Don's BMW K100RS at the Saturday February 24th 2024 Workshop Session.

Don's BMW K100RS gets a thorough going over.

Don bought his BMWK100RS back into the workshop.  He had noticed an oil leak.  Don, Guy, Dave and I worked on the bike.  Don had already removed the lower portion of the fairing but the left hand side of the fairing also had to come off to gain access to the cylinder head which is on that side of the bike. Once the left side of the fairing was off. Don and Co removed the rocker cover.  This gave us the opportunity not only to renew the rubber rocker cover seal but also to do some service work.  With the spark plugs removed it was possible to turn the engine over so the valve clearances could be checked.  It is a 16 valve engine.  The majority of the valves were within tolerance, with just three valves running slightly loose.  As BMW have chosen to put the valve adjusting shims under the cam followers (AKA Cam buckets) it  would be more trouble than it was worth to remove both camshafts to try swapping shims. If the valve clearances had been tight it would have been worth it.  This is because lack of clearance can cause the valve to stop closing properly when it gets hot and for hot exhaust gases to burn away the valve seats as they rush through the gap.

New spark plugs were fitted and the tightness of the cylinder head bolts checked before Don and Co. put the bike back together.  Don also drained the engine and would have changed the engine oil filter but unfortunately didn't have the correct filter with him. The oil filter itself is a canister filter with a convenient hexagon on the end for a socket.  It fits into a circular opening in the sump which is protected from the elements by a round aluminium plate secured with three bolts.  When we took the plate off, oil poured out from the gap around the canister, making me think the oil filter had not been secured tightly enough.