[Fried_Chicken]

I'd like a few more details on what the bike was revving at when it exploded

 

[Fried_Chicken]

The nature of the failure is concerning.

To be honest, glad to be alive, if I was at the explosion side of the bike (which is on the right side of the bike), I would be not writing this message.

What were you doing when this happened? You clearly weren't riding the bike

 

[Fried_Chicken]

I've read through your PDF. I think you are misunderstanding what BMW is saying.

What BMW is saying: they cannot know what the cause of the failure is, because they haven't seen the bike in 12 years.

 

[Fried_Chicken]

That's not to say the nature of this failure isn't worrying. I don't want my clutch basket to explode like that sending metal pieces into my right leg.

Again I wonder where OP was when this exploded, b/c he obviously wasn't sitting on the bike. This is unusual, because I don't think something like this would happen at idle.

 

[Fried_Chicken]

Россия. Владелец К1200С на скорости сегодня в дороге случился.

This is very concerning, two reports from different parts of the world of the exact same failures, both with huge potential for injury to the rider.

Do you have more details on this? Year/make/model? Under what conditions did this happen?

 

[Fried_Chicken]

Please allow me to translate for everyone:

The reason became clear. The previous owner repaired the box and assembled it very poorly. BMW K1200S, 2007

Three torx bolts and one 10 wrench.

You say they assembled it together again very poorly, do you have details on what how they screwed up? I don't know what you mean by "3 torx and one 10 wrench". It's reassuring to hear this it doesn't sound like some inherent flaw in the bike showing up after 15 years.

 

[Fried_Chicken]

View attachment 31806

I don't see how using a 10mm bolt where bmw used a torx would cause the bike to fail, it only points to other potentially poor repairs. Do you think maybe the clutch nut came loose from not being torqued down right? This would make sense since the clutch is a relatively common job, but requires special BMW parts to torque down properly. The clutch nut coming loose could explain what's being seen here.

 

[Fried_Chicken]

Was it loose because the inner clutch basket was gone, or because it wasn't installed right?

I'm sorry to ask so many questions, but seeing two of these dangerous failures has me nervous. Even so, as I think about it, it wouldn't explain he outer clutch basket exploding (which appears to be what happened here).

Do you have any information on what state the bike was in when it exploded? What RPM? Idle? Cruising? Racing?

 

[Fried_Chicken]

This is alarming.

Y'all were way too fast to dismiss OP. At this point I'm tempted to wrap my clutch cover in kevlar.

Izzy please post as much information as possible. Could you also take extremely detailed pictures of the outer clutch basket that exploded? I'm talking forensic levels of detail. Don't hold back, take pictures of everything, including where the clutch disks ride (which it doesn't look like the failure point is).

This might be recall-worthy for BMW Motorcycles NA.

 

[Fried_Chicken]

I absolutely would, but it’s in pieces all over the road. I coasted about a mile trying to figure out what happened(and make it to the next exit). What’s in the pictures is all that’s left, only a couple tiny fragments were stuck to the inside of the cover, the rest is history.

I parked the bike, still idling, and did a complete walk around before I saw what happened. Until then, I had absolutely no clue why I had a great-running engine and 6 neutrals with a perfect clutch pull.

Thank you for posting and letting everyone know. Yours is the 3rd worldwide report in this thread of the same failure. I'm surprised more failures haven't been posted.

Please give us more details. Don't leave anything out, we're not here to judge. I do 1st gear wheelies on occasion, I tried a highway speed wheelie but the bike really didn't like that. It doesn't matter if you were clutch dumping, launching, wheelying or any of that.

What year is your bike? Type of oil? Bike cold, hot? You said 10.5k revs in 2nd gear? You said the barnett clutch was absolutely installed correctly, who did the installation? What type of oil was in the bike? Any chance it was low? How long have you had the bike? Weather conditions? Any chance the outer clutch basket wasn't original?

Moto Vasya 21 said here

The third case. There was another one in Russia. The cause of the wrong repair basket

Can you provide even more higher resolution pictures... In the 3rd picture you posted, I can see some nicks on what I believe is the lagging edge of the clutch disk grabber things (no clue what the word is). You can see the same thing in OP's pictures.

This type of failure is disconcerting and people should be concerned.[/quote]

 

[Fried_Chicken]

What clutch did you install when you got the bike?

 

[Fried_Chicken]

I might be interested. I could take it to a professor at the local university who could determine if it's metal fatigue or what.

 

[Fried_Chicken]

.....or 10500rpm in second gear ( that's well past redline on the k1300gt) and apparently bouncing off the rev limiter.

Shouldn't matter.

 

[Fried_Chicken]

It should be able to sustain its top speed.

 

[Fried_Chicken]

I think some people here don't want to believe these bikes are flawed in such a way, despite all the ridiculous number of flaws that already exist.

That said, this is a dangerous one.

 

[Fried_Chicken]

after quite a few decades, I've learned that ALL cars and bikes are pieces of shit.

This opinion is shared by pretty much every mechanic. It's really true. Toyotas are reliable, but are as interesting to own and drive as flour. Japanese bikes are reliable and endearing in a way, but are seemingly made of wadded up aluminum foil. BMW bikes' faults are well known to this forum lol

Honestly American engineering is my favorite. Reliable, substantial, endearing. Unfortunately, that has gone the way of the dodobird because we Americans have a special loathing of our own industry.