I'm documenting what happened to me partly to get it off my chest, but also as a warning for other riders to not ride when they are in a rush. 

I decided last minute to join some riders for a meetup at Mods and Rockers Toronto. I was on my way out the door when I made a huge oversight. I forgot to adjust the tire pressure on the new set of tires I just installed. The mechanic who put the rubber on told me to adjust to the pressure after I had installed them. Upon leaving my driveway I got a block from the house when I realized I forgot my phone (again because I was in a rush) and turned back. 

Just as I cracked the throttle to turn a corner the bike slid out from underneath me and did a 180 with me on it. The result 1.) a busted panier - that could've easily been repaired had some jackass in a pickup truck stopped before running over it. 2.) The aftermarket engine guard that protects the fins on the lower part of the engine (to protect the bike if it's ever laid on it's side) caught the road and ripped 2 lower fins off, and tore the bolts from the pan. 3.) Cosmetically the right lower fairing got some good scratches as well as mirror mounts busted.

I feel pretty lucky that I was traveling at a low enough speed coming into the turn that I wasn't hurt or on a trajectory with an oncoming car. And I'm thankful that someone who saw it happen jumped in to help lift the bike off the road and move what exploded off the bike from oncoming cars. But I was pretty shaken up. And lucky to have only a bruised knee. But man I feel stupid. Considering I baby my K100 and the damages it now has, it was a rookie error and one I should've caught before leaving the house. But I keep telling myself it could've been a lot worse. And I got off scott free with a sore knee and a bike that needs some love.

If I'm ambitious enough I suppose I can replace the oil pan under the engine (where I have the broken fins), which means taking the entire bike apart. It's something I did before to replace the rear main seal but, looks like a heck of a job for only a few fins. And is it necessary?

I feel that riding a motorcycle is a privilege that should not be taken for granted, and this for me this was a wake up call to slow down, and do a cross check before leaving the house. Especially if I'm in a rush. There is always risk of an oversight especially under these conditions. And I guess I just feel lucky.

Good you're OK Chris and the bike can be fixed.
A valuable lesson indeed, I could not count the number of people who have come to grief under similar circumstances of when you aren't on the job 100% and it is so easy for it to happen.
I always say that why we all enjoy our bikes so much is that when you are riding most of your attention is taken up riding safely and there is no room left for all the other things in your life so in effect you have a good rest from all of life's problems.

The oil pan under the engine, if its the one you have the circular cover for the oil filter, comes off quite easily. No dismantling needed. As far as I know it doesn't have a gasket but a sealer. But to be honest it should be fine minus a few fins. Get one in your own time and replace it when you are doing an oil change because even though no one else will notice the missing fins you will know and feel you want to cover it up.

As you say, lucky is the word and glad to see you are ok.

But you didn't only get caught by tire pressure. It was also the fact that the tires were brand new and needed to be scrubbed in. In fact I would say that was the more likely cause, mixed with a little too much throttle. Although you forgot to check the pressure you might have felt the difference if the pressure was a bit off. New tires need a good scrub in and not in a straight line so the sides get scrubbed in too.

This might sound strange but I reckon that off saved you a worse one down the road on some faster corner.

I almost ate -it once when I put a new set of tires on and then forgot.  Ever since then I put a piece of blue painters tape on the center of the speedo to remind me the tires haven't been scrubbed in yet.

That sucks. 

If you are looking for parts I saw this one on ebay this morning.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/BMW-K100-Used-Lower-Engine-Housing-Case-/181496852904?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a420e31a8&vxp=mtr&_uhb=1

You can't change the sump as a single part.....sump and block is a matched pair.

Inge K. wrote:You can't change the sump as a single part.....sump and block is a matched pair.

That sucks.

Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions I really appreciate it, it's good to know one isn't alone when it comes to errors. And really all that counts at the end of the day is safety. Body parts are harder to replace than motorcycle parts, I honestly must've had a horseshoe up my ass not to be injured.

Here's a photo of another on ebay, just to show where the fins snapped off, and the bolt striped the thread. Beyond the fact that Inge suggests these are non-transferable, replacing this portion of the pan means reseating the the Main Seal. There's 1/2 cup on the other end you can't see in this photo that holds it snug in there with the upper case. 



At this point I'm thinking I'll leave it. And just not enter it in any beauty contests. Going to give the bike a once over this afternoon and see if anything else got damaged.

Thank you for the reminder.
A few years ago on my way into work at an early hour in the morning I was focused on solving an issue at work. I stopped at a multi-lane intersection to turn left as I had done  hundreds of times before. The advance green turn light came on and as I accelerated and made the long turn across the intersection I twisted the throttle (my mind still thinking about work) and found myself sliding down the road.  My K100 slid on its side as well. My inattention to riding regardless whether there was any fresh oil or liquid on the road was the cause.
As I have new tires (tyres) on my bike and I am not an aggressive rider would someone advise how to scrub them without having to excessively lean the bike in corners.
Glad to know you are okay TBST.
Shep

Glad to hear that you're ok, Chris.  Damaging a bike you baby is heartbreaking to have happen but it can be fixed; getting seriously hurt in an accident is a much worse situation, which you avoided.  My one and only accident was many years ago when I was a noob with a fresh M-class license.  I had just bought my motorcycle new, so I had brand new, unscrubbed tires.  I was making a left turn in light rain when I hit the painted lines on the road.  The bike lowsided instantly as I lost grip in the rear and I ended up sliding for quite a distance across the oncoming lane and into the cross road into which I was turning.  I scratched the alternator case, broke the left mirror and switch cluster, bent the handlebars and scratched the rear handhold. I was unhurt because I let go during the slide which separated me from the bike.  Lesson learned now about the importance of scrubbed-in, warm tires and grip.

Shep wrote:Thank you for the reminder.
A few years ago on my way into work at an early hour in the morning I was focused on solving an issue at work. I stopped at a multi-lane intersection to turn left as I had done  hundreds of times before. The advance green turn light came on and as I accelerated and made the long turn across the intersection I twisted the throttle (my mind still thinking about work) and found myself sliding down the road.  My K100 slid on its side as well. My inattention to riding regardless whether there was any fresh oil or liquid on the rode was the cause.
As I have new tires (tyres) on my bike and I am not an aggressive rider would someone advise how to scrub them without having to excessively lean the bike in corners.
Glad to know you are okay TBST.
Shep

I've had mechanics tell me on several occasions to "take it in the dirt and smoke it" to scrub in the rear, which I always do now and seems to work. For the front I just ride on a smooth dirt road a ways and take it easy for the first 100 miles    To TSBT, glad you came out ok, we all need a reality check from time to time, so thank you for making the effort to relate your "incident" 

Take it out on a twisty road and gradually increase the riding speed but first of all remove the mould release wax with solvent.

I take my new tires out on a twisty road and counter-lean turns for 10 miles or so at a reasonable speed.  YMMV.

You could do what a guy I know used to do.
He never had chicken strips on his tyres and we all knew that he could not ride for shit and one day me and another friend called round one Friday night and found him roughing up the sides of the tyre and getting rid of the chicken strip with a concrete brick. 
We never let him forget it 

RicK G wrote:You could do what a guy ICan'tow used to do.
He never had chicken strips on his tyres and we all knew that he could not ride for shit and one day me and another friend called round one Friday night and found him roughing up the sides of the tyre and getting rid of the chicken strip with a concrete brick. 
We never let him forget it 

Lol
You mean he had chicken strips?
Can't get rid of the last 3mm on mine cause I keep scraping my boots.  
Guess I could try lifting my leg as I hit a hard bend. 

you mean like this ?


this is from the avatar picture .  

k-rider

Inge K. wrote:You can't change the sump as a single part.....sump and block is a matched pair.

I have changed out sumps

I broke a bit of mine (84) with an impact driver (dick head) and replaced it with one from an 85. Same bearing, thats the important part as far as I could tell. They changed the bearing on the outputshaft at 86 and the machining in the cases is different to suit.

Turns out the 85 one I fitted had been broken before and repaired with weld. who ever did it did an excellent job. You can only see the repair from the inside.

No oils leaks after about 2000km at least.

My 2 cents worth says this:

To the OP. Glad you are alright and . . . it was only really superficial damage done to the bike and virtually none to you. You are the main thing, bikes are replaceable, your not.

As for the broken fins . . . if it is side ones and not the base pan then the bottom engine cover (the one with the glass oil level viewer in it) can be replaced with another unit. I know because I took all of the covers from my dead engine and put them on another replacement engine as mine were mint and the others were pretty bad, in fact the side glass on the old cover was very nearly shot. Not sure of specs but the replacement block was an 87RS and the covers I put on it were off my 89 LT. 

You are right. it does require a complete engine removal (to do it easily), take off the bell housing, remove the timing cover, oil pickup etc, crankside and valve side covers. The cover you replace is the one that needs to be relocated first so its coming off last. A BIG job just for a few fins really but it can be done. Reseal with silicone etc.

As for the tyres . . .yep . . . they gotta be worn in correctly alright. When I fitted my new set on the bike I had purchased (being the first bike in about 14 years to 2012) I was instantly reminded of when I came off on a brand new set as a youngster, on a boxer (lucky for me!). Unable at the time to understand why a "NEW" set of tyres would do this an old timer set me straight on the facts of life regarding this subject. he said "just ride like you are drunk, you know, side to side and all wobbly, at low speed for a week or so, that'll fix it . . . At the time I laughed, but it worked . . for me . . at the time . .. of course now . .  guess what . . it still works . . . .lol . . . take it easy mate and happy trails

floyd wrote:

Inge K. wrote:You can't change the sump as a single part.....sump and block is a matched pair.

I have changed out sumps

I broke a bit of mine (84) with an impact driver (dick head) and replaced it with one from an 85. Same bearing, thats the important part as far as I could tell. They changed the bearing on the outputshaft at 86 and the machining in the cases is different to suit.

Turns out the 85 one I fitted had been broken before and repaired with weld. who ever did it did an excellent job. You can only see the repair from the inside.

No oils leaks after about 2000km at least.

The bearing surfaces is machined with the two parts mounted together
(as all other engine parts where the bearing surface is split between two parts).

That's also why you can't buy just a single part of this kind, you have to
buy the other half, too....this kind of parts is sold as a set.

Chris, 
I'd suggest investigating a welding firm to weld on new fin parts.  They can do a great job fr much less than buying the parts.  I've got the name of a good welder local to me (Steeles/Kennedy).

Many years back when I had a Honda 500-4 I took it off road and cracked the sump into a few pieces. I got it home and being a weekend a new sump was not an option. A repair was effected using Araldite which lasted the life of the bike. As the fins are not a structural part of this component it is possible to machine new pieces and either weld them or Araldite them on and then paint over the repair.

floyd wrote:I have changed out sumps . . . .No oils leaks after about 2000km at least.

Same deal. Now 10000ks on the bike, no leaks

Inge K. wrote:

floyd wrote:

Inge K. wrote:You can't change the sump as a single part.....sump and block is a matched pair.

I have changed out sumps

I broke a bit of mine (84) with an impact driver (dick head) and replaced it with one from an 85. Same bearing, thats the important part as far as I could tell. They changed the bearing on the outputshaft at 86 and the machining in the cases is different to suit.

Turns out the 85 one I fitted had been broken before and repaired with weld. who ever did it did an excellent job. You can only see the repair from the inside.

No oils leaks after about 2000km at least.

The bearing surfaces is machined with the two parts mounted together
(as all other engine parts where the bearing surface is split between two parts).

That's also why you can't buy just a single part of this kind, you have to
buy the other half, too....this kind of parts is sold as a set.

I had always assumed that they would be a matched pair and I have no doubt that they are machined that way, however it is testament to the accuracy of the machining that usually the sumps can be interchanged without there being a big problem.
One thing that I find amusing is that the engine number is on the sump part and not the block itself. So in effect if you change the sump as far as the powers that be are concerned you have used a different engine.

RicK G wrote: . . .One thing that I find amusing is that the engine number is on the sump part and not the block itself. So in effect if you change the sump as far as the powers that be are concerned you have used a different engine.

Yep . . that thought struck me when I was swapping out the blocks on mine. I thought . . . hee hee  . . the block has only done 48k but the case has done 110 !.