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Install Synto Brake/Clutch Levers on 08 K1200GT

12K views 33 replies 10 participants last post by  robday 
#1 ·
Has anybody gone through the process of replacing the stock brake and clutch levers on a 2008 K1200GT replacing them with Synto levers sold by Pirate's Lair? If there are any pictures out there on how to do this properly, that would be terrific. I was going to ask Max BMW's technicians to do it for me, but if the process is not full of any nasty surprises, I would like to attempt it on my own.

Thank you very much for any advice.

Please ride safely! :clap:

Peter
 
#2 ·
Do it yourself and get back to us on it. If I get some, I'll do it myself as it would take my local dealer a month to do it and they would probably call in tech support too. :D

No doubt they'd take a file to them and scratch off the color coating too if they didn't fit just right. There was something on the forum about some screw on the clutch side that may need an adjustment? Might not be needed on these since they seem more adjustable than stock.

What color scheme are you picking out?


Mack
 
#3 ·
Mack,

Thanks. I might Google to see if there's any advice out there on the proper way to do this. Not much in terms of information comes with the levers. They're pretty nice looking and are far more adjustable then stock.

My K is Adventurin Silver and I went with the dark gray levers with black adjusters. Gold levers just aren't my style!

When I get started on the project I'll take photos and then post them to the forum for others. Was hoping somebody else had already taken the plunge, but no responses just yet.

Thanks again for the reply.

Peter
 
#4 ·
pfiedler said:
SNIP...

When I get started on the project I'll take photos and then post them to the forum for others. Was hoping somebody else had already taken the plunge, but no responses just yet.

Thanks again for the reply.

Peter
Peter,
That will be great as I have a set on order which hopefully will be delivered in a week or so. Any info in advance is going to be appreciated :).
Bill
 
#7 ·
Ugly,

Nice link to the other Synto thread but what you needed to do was put out an A.P.B. asking Grif directly how difficult the install was. I too, was thinking of parting with the next $300 that was burning a hole in my pocket for a set.

So Great Grif: Can you give us the skinny on the Synto lever install? I know it was likely easy for you to pull off but what about us lesser mortals? Any special tools needed? Caveats? Gotchas? And would you plop down another $300 again for your next GT?

David
 
#9 ·
Check out this thread from BMWON:

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=39805

Fantastic images of how to install new levers on a K1200GT. Not sure I want to take this on. A trip to Max's BMW in Hampton, NH is on the schedule for this Saturday. I'll try and snap a few shots of the technician doing the job and see if that helps the rest of you.

Thanks again for the feedback on the question.

Please ride safely!

Peter
 
#10 ·
Great link there Peter. Amazing how many of these various forums we all subscribe to!

If you're mechanically inclined in the least and study, study, STUDY those diagrams to get smart before the install, I would think things would go smoothly. However, if you don't want to mess up your GT, I certainly understand. Figure the work at Max will likely be two billable hours or more? Cha-ching! While any pics you could take to supplement the service CD Semper Fi provided would be nice, I'd put more value in asking the service techs at Max what specific caveats or gotcha's they recommend looking out for. Many times the BMW CDs provide the high level direction but the true nuances of the job come from the dudes who perform every day in the field.

So you didn't opt for the gold levers with red adjusters? Heresy! Would also love to hear your impressions of the Syntos after installation as well as requisite pictures of your GT for I share the same Adventurine Silver bike as you.

Regards!

David
 
#11 ·
pfiedler said:
Check out this thread from BMWON:

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=39805

Fantastic images of how to install new levers on a K1200GT. Not sure I want to take this on. A trip to Max's BMW in Hampton, NH is on the schedule for this Saturday. I'll try and snap a few shots of the technician doing the job and see if that helps the rest of you.

Thanks again for the feedback on the question.

Please ride safely!

Peter
Seriously?

You have to remove the grips and the heated wiring connectors to do it? Connector's are no doubt buried in the bodywork which has to also come off? Ugh!

If it takes 2 hours for a dealer to do this, that'll mean a day for me - or a month for my local dealer to even get to it much less call a BMW tech in to do it.

I'm out. :(

Mack
 
#12 ·
Hi Dave,

The guys at Max BMW are wonderful and always more than happy to lend some "real world BMW tech" knowledge. I do believe you get your money's worth from those folks. They are INTO IT!! I have an appointment for Saturday late morning and will be sure to not only take photos but also get some of those "oh by the ways..." compiled as well.

I can tell you the Syntos feel REALLY nice in your hand. Beautifully made and I look forward to the vast adjustments they offer. I will of course provide rider feedback after I get my anxious fingers around them and head south on Route 1!

More to come. Thanks to all who contributed!

Please ride safely!

Peter
 
#13 ·
Mack,

Yes it does look like you have to drop the right and left lower fairing pieces unless I'm missing something. I've done the right side before and it's not too bad. Took me about 5 minutes to get it off and maybe a couple more to put it back on. There's a bunch of hex screws all over the place, but the thing comes off very nicely. You just want to be careful how you put it down so as to not scratch that beautiful paint!

I'm more concerned about the throttle cable and rerouting wires and junk after pulling the grips and lever housings off the bike. No throttle cable, no riding rest of the day!

I will certainly report back with the blow-by-blow on what's involved. Seems there's a bit of interest out there for these Syntos. I'm sure Jerry at Pirate's Lair is sharpening his sword anticipating a bunch of orders as a result. He's a good man, although not the most inexpensive.

Hey we ride BMWs, remember? You get what you pay for and I sure believe that with my K12GT. Awesome ride and only gets better the more you're on it.

Please ride safely!

Peter
 
#14 ·
pfiedler said:
Mack,

Yes it does look like you have to drop the right and left lower fairing pieces unless I'm missing something. I've done the right side before and it's not too bad. Took me about 5 minutes to get it off and maybe a couple more to put it back on. There's a bunch of hex screws all over the place, but the thing comes off very nicely. You just want to be careful how you put it down so as to not scratch that beautiful paint!

I'm more concerned about the throttle cable and rerouting wires and junk after pulling the grips and lever housings off the bike. No throttle cable, no riding rest of the day!

I will certainly report back with the blow-by-blow on what's involved. Seems there's a bit of interest out there for these Syntos. I'm sure Jerry at Pirate's Lair is sharpening his sword anticipating a bunch of orders as a result. He's a good man, although not the most inexpensive.

Hey we ride BMWs, remember? You get what you pay for and I sure believe that with my K12GT. Awesome ride and only gets better the more you're on it.

Please ride safely!

Peter
Thanks. Just seems like a lot of work for two levers.

Right now, after three years of ownership, maintenance issues, drops, crashes, insurance issues, dealer competence and incompetence, I finally think I'm beginning to bond with the old thing as it gets personally "tuned out". It takes a lot of' stick-to-it-ness to get the bike to run and behave as it should. One or two years ownership doesn't cut it. I think it takes much longer. Most cannot decide on a seat or a battery during one year ownership.

My old R110RTL that had for 10 years and 100,000 miles never fell over (intentional or otherwise), surged, failed to start, made hideous noises, blew out a final drive, got a flat. Nothing. It just worked. Maybe that's why BMW NA goes with the 3 year warranty. Anything less with regards to ownership time and it seems that many toss it out after a few faults and walk off grumbling, "This POS bike ain't worth it." It takes a bit of tuning, and a lot of fineness and "Dealer Warmies" (i.e. "Tech searching") too.


Mack
 
#15 ·
Grub Screw

Got home and the new Synto levers arrived from Pirate - very prompt service as usual. While the operation of the Synto lever is not quite as good as the CRG's on the Aprilia - the quality is right up there and they are very nice.
I did something different and started looking at the job (including reading the brief directions) before I started ripping the bike apart to install - which was a good thing!
There are parts from the stock levers that need to be installed in the Synto levers - including the "grub screw (part #32722333064) that is essentially the cylinder plunger from the lever into the master cylinders - and that is where the problem begins. These are a threaded screw into the stock handle ( look between the lever and and handle bar) and I think they installed them with super duty red loctite. I was torquing on them pretty hard - to the point the whole cylinder assembly was trying to rotate - and not the least bit of movement of the screw. I have a June 06 version of RepRom and there is no information on the brake lever adjustment at all.
I think you may have to heat up the lever to about 140 - 180 degrees F so that the loctite will release enough to turn the screw. At the moment I am leaning to buying 2 new screws (at about $17 each).
I am taking the bike in tomorrow to the dealer and have them deal with the high/erratic idle and BBS issue again - will see what information I can get from them.
 
#16 ·
WMD said:
the "grub screw (part #32722333064) that is essentially the cylinder plunger from the lever into the master cylinders - and that is where the problem begins.
This is exactly what I'm talking about when referring to hidden gotchas! There's always that seemingly easy "remove bolt A from assembly B" that never goes according to plan. Thanks WMD!

Believe I'm gonna have to shoot a PM to The Great Grifster so he can chime in on this upgrade. The Oracle usually has a few sage words of advice. Come to think of it, he's been missing from this and the LT forum of recent. Need to find out what's up.

Happy Friday All,

David
 
#17 ·
dpancerz said:
SNIP....Believe I'm gonna have to shoot a PM to The Great Grifster so he can chime in on this upgrade. The Oracle usually has a few sage words of advice. Come to think of it, he's been missing from this and the LT forum of recent. Need to find out what's up.

Happy Friday All,

David
Yep - I wondered why Grif had not commented earlier. Who knows - maybe he is out riding where there is no interent or cell phone coverage :)
 
#18 ·
My computer is down and the ihpone a pain. Boys, this is a 15 minute job. You pop out the pivot holding the stock lever. Be very careful not to lose the spring as you need it!!! Just reinstall and you're done. The only gotcha is you want to blue loctite the adjusting screw on the levers. If you lose that screw, you're screwed.

I've had mine over a year, they are set so I two finger both sides. I love tkem and would do it again.
 
#19 ·
grifscoots said:
My computer is down and the ihpone a pain. Boys, this is a 15 minute job. You pop out the pivot holding the stock lever. Be very careful not to lose the spring as you need it!!! Just reinstall and you're done. The only gotcha is you want to blue loctite the adjusting screw on the levers. If you lose that screw, you're screwed.

I've had mine over a year, they are set so I two finger both sides. I love them and would do it again.
That's all it takes for a Harley. :D

So no problem with the red-loctited grub screws above? No need to pull grips, wiring connectors, fairing panels either? What spring? :confused:


Mack
 
#21 ·
Florian said:
Looks like a 3 screw job to me.....2 that hold the bottom cover and 1 that holds the lever (pivot point) as Grif mentioned. If this takes more than 10 minutes I'd be surprised.
Agreed. The rest of the pics and wiring is for replacing the heated grips, not just the levers alone.

Having said that, when my right heated grip stopped working I had the dealer replace it (as the bike was in for some other work at the time). :)
 
#23 ·
Synto levers are on! (I think somebody asked about the length...long is the answer)

Went up to Max BMW in Northampton, NH Saturday noon and had one of their techies install the levers for me. The tech's name is Dwayne and he was a pleasure to hang around with and very helpful.

Good news! You do NOT need to drop the fairing panels as some of us anticipated from the drawings. All is needed is to drop the switch assembly away, take the bar end weights off, remove the two screws just to the inside of the grips and pull the grips away slightly. There's a screw on the bottom of the clutch and brake assemblies that comes out, do a little wiggle here and there and the stock levers come off.

Regarding the "grub screw", it is indeed held very tightly with Loctite Red. Dwayne used his trusty heat gun with the stock levers in a protected vise and after a minute or two the screws came right out with little or no effort. Dwayne also used Loctite Red when replacing the "grubs" in the new Synto levers.

On the clutch side we thought the lever didn't fit correctly but it's really the feel of the lever and not the actual engagement or disengagement of the clutch. Be really careful when replacing the lower retention screw that the micro switch on the clutch (that keeps you from starting in gear) is properly lined up so it actuates correctly. On the throttle side, just make sure the two cables are replaced correctly so you don't "go" when you want to "slow"!

Whole job took about 75 minutes ($90) but Dwayne was very meticulous and I was asking him loads of questions while he was working on my bike so I probably slowed him up a bit. May not be a full 75 minute job, but it also isn't a 10 minute one either!

The levers are beautiful. They are machined to perfection and the six-way adjusters (which you can change on the fly) give you an excellent number of position options depending on the size of your hands, number of fingers you like to keep on the levers (I prefer 2) and the thickness of your gloves etc.

I've attached a couple of pictures of the final installation for those that would like to see a set on the bike. I'm very happy I made the investment.

Please ride safely!

Peter
 

Attachments

#24 ·
Thanks for the write up

Pete,
Glad it went so smoothly - and look forward to doing mine when I get the bike back from the dealer.
Finally delivered the bike and it was hot enough that they got to experience the stalling, high idle and BBS. The previous times (in warranty) they could not eplicate the problem and BMWNA was not leeting them do anything except software upgrade.

Of course now it is out of warranty so it will be up to BMWNA to see what happens next.
 
#25 ·
GMack said:
That's all it takes for a Harley. :D

So no problem with the red-loctited grub screws above? No need to pull grips, wiring connectors, fairing panels either? What spring? :confused:


Mack
Underneath the handle assemble is a C clip. Pop that out and pull the pin straight out. Then work the handle out. There is a spring in there you need to reuse.

That's all there is to it folks. Like Pirate says, "Chimp easy".
 
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