Yes, more motorcycle issues. I have been noticing oil weeping at the back of the engine/transmission on the my bike even before we left Austin. I had always just attributed it to excess oil left over from oil changes. Yes, not very smart, actually I thought it was normal. Well, I had cleaned it all before we left on our trip and now after about 2500 miles it’s all covered in a film of what smells like gear oil :-(.Not good. Doing some quick research and posting in the GS forum on advrider.com asking for opinions from the other GS owners it turns out that the bike in all likelihood has a bad transmission seal. I’m kicking myself for not addressing this while were still home. The leaking seal is not dangerous but it can over time lead to leakage into the clutch area which is an expensive repair.
The bike is still under warranty but the repair is very time intensive (5-6 hours) since the transmission has to be pulled – major surgery. Most BMW dealers try to accommodate people who are on the road and will squeeze in an oil or tire change into their service schedule. That’s not possible with this repair. The earliest I could get an appointment is July 23rd in Missoula, MT. Everyone else was scheduling for August 6th and later :-(. Given how much more riding we are planning on doing I wanted to take care of this now, plus the warranty expires in October.
So, we’ll probably be exploring Oregon and Washington before heading to Missoula for our appointment. Forgot to mention it, but they will also be able to do the 6k valve check on Diane’s bike at that point.
Here are some pictures.
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- right side
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- from the right side
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- underneath
This sounds like an awful lot of “Stress”. Maybe Imke was right: should have taken a car… 😉 We’re crossing all our fingers your trip will continue – as we say – “under a better star”!!
Best wishes from T+I
Hopefully, this will be the last mechanical issue we have. And yes, the trip will continue :-).
Hello Oliver and Diane,
we enjoy reading your reports.
Don’t get frustrated over the minor bike problems, instead celebrate your anniversary today.
We are taking it all in strides. Going with the flow. Nothing we can do about it anyway. Enjoying ourselves immensely.
Hi Guys! Sorry to hear you’ve had some mechanical problems. At least you’re safe. ENJOY YOUR ANNIVERSARY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi everyone,
Thank you for following along and commenting and, especially for the anniversary wishes! We are in Bend, OR tonight and just got back from a walk into downtown, celebrating with pizza and beer. Our original plan was to camp at Tumalo State Park but when we arrived the campground was full so we’re back in a hotel. 🙁 More details to come … provided the internet access at this hotel comes back. It keeps dropping our connection.
Take care,
Diane & Oliver