oil smoke???

[jcohen]

I just heard from the customer service folks at BMW that the oil smoke coming out after sitting on the side stand is normal?

My company (AutoThority, Inc.) builds engines and extreme engines for a living and I can tell you that it is NOT normal. It WILL cause premature plug fouling and cylinder deposits at a minimum and major embarassment and clogged lungs as I have already experienced.

I know, put it on the center stand.

Has anybody experienced ANY problems in this area?

Thanks

[jgr451]

I have always experienced that on my three beemers,R75/5,R100RT and K1200GT.

In fact with my new GT it was comical.I was just picking it up at the dealer's. 31 km.They had swapped the plates,put the bags on,charged the batery etc,then parked it in front of the dealership for me to ride away.Parked it on guess what?
Right,the side stand.

So at 5 PM friday as I was leaving-I could hear the fanfare and the crowd was gathered-started up and rode off in a cloud of smoke!!I almost turned around and brought it back until I remembered-they all do that.

No smoke or oil consumption since.Always use the centre stand!!

[KBasa]

They all do that and, as far as I know, it's never caused anyone any problems. Kbike engines are notoriously long lived. I think Sue Galpin's has got a couple hundred K on it without being apart.

[Ironhorsecowboy]

My 03 K12LTC does the same thing. What I have found is if you will, when you stop and cut the engine off allow the motorcycle to remain upright for about 10 seconds before putting it on the side stand. Better yet is to lean the bike to the right side for the 10 seconds to help allow the oil to somewhat drain back toward the bottom of the engine. I do this all the time when I'm out on the bike and it hardly ever smokes even after sitting 8-10 hours at work on the side stand. I only use my center stand at night when I park my bike in the garage or in very windy conditions (these bikes will tip over with the short kickstands on them). This technique should eliminate the embarrassing smoking problem from side stand parking. I couldn't stand the ridicule from all my Harley buddies about the Kraut bike so I found this would most of the time work great. At least I can still out run the "Kraut" of them! :clap

[deilenberger]

Originally posted by jcohen
I just heard from the customer service folks at BMW that the oil smoke coming out after sitting on the side stand is normal?

My company (AutoThority, Inc.) builds engines and extreme engines for a living and I can tell you that it is NOT normal. It WILL cause premature plug fouling and cylinder deposits at a minimum and major embarassment and clogged lungs as I have already experienced.

I know, put it on the center stand.

Has anybody experienced ANY problems in this area?

Thanks

AFAIK - no one has ever had ANY engine problem on a K bike due to the smoking on startup. No one. Ever. Despite what your company may do.

The most miles I know on a K bike engine are on Paul Glaves - he has something over 350,000 miles on the engine and it has NEVER been apart. He has run the last two Iron-Butts with this bike, which he calls "Old Smokey" (wonder why..)

As someone else pointed out - it's easy to avoid the smoke on startup at least 95% of the time. Simply keep the bike upright or leaned slightly to the right side before putting it on the centerstand.

My K75S only goes on the centerstand in my garage - other than that - it is sidestand ONLY, including rides for multiple days, rallies, going to/from work. Using the lean to the right process, it only smokes perhaps 1 out of 50 startups.

HTH,

[GregFeeler]

I just heard from the customer service folks at BMW that the oil smoke coming out after sitting on the side stand is normal?

My company (AutoThority, Inc.) builds engines and extreme engines for a living and I can tell you that it is NOT normal. It WILL cause premature plug fouling and cylinder deposits at a minimum and major embarassment and clogged lungs as I have already experienced.

I know, put it on the center stand.

Has anybody experienced ANY problems in this area?

Thanks


As you have probably figured out, any smoking is caused by oil running past the rings & into the combustion chamber of the downhill cylinder(s). The design of a boxer engine makes it unavoidable to have a downhill jug when on the sidestand. The Klassic K-bike engine has *all* cylinders downhill so in theory is three or four times more likely to smoke. BMW had to build the bike that way to avoid routing the exhaust on the same side as the rear drive.

The first several years of Klassic K's had "floating" rings - they could rotate at will around the piston. Occasionally all the end-gaps on a piston would align at the bottom and oil could easily pass and on start up it would some like hell. Later they pinned the rings to help avoid that problem. A friend of mine with and '85 K100 built himself a right-side side stand just to avoid the problem. He tells people the bike is from England. :brow

In the early '70s I was selling BMW's and had spent several hours with a prospect extolling the virtues of BMW quality and design. Finally it was time for the test ride and this guy was just glowing with anticipation. As luck would have it, somebody had left our new demo bike on the sidestand and when the customer fired it up you'd have thought there were no rings at all on the left side! His family had to back away and he looks at me with bewilderment. Assuming my best unruffled composure, I nonchalantly said, "They all do that. It's not a problem." He's so taken in by the bike he accepts that, rides away, and comes back to buy it. As I recall he put on a lot of miles and seldom, if ever, had that problem again.