ISSUES WITH MY BMW R1250RT AGAIN - Do I change????? 

Thanks Paul. Nice to see ya again. See ya in the summer in deepest darkest Kent!

Ref flapper valve on my gs I removed mine and fitted an adaptor from motorworks. Not expensive and easy to do. No more problem no warning light.

It's good that you have maintained a sense of humour throughout the issue with your dodgy flap ! Good to see another video. Ride safe.

Hi Paul, my GSA is now just over 3 years old, with 17k mileage, and not had a single issue. I took out the extended warranty in March 2020 & have done so again this year, costing around £400 each time, but that also includes the BMW European breakdown cover as well. I did it mainly because of concerns with the longevity of the rear shock, which costs over two grand! 😱 The warranty only covers this up to 30k mileage though.... The service I get from my BMW dealer is simply amazing 👍. Regards, Paul

Hi, the flapper valve is indeed a common failure occurring with monotonous regularity. The solution is well known and a breeze. First let the 3 year warranty expire. To attend to the valve, remove the silencer, you have to remove the chromium plated cover behind which is the clamp holding the silencer to the exhaust pipe. So three screws holding the cover plate, 1 bolt and 1 clamp bolt holding the silencer on. Remove the silencer. look up the exhaust pipe and there you will clearly see the flap valve. The valve should be in the open position. directly above the valve there is a small plastic box/cover. two screws and its off. Now you can see the operating cables for the valve. Slacken the cable locknuts, ease the cable ends out of the operating "wheel". The valve will stay in the open position held there permanently now by the return spring. Re-fix the operating cables in place, feed the now disconnected inner wires around the spring but not operating the wheel now. switch on the ignition, the cables will run through a self check, the servo and ECU think the valve is still connected and the self check is successful. Replace the plastic box, the silencer and cover plate. The valve is to "quieten" the exhaust to comply with some inconvenient regulations. You will find the bike runs better and sounds better and the valve never moves again!

I’ve paid for an extended warranty for my XR especially as it’s 5 years old now and was new to me last year so typical I picked a year when not so may miles were being covered, anyway Paul it was around £300 from memory and is exactly the same cover as a new bike from the dealers. As it also comes with an extensive recovery service I thought it wasn’t too bad as I needed to add that too, and does give you some peace of mind.

Good to see your vids again. Don’t worry about the flapper valve if it’s under warranty. It’s a well know issue with the 1250 engines. General fix is new headers. Happened on my gsa. Not sure I will keep a hold on any new BMW after warranty expires.

Nice to have you back Paul,

Hello Paul, I ear you, and I think that every brand, and every bike, can have problems. The nice thing here is that BMW has solutions for service, like the extension of the warranty period. It is a product, stating to service and parts, it has commercial intents but it gives solutions. And that is a good thing about BMW. The bike is beautiful and a good machine, but like every machine, it can have problems sometimes. It’s only natural. So, my opinion is to go for the warranty extension. I had bikes all my life and I think that the big bikes from BMW are very reliable. Don’t change the bike. Yours is a very good one. Stick by her side and you will get years and years of safe and joyful riding stories to film and document with it.

Your beemer has been very good to ya, don't part ways with her over that issue, great to see and hear from you, be safe and congrats on the new house .

Good video. Looking forward to your round Britain trip.

Think i told you when we were camping, I had it twice on mine,had 2 new chrome headers also a new quickshifter and complete rear shaft and final drive,all through extended warranty,at IIRC £340,00 so its worth it in my mind.

here in the US, you only pay for a repair once, and if it goes bad again, the dealer/factory pays for it. Not sure what goes on in the UK, but good luck with that issue.

My humble opinion - if you are starting to have doubts, you should probably consider other options. BMWs are kind of known for extortionate service costs. At least around my area. And all these electronic and mechanical goodies will cascade fail over the next several years. The R1250RT is a superb machine when it runs. But being a cheap dude, I prefer doing my own maintenance, and it is definitely out of my league in terms of electronics. Parts themselves are only half of a problem. They are not necessarily more expensive than the competition. At least when it comes to expendables. But the amount of work that is required even for simpler stuff... My "weapon of choice" is still an FJR1300. Specifically, the second generation (2006-2012, mine is 2009), with a manual transmission, simple suspension and minimum electronics. Reliable as a brick, very few things to go wrong unless you start applying sledgehammer to it. And yet, it is as comfy as newer models, simpler to maintain, just as quick and agile.

The valve is for keeping the sound down,my 2013 Gsa one went ..jammed open,there's a pipe you can get to bypass it ,a 2or 3" Straight bit of pipe ,just un hook the wee servo tuck it away let the cables activate when they want freely,the bike thinks all is normal ,no faults etc ,check utube ,there's a bit on it ....the next time it goes

It's a great bike. Thank you for sharing.

You will love the people on the orkneys very friendly I went there diving in 1992 would love to go back one day on the bike

NIce to see you back .Heard you say Wirral and all of a sudden you went past the street where my young brother lives, and then Hoylake lifeboat! Damn it is a small world on You Tube .Thanks for the little visit. First time in 14 months, living in France etc. Please accept my little 2 pennorth. Reference your flapper valve. It is a well known problem you are so right.Not just on your bike. I have a 2013 GS it had the "flapper valve replaced" which REALLY is a complete exhaust, from the header pipes to the flapper valve bit. £ 1500. You cannot get just the flapper valve portion. You can cut it out, and there is a tube out there to mod it, not from BMW. I spent 18 months lubing with graphite powder and high temp Nikel anti seize, on the swivel pin and it just kept jamming. So last time it stuck , in the full open position I disconnected the cables, so the bike can do its preflight check wiggle of the valve and no error code shows. It is said that the valve is there for TUV noise regs in Germany. I have to say it is a little bit noisier in my opinion on tickover, but apart from that she runs fine. Your choice young sir. It will keep seizing, it is a rubbish design, the carbon deposits just build up where the pin swivels and "skeeeeerch" it sticks. It is a disgrace that BMW do not just do a flapper valve pipe section, or or better still, redesign it, giving it some proper capability to lube it, or dismantle it to clean it every 2 years. However £1500 quid is better for parts department profits,especially if if it sticks just as bike runs out of warranty. However BMW must be fed up that they continually replace complete systems. Perhaps senior management do not know, or they get their exhausts so cheap they can afford to do it from the funds raised at £1500 a pop from out of warranty charges, for anew flapper valve. SORRY it is my bete noire.

Great to see you back again and great video too, look forward to the tour of Britain videos :-)

You know what they say!? New house, new baby! Joking apart, that bike is in a class of its own. Maybe a gold wing, but price wise, I don't know.

Hi i have same bike .4500 miles same fault. just had the exhaust system replaced last week. think your bike was there had sticker on. asked if BMW had done an upgrade on system no. if an after market goes on it needs a remap to eliminate the light, i asked if they would do a remap no. the valve sticks open so not a problem ,just the light on. bit of a worry for the future.

Can't believe you & Ray are sharing a tent 😂😂😂😂 see ya soon matey.

Hi Paul, i'm told the BMW extended warranty is in the region of £400 + for a year. however it is NOT BMW warranty it is an aftermarket one which is not as comprehensive as the manufacturers so make sure you check whats covered !!!

When you do the tour, make sure you look down and give the holy village of Pill a good wave when crossing the M5 Avonmouth bridge please boys! Good luck with the extended warranty Paul, although I doubt it will be a couple of hundred quid...

My flapper valve went two years ago. BMW said it wasn't covered by their extended warranty that I had at that time!!! So beware. However after complaining BMW paid for the part (£1100 ish), and just charged me for the labour. So, I left reasonably happy. Still ride and love the bike, but this really is a problem they should have sorted ages ago. Thanks for your blogs by the way!

I had the same problem sorted on warranty last week.

Got my bike out for the first time in months and got a puncture 10miles from leaving the house. Managed to get home before losing all the air.

Hi Paul, great to see you back, looking forward to more vids. I had the same type of scenario with my GS, numerous - re loads - of problems, always fixed under warranty by my BMW dealer who where excellent. But at the end of the day my confidence in the bike, especially when abroad, was nil so it was bye bye BMW, hello Honda and since then and over 40k miles later not a single issue. So while an extended warranty purchase would hopefully negate any cost, not a lot of good when exploring the outer reaches of Europe while not having a mobile phone signal.

A shame BMW can't get a hold of this recurring problem. I'd really like to own one but don't know if I want to take the chance. I see many have recommended the Gold Wing - do your research because the new generation have had issues as well. I owned a 19 Tour DCT that was brilliant, but I just sold it - I felt it was a matter of time until it had a problem that a dealer service department either couldn't, or wouldn't fix. Most are just not up to speed on those rolling computers. I will tune in to your recent UK tours - I enjoy that riding.

My dealer here in South Africa knew about this and removed the valve assembly and, unlike the factory apparently, lubricated the flapper shaft bearings with hi-temp sulphide grease. This was done BEFORE i took delivery.

If its a known fault admitted by BMW then they have to keep replacing it regardless of how ever many times it happens, ive had numerous parts replaced on my 11 year old Multistrada like clocks and fuel tank sender etc and they have done them because they are known faults. We are also doing a week round Scotland starting July 4th.

I think I would keep what you have as you will be hard pushed to find something all round better, I have had friends in your situation who get problems and it gets the better of them and tend to grab another bike and usually change the make, but whatever bike you get you just inherit the weak points of that model, buy and extended warranty which can work out to be worth every penny and enjoy your well run in bike that all round is a keeper.

Gosh that looks a lovely area to live in, so close to the beach too 😉😉 Nice vid mate, for what it’s worth I’d keep the bike,if only for sentimental reasons 🤔 Ride Safe Mr B 🤘😎

Shelling out £400 every year as a hedge against unreliability is what BMW want you to do. Nice revenue stream for them, given that most bikes are reliable most of the time and most issues won’t cost them £400 to rectify. The bike is lovely and, arguably, the world’s best touring bike. Also, every bike has its “known issues”. It’s just that BMW issues often hit you hard in the wallet - unless you have warranty. I’ve been thinking recently whether I REALLY need a big expensive bike...

Hi Paul nice to see you out on bike again great video as usual I would keep the BMW all the rest will have the flap as we'll

Great to see you back on the road. Whispers from Honda, new deauville.... Only sayn .😁😁😁😎

Get yourself to your local Honda dealer in Blackpool and treat yourself to a new GoldWing. DCT version is amazing

Hi Paul, you can keep the satnav charged at home :P Make sure when you unplug it, you power the device off by holding the power button ;) I got 5 years warranty on my RT :) P.S. I am so used to stabilized Gopro 8 and above, that now watching your vids feels like I'm in a roller coaster, wow!

Hi mate, or it may be cheaper to get a set of akrapovic headers without servo valve, will mean the bike sounds like a beast though!

Hi Paul, Just extra on your problem, I have a s1000 xr 2017 and had similar problem with the flap. They changed the whole exhaust at a cost of £2000 they said, it was under warranty🥳 Reading xr forums it also know issue the guy at the garage said when asked he was not aware of it happing again....🤨 he did say it happens on GS's as well. But looks as this flap is a cross the range. Properly a cheap part they put on and have now paid the price. I also do a extended warranty now it cost £40 pm and includes BMW assistant so as warranty not to bad, also notice it said includes ware and tare on parts. 😎🖖

Be careful as the extended warranty doesn’t cover all things as I found out in Austria and it cost me £459 for the repair. The extende warranty was a lot more than a couple of hundred. About the same as the repair.

Just looked up about flapper valves Paul, not much too them they can be freed up after sticking,apparently it's just to cut noise at low revs,or idle.

£400 Warranty but does not cover valve or shocks after 30,000miles but does include very good breakdown cover. Valve normally sticks open so no real issue are couple of get arounds. BMW normally very good with good will jestures as well. R1200rt forum very good for info. 9th 10th july annual meet in Monmouth.

Sorry to hear that you had problems with the flapper valve. I had to have the valve on mine replaced at the first service, luckily under warranty but only just. Mine is a 2015. So after six years, that item is still an issue....? Although, (cross fingers, touch wood, pact with the devil) I’ve not had any further problems. Apart from I dropped it once. But that’s another story..... 😁. Love the bike.

The flapper valve is only a sound thing, not vital. If my bike was out of warranty I would ignore it.

Get rid, I’ve heard of a couple of people who have had problems with that model,

Welcome back I think the BMW extended warranty including BMW assistance is about £500 per 12 months.

Hi Paul, Nice to see you about again, I was wondering what had become of you. Pity about the problem with the bike, I have had none whatsoever, although I have not covered the sort of miles on it as you have. From memory, the cost of an extended warranty in=s in the order of £500 pa. When you bike is due to come out of warranty, you will receive letter from BMW regarding this. Despite this, there are many RT's having covered prodigious mileages and not had an issue, its the luck of the draw I reckon

Hi paul I had same issue with mine and all changed under warranty exhaust and servo they are covered with a 2 yr warranty also so all good there the key is to give the flapper lol as you say a good lube now and then check out some vids on it and it also can be disconnected at later date if reoccurring I'm also loving my bike and going for the extended warranty also it's around £450 I think then I'll look at it again 2022 I fancy the new ktm 1290 adventure R but I do like my gsa te rallye 😊 Steven

Not a conspiracy theorist here Paul but you are now the 27th person I know who have had a BMW bike service then had an issue with their bike. Mmmmmm

Hello, Paul, on my rt around 20 thousand km every time when I pushed the keyless ignition on I heared a sort of whistle, same when I closed the ignition after a trip, bmw replaced the exhaust and the problem was gone. Now around 35 thousand km the whistle came back so on my 40 thousand maintenance they gonna give me a new exhaust again. Normally they give us a 2 year warranty but because I ordered the bike in January 19 on Brussels expo they gave me a 5 year warranty. On my previous and first rt from 2012 I had 3 times problems with the buttons on the left side of the handlebars, ( turning light etc ) the replaced each time the complete left side. This is my second bmw, and I found out, bmw have every time the bring out a new or upgraded model they have like we say here child illnesses, but I must say every time they solve the problem under warranty. Greets, jan

Good to see you back on our screens Paul, all we need now is the banter with Ray 🤣. Only you can decide what is the right decision on the bike, but if it's a known fault and they're putting the same part back on you'll be wondering if it's going to happen again. Looking forward to the Britain tour. Ian and Tracey 🏍🏍👍

Welcome back, you have been missed 🏍️

The way i look at it is better the devil you know. There is a cheap fix for the flapper. Remove it. It's only there for EU noise regs at lower speeds

motorworks do an eliminator £32 ish and thats permanent fix and adds a bit if power and slight more noise

I'll wait for October to see if the 2022 models are addressed. this saddens me considerably, as this was on short list, maybe a wing?

Good to hear your dulcet tones once again Paul. Nice to be out on the bike eh. Dave

😎🏍💨💨💨💨💨👍🏻🇨🇦to see you out and about. That’s the thing worries me about beamers, the cost of things breaking. 😯🥂

I'm just gonna quietly say FJR1300ES ;)

Also, the new bike warranty should mean they give u a replacement bike whilst the work is done?

I.m sorry, Im sorry for it being so long. To late for sorry now Ive aged 10 years without the Paul & Raymond fix.

Paul I’m having my 32,000km service done on my 2017 Triumph Trophy SE it’s is $1700 CDN$ or around £986 needless to say it will be the last Triumph...

I know you won’t wish to admit it but I am sure in my heart that it’s true . You. Still need your 700 Deauville, And you were never happier x God bless xx

Hi, sorry to say that BMW flapper valve problems are common from my experience, I've had 4 new GS over the last 8 years (never run a BMW without warranty so I changed every 2 years) every one had of the 4 had flapper valves changed and one had two in two years of ownership. I've jumped ship now. Take out the extended warranty or buy a new one would be my advice.

If BMW are fixing it then is this really a problem? My 1250rt is coming up to its first year and no issues to date, great bike. I have had issues with Hondas but if its sorted by warranty then no big issue imho.

Welcome back Paul. £300 for your service isn’t too bad, I assume they actually changed the pads rather than just adjusted the brakes ?

I genuinely believe that all manufacturers should replace parts that are known to be design faults FREE. [even when out of warranty], vauxhall are among the worst for ``design faults``.

Warranty just over £400 I think

👍

issues with the flapper valve, my wife has that problem when it suits.

on closer look its for 1200 but i am sure you can find one for yours

I reckon if the same valve failed AGAIN after only a few years and the bike was out of warranty you'd have a pretty good case against BMW for it being a known fault that they have failed remedy and insist they fix it again for free or take them to court. I don't think they would want the publicity and so fix it for you, but it would still leave a bad feeling. Time to chop it in for a Goldwing.

Great to hear from you Roll on summer.. what sort of mileage has the BM done?

From the experience in our group, and old BMW is an expensive BMW. As we are high mileage users, that's why there are no more BMW's in our group anymore. We also didn't like the fact that every time you speak to BMW it's a "known problem" - well if it's known, why not sort it or find a solution!

just buy a servo buddy and an eliminator pipe, install it and never worry about it again

Get the extended warranty and sit back and enjoy the bike for a few more years until you're ready to change her.

Surely if a fault has been rectified then the part replaced must be an improvement and in theory it won’t happen again,tell me I’m right🥴🥴🥴🥴

I said buy a Pan European🏀

What ever you do don’t buy the latest RT. A total disappointment.

I don't think BMW gives enough time for testing. Too rush to put them out there. Too risky, BMW !!!! The bike has to adopt to normal day to day use by regular people. I had the same damn experience with my K1600 GA. Same strange issues started to show up. No No for me.

Can't believe that service cost £300. Brakes all round are about £150 and service with valves checked at 12,000 is another £360 upwards. What a bargain Paul.

How many times .. i moved into a new before you tell us whats wrong with the bike.

How's Capt Sat nav doin these days?..😀

BMW motorcycles 🏍 these daze are like their cars And now Chinese replacement parts Nothing even close to the airhead days which is what Bmw wants you to believe

A video of 14 minutes to whine for a flapper valve…maybe it’s a new form of anxiety. There is no perfect bike. Enjoy it as long as you can.

£1400 every two years that thing would be gone if it were me sod that.

Sadly, you don't buy a BMW motorcycle for its reliability... You either accept it and factor breakdowns in your annual MC budget or you move on to another manufacturer. Good luck!

Don’t

get a goldwing dct fantastic bike