GOOD Dealer...Rightly so, imo. My experience with my dozen BMW's over a lot of years, has mostly been, they stand up way beyond warantee periods in many cases with my bikes, for items like this that should have never failed. As for injuries to riders/fatalities and so on, I'm way out of touch with these studies and kick stands failing. This is a huge concern for somebody and mine just failed, but lucky I had no issues and got her fixed quickly, carrying extra C/S bolts now! GSA1200'07@58000m. Randy...PS; I do ride my GSA quite HARD, offroad and on and find the bike a tough nut to crack in most cases. This C/S thing has got to be just another weak link on the bike, which I've found only a few exist. I do not use the C/S as a ride off stand and probably never will. Still, a best buy bike, as I see it in my life and BMW tries hard I think. If they don't, we'll ceratinly let'em know it. I can see many bikes failing a lot more than this GS, under similar riding styles. Randy

 

[marchyman]

If you want to be absolutely positively sure that a center stand bolt failure doesn't somehow harm you or the bike may I suggest you leave the bike parked on its side-stand in your garage at all times.

 

[dhgeyer]

If you want to be absolutely positively sure that a center stand bolt failure doesn't somehow harm you or the bike may I suggest you leave the bike parked on its side-stand in your garage at all times.

I'm probably actually going to do that this Winter, for the first Winter in years.

Dave Geyer
Merrimack, NH USA

 

[Polarbear]

Have you looked?

The sidestand is no stronger and I have looked already at mine, taking it apart too. It has me wondering, so I did a service on my sidestand. Its absolutely no better than the CS, regarding strength. Very similar system to the sidestand bolt. You know I'm going to keep using my CS, with more knowledge now to keep an eye and service it every 15-20000m or so. I may even just replace the bolts every year or two, as needed. They are easy and cheap to keep on hand...Granted! BMW could have built a stronger unit, but we live with what we've got. Happy Trails...Randy