'21 S1000XR DIY 18,000 Mile Service

[TheShat6392]

Recently finished doing my own 18,000 mile service on my 2021 S1000XR.  

 

The job involved the following: 

Valve clearance check/adjustment

Cam timing check/adjustment 

Spark plug change 

Fork oil change 

Engine oil and filter change 

 

In total the job took me about 17 hours total.  I split that up across 5 days.  

 

For the engine work I used three different service manuals:  The official and model specific manual from BMW, the Haynes manual for gen 1 bikes, and the Mark Bennett manual for gen 1 bikes.  The Mark Bennett manual was the most helpful in regards to stripping the bike, but once I cleared the airbox I had to switch to the official BMW manual.  It turns out the gen 2 bikes are designed completely differently once you get to the throttle bodies and cylinder head cover.  

 

NOTE:  This is a very expensive service if you take it to a dealer.  Mine quoted me $1,900.  This is mostly due to the fact that BMW calls for the engine to be pulled on the gen 2s before you check the valves.  However, it is NOT necessary whatsoever to pull the engine to do this service.  It's tight, but there IS enough room to do the job properly.

 

Once I removed the cylinder head cover, all of the valve clearances were in spec.  (**valves clearances for gen 1 and gen 2 are the same)  The cam timing was also in spec.  To check the cam timing BMW calls for a special tool that is not available to consumers, but you can still get away with checking the timing with a steel straight-edge just like on the gen 1s.  I cut a steel rod to 4.5 inches to do this - a full-sized ruler will not fit.

 

NOTE:  Before I do this service again I will need to shop around for a hook wrench that will fit on the cam gears.  If your timing is off, you need to manually turn the cam gears after your cam chain is slackened,  just like on the gen 1s.  However, there is nowhere to grab except directly on the teeth of the cam gears.  I'm sure finding or building a tool for this would be a simple job, but I lucked out since my cams were in-time.  

 

Before I began reassembly I changed the fork oil.  This is a little easier when the bike is stripped.  Fork removal is easy if you have a front stand that lifts via the triple tree.  To change the oil I used the Dave Moss "dump and run" technique which involves measuring the amount of oil that comes out of each fork and simply replacing it with the same amount.  Fully stripping the forks is not necessary - simply open each fork cap to pour out the oil.  **OEM is 7.5 weight oil.  I went with Maxima 10 weight and it's a much better front-end feel now.  The fork oil was in really rough shape - I plan to change the fork oil every 6,000 miles going forward.  It's not a difficult job.  

 

NOTE:  Since the left fork leg houses the DDC cartridge, there is very little oil in it.  I pulled 220ml out of mine.  Absolute max fill is 240ml.  If you need to change a seal the DDC cartridge is easily removed, but the DDC unit itself is sealed and cannot be serviced unless you send it in.

 

When reinstalling the engine cylinder head cover, you must first glue the gaskets on to the cover with gasket sealer.  There are 3 in total and they are reusable.  There's no way you're going to get the cylinder head seated properly unless you glue the gaskets first.  BMW calls for this in the manual.  

 

NOTE:  Once you have the cylinder head bolted on, triple check around the engine with a flashlight to make sure the outer gasket is seated correctly.  You'll know it right away if something is off.  Fix it now.  You can't start the bike until you at least get the tank back on and that takes a few hours and is several steps away.  it would suck to start up the bike after all that work and then find an oil leak...    

 

The toughest part about reassembly was the body panels.  They're on very tight and there are lots of screws to keep track of.  It will take some trial and error to get those last few pieces on.  

 

Bike runs great and I saved a boat-load of money.  Let me know if you have any questions if you're thinking about trying this yourself.  I've not been able to find anyone who's done this themselves on a gen 2, so I'm happy to help anyone out.

 

FINAL NOTE:  This is the same procedure for the S1000R, but not the RR.  The RR has shift cams.   

 

Some pics are below.

 

- Nathan

 

p.s. I found a dead bird in the front air channel,  hence the air filter photo.  I must have picked up that bird on a big ride in the forest the previous week.  The filter did a great job...the inside of the airbox was totally clean.   

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