Calamity! Please help.

[matbaugh]

Well, my K1200 RS with 4800 miles fell over today, and in addition to cracking fairing, breaking mirror, and bending brake lever, it won't start!!!!!!!

I think the starter switch took the brunt of the impact as it fell against some railroad ties. The switch is stuck in the down position.

Can anyone give me some help as to how I can remedy this problem? Either to determine if this is in fact the problem and what I need to do to fix it (buy another switch, preferably used), or help in determining if it's something else.

It appears that the rest of the electrical system is working properly, brakes engage when I turn the kill switch to the ready position.


Oh, can anyone help me determine the total cost of this little mishap?

- small crack in right side fairing piece
- bent brake lever--lower
- smashed rearview mirror (housing is okay)
- broken starter switch? (unsure of this)

I'm hoping to do this myself--

Thanks again, I know you feel my pain.

If anyone has any of these parts used, I'd love to buy them--the color is a royal blue--it's a 2003.

Matt in Michigan--

[68820]

That really sucks. Sorry that the tip over caused so much damage.

There are a few places to look for used parts. I think a fairing set was advertised recently at IBMWR. The mirrors are easy to get from dealers. Hammersley has the BMW parts fiche (http://webparts.com/cycles/ficheframeset.cfm?tablename=K1200RS_1) online. You may get lucky on eBay or a salvage yard like Beemer Boneyard (http://www.beemerboneyard.com/). The trick is to search and search some more. An alternative to replacing the fairing would be to see if it can be repaired.

I have no clue about the electrics. Try the K1200RS/GT forums at i-bmw.com (http://www.i-bmw.com/) and k-bikes.com (http://www.k-bikes.com/). Good luck!

[Ted]

Sorry to hear about the tip-over. I always have had luck with repsycle (http://www.re-psycle.com/) - sounds fortunately like a bit of take out broken/put in unbroken :)

Also try the IBMWR Marketplace at http://www.ibmwr.org, and the Flea Market here as well.

[GregFeeler]

Sorry to hear about your bike fall - it would make me sick if that happened to my K1200RS. You say a small crack in the fairing. Considering that you will need to get a replacement part painted, you might consider having your fairing piece repaired. The local body shop that also does a lot of bike painting has repaired a number of cracked body parts for me (only one I caused :) ). They build up the damaged area from behind and when done is likely stronger than before.

[matbaugh]

Thanks for the feedback all--I'll try to get a body shop to repair the fairing as opposed to replacing it!
Switch is coming this week--will let you know if it works out.

Matt

[barryg]

I've been involved with situations several times with car body shops doing bike work. I generally havn't been happy with the work. One of the biggest problems has been the mounting points for all the body peices. Most of the mounting points have been damaged beyond use. The car techs try to use and fix those mounting points and the body peices never fit right. Most of the body panels are forsed together in an unnatural way. This causes quick fatigue in those panels, which leads to cracked panels and paint down the road. It takes a dedicated body man to fit those fairings together properly and make money on the job. Most can't. Just a thought.

[crgrbrts]

On the other hand -- my local body shop repaired the belly pan on my old K75S, which was cracked in several places, and expertly repainted it and two side panels for less than $300.00. Replacing the belly pan would have cost well over double that plus paint.

[SweetT]

You say the starter button is in the "down" position? Do you mean the "depressed" position? Is it stuck into the depressed position or can you wiggle it around, or pull it out with your fingers? There are some tiny screws that hold the switch housing together, you could take the switch housing apart and see whats inside. Some of those swtiches are spring loaded so dont do this over grass or someplace where you could lose track of parts if they fall out. This will get to close enough to the switch that you can check it with a circuit tester. Its possible that the plastic stem of the starter switch is broken, or the spring popped off.

Try checking for parts on ebay or the ibmwr market place. I've had good luck there. Another good source for parts is Beemer boneyard or Cycles recycled. Both these guys have websites. I bought a good used fairing panel for about $85.
I have yet to replace my fairing because I'm too cheap to take it to a body shop when my home repair looks decent enough. I ordered some touch up paint on the internet (you can get it in an aerosol can!) and bought some body filler from Autozone and spent a sat afternoon filling the crack and bracing the back of the fairing panel. I carefully sanded and primed the area and sprayed it with the touch up paint and it looks pretty good. Not great, mind you. But from 10 ft away you have to look for a while before you can see the remnants of the crack. And considering that there is usually some road grime on my bike, that hides it even more. The total cost of materials was $35-$40 I think.

When I had to replace the glass in my mirror I VERY carefully pried off the plastic ring around the mirror (its glued on) and took the remnants of the old mirror to a glass shop where they cut me a new one for $2. I glued it back in and now you cant tell.

Good luck on solving that starter button problem!

[DarkCloud]

Do you hav full coverage insurance?