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BMW K 1300S Explosion of the clutch basket - Riders Attention

4761 Views 59 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  Fried_Chicken, 
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WE RIDER’S ARE “BORN TO RIDE”, NOT “RIDE TO DIE”.

I have been a rider for the last 20 years (owning BMW bikes since 2013), and my intent here is only for you fellow riders to be aware of this unforeseen life-threatening incident. An explosion of the clutch basket and the experience as you will not be able to read this anywhere else, let it be in online forums or within the BMW Motorrad community.

Summary of the unfortunate life-threatening incident:
One fine day in Jan 2022, while starting my well maintained 12 years old bike; BMW K1300S of which the clutch basket exploded unexpectedly (refer to pics below with debris). 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.

Post-incident approaching BMW Malaysia (MY) claiming as manufacturing defect:
I was directed by BMW MY to Auto Bavaria, Ara Damansara (dealer) to investigate further on the explosion. To my surprise, they found nothing that could have caused the clutch basket explosion of my bike upon further investigation by disassembling the engine. Even their world-class expert mechanics are not able to figure it out nor take an interest to find the root cause that could trigger the explosion.
Both the dealer and BMW MY ignored and rejected my service records only because I did not service directly through them, but with a certified trusted mechanic. Often dealers themselves will refer to a certified mechanics for certain issues.
A series of iterations continued which resulted in vain and I finally concluded by asking a few important questions to both BMW MY and Auto Bavaria so that I regain my confidence to ride the bike again. Again, to my surprise, they cannot even guarantee if the bike may be safe to ride even with me agreeing to bear all the cost to repair the bike.

I am left with 2 options suggested by Auto Bavaria:
#1. To repair as per the damage which costs about MYR18K
#2. Replace the entire engine which costs about MYR73K

My response to the above with alternate options such as:
A) Once repaired as per their option #1, can they assist in a trade-off to purchase a new bike. However, the suggestion was rejected by the dealer due to the age of the bike and their concerns on an unknown potential issue that occurred with the bike
B) To dispose the bike but that would result in me paying a sufficient amount for storage fees and other expenses which the dealer did not provide sufficient information. Pretty insane for me to pay to dispose of a bike.

If interested to know further, attached is a pdf with screenshots of all-important communications with BMW MY and Auto Bavaria (Dealer).

Few unanswered questions which have left me in limbo and for your kind read:
  • Was it fair for BMW & Auto Bavaria (Dealer) to push back the service records from a trusted BMW-certified mechanic?
  • If the service records were unavailable in their system (dealer), from day 1, should they reject to investigate further which caused 5 months wait time with no outcomes?
  • With the exuberant price, lack of sufficient BMW authorized dealer workshops, and the long wait time, does it make sense to service the bike (post-warranty) directly through the dealer?
  • What do you ascertain of the 2 options provided by the dealer? 73K for an engine? will you consider buying a new bike for this cost?
  • Will you have enough trust to ride the bike again if we go with option 1? Please recall that they were unable to identify the root cause of the incident.
  • Since the age of the bike is a significant factor in this entire ordeal, should we not trust a BMW bike post 10 years as we may face similar unforeseen life-threatening incidents?
  • Aging post 10 years, does BMW bikes required to dispose off? Does it worth purchasing such an expensive bike compared to other competitive bike manufacturers in the market?
  • Why BMW is not curious to know the root cause of the incident, and take preventive measures to make sure this incident will not occur to other riders using the same model K1300S?
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Fried_Chicken said:
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.
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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.
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Fried_Chicken
izzyz28 said:
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.
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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
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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]
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I
It’s a 2009 K1330S, purchased with 9,000 miles. I replaced the clutch and ensured it was assembled and lubed correctly during installation and again after the basket came apart. It had never been touched before I got it, and the same was true of my last 2009 K1300S. None of the oil passages had been modified, bone stock. Never any clacking, chatter, or the host of bullshit issues some other folks chase for months.

The oil was Liqui-Moly 5W-40 and it was full with Mahle filter. Seriously, no wheelies or hard launches by me. I run it to 10-11k multiple times a day(commuting and weekend mountain fun), always use the quick shifter, and don’t hold it at high-RPM for any length of time or load it hard before it’s fully warm.

The coolant and oil were completely warm, 75 degree day, just midway through a 20 mile commute. The hottest it’s ever been is idling in traffic until the fam comes on for a minute.

In summation, I ride it as intended and am careful not to cause shock loads and premature wear. The only time it’s tapped the RPM limiter was when the basket let go. I’m in Colorado too, so it makes 140 or less horsepower at the crank, not stressed at all. I’ll get some pictures in the next couple days. I see the carbon marks on the inner hub, but it’s not grooved and nothing in the pictures has been wiped or cleaned.
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Fried_Chicken
What clutch did you install when you got the bike?
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I
It was a Barnett clutch, same as the one I installed in my first K1300. I checked the inner drive hub and all the clutch parts, everything was the latest/best piece for oiling and centering everything, anti-judder spring installed properly, etc.

I put in the used clutch assembly I ordered(last in the World for now) an hour ago, and everything works great, just as it was before. No vibration, clutch feels really good, it all went back together easy. If anyone wants what’s left of the exploded outer basket(and only the basket), I’ll ship it you, just send me your address.
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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.
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EricK1300GTSE
.....or 10500rpm in second gear ( that's well past redline on the k1300gt) and apparently bouncing off the rev limiter.
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Fried_Chicken
EricK1300GTSE said:
.....or 10500rpm in second gear ( that's well past redline on the k1300gt) and apparently bouncing off the rev limiter.
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Shouldn't matter.
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I don't know what the 10,500 comment is supposed to mean, the S redline is 11,000 and the limiter is 250-500 RPM above that. These bikes should be able to run at 11K all day long, literally.
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Beech
That is asking a lot I think.
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I
Ah, you must be a retired BMW engineer who designed the K1300 and validated it through months of continuous dyno testing. Thank you for sharing your feelings here.

Edit: To be clear, I am saying that all manufacturers(including BMW) do extensive validation to ensure the vehicles can withstand continuous and extended high load/RPM within the designated operating range. What you "think" does not apply to this discussion. The failure occurred well within the factory operating parameters of a stock motorcycle. it's fixed now, and I simply wanted to share my experience, but I'm certainly not going to field criticism from a bunch of pedantic crabasses who occasionally take a "spirited" ride or "fetter" with stuff.

I'm happy to have a discussion with anyone else who understands the above and is genuinely curious what could have happened.
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WPV
"Should" is not absolute.
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Fried_Chicken
It should be able to sustain its top speed.
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EricK1300GTSE
Fried_Chicken said:
It should be able to sustain its top speed.
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Yes, in 6th gear. I dont recall the operating instructions saying that you have to hit the rev limiter in each gear and run at max rpm all day long.

glad the OP has got it fixed, failures happen unfortunately. No criticism intended, was just an observation on what you reported.
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cstumpf750
It has been long established in the automotive and related industries that the max safe rpm for an engine as indicated by the redline on the tachometer must be able to be sustained indefinitely or they are on the hook for a new engine even if it it out of warranty as the user was lied to. That’s why rev limiters and fuel cutoff exist. So Fried is not only correct, he is totally reasonable in his assertion that the bike should be able to sustain max rpm for extensive periods of time. You don’t have to do as he does, but I’ve never had a motorcycle engine or clutch fail due to extended max rpm usage. I had a 1997 Honda VFR750 that literally spent 280+ miles at full throttle above the redline at 12,000+ ft elevation. It was down 50% on power and didn’t want to run below 7000 rpms. I spent all day trying to get into third gear and only managed twice for a few brief seconds. If rpms dropped belo 8000, I downshifted. Redline was 11,500 and revlimiter was at 12,500. Much of the time I was near or on the rev limiter. Bike had 45,000 miles on it and I retired it when it hit 114,000 miles. The engine was still strong as new, never had to change a valve shim, but the rest of the bike was worn out and it was my sole transportation. So I bought another one used with low miles and kept that for parts. Had a 2001 Triumph Sprint ST 955i that I rode almost as hard until I got the K1300S. I’ve found that bikes and cars that are used hard but maintained well last longest. Engines that are babied and short tripped have the most problems.


my point is use it hard, but keep it within the limits (below redline) and do your maintenance religiously and meticulously and you should have no problems. The issue with the clutches exploding both occurred after a clutch replacement. So I don’t think there is an issue other than an assembly error or an isswith the parts used.
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I
My clutch was assembled correctly, simply replaced the frictions and steels with Barnett stuff. The entire clutch stack was 100% intact and functioning after the basket let go. I inspected it again during disassembly, and every part down to the Judder spring was right where it's supposed to be, clutch worked flawlessly before it came apart. I don't know what else to tell you guys, shit just happens sometimes.
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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.
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I'm with you, and I knew coming here(or any European bike/car forum) that there would be zealots who overanalyze everything and lick the boot of the manufacturer as if they built the greatest bike/car ever. I guess they forgot that these bikes can't idle half the time, leak gear oil from the drive seal with less than 10K miles, have shit suspension components(ESA), and the worst fuel injection mapping I've ever seen. And............a janky clutch setup that's been updated a million times for a decade and a half to try to fix/obscure all of the issues it has from being half-baked in the first place. That has absolutely nothing to do with the issue I experienced, but after quite a few decades, I've learned that ALL cars and bikes are pieces of shit.
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WPV
izzyz28 said:
I'm with you, and I knew coming here(or any European bike/car forum) that there would be zealots who overanalyze everything and lick the boot of the manufacturer as if they built the greatest bike/car ever. I guess they forgot that these bikes can't idle half the time, leak gear oil from the drive seal with less than 10K miles, have shit suspension components(ESA), and the worst fuel injection mapping I've ever seen. And............a janky clutch setup that's been updated a million times for a decade and a half to try to fix/obscure all of the issues it has from being half-baked in the first place. That has absolutely nothing to do with the issue I experienced, but after quite a few decades, I've learned that ALL cars and bikes are pieces of shit.
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You could walk?
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Fried_Chicken
izzyz28 said:
after quite a few decades, I've learned that ALL cars and bikes are pieces of shit.
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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.
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