Breaking Centerstand pivot bolts

[Emoto]

The bike is an '05 R1200GS with 37,762 miles on it, first put into service in April of '04. It is placed on the centerstand almost every time I park it. I do not beat on the bike or ride it in an unusual fashion. 99% street.

 

A year ago, the right hand centerstand pivot bolt sheared, leaving the stand hanging low on that side. Two days ago, the left hand one sheared. That makes BOTH in just a year. They were fine for the first two years of ownership.

 

I do not know if it was a flaw in the bolts, or if they were overtorqued during original assembly (which would weaken them) or what, but I thought it worth mentioning. The story...

 

Two days ago, as I was on my way home from this year's MOA national, I found that the left-hand centerstand pivot bolt had broken. This meant that BOTH STOCK BOLTS have now broken. In both cases, the bolts sheared off inside the threaded bushing that they screw into.

 

I urge all 1200GS owners to carry spare bolts, and/or a roadside fix-it kit (see below) in case the bolt breaks inside the bushing, like mine both did.

 

Ok, so there I was, about to buy gas in a small PA town 500 miles from home, and as I leaned the bike toward vertical so that both centerstand feet would touch before I raised it onto the stand, I noticed it felt "funny", like I couldn't feel the foot on the far side touching down.

 

I bent down to examine what was going on, and found the bolt broken off and missing. Nothing to do but gas up on the sidestand and see about fixing it later when we stop for the day. However, a little later in the ride, I saw an Ace Hardware store and pulled in, so that I could buy a new bolt.

 

Unfortunately, like before, the bolt sheared off in the bushing - no way to grab it and get it out, so I couldn't use the spare bolt I had been carrying since the first one broke.

 

 

 

So, I went without the bushing and used a bolt, nut, and two big washers to re-attach the left side of the stand. Although one would think this would be a bad and sloppy fit, it worked. When sufficiently tightened, it actually allowed me to put the bike up on the centerstand several times to buy gas, and was not wobbly. Note that the centerstand did not rotate as freely as it normally would, so you had to push it all the way into the up position with your foot. I call this bolt/nut/washers combo the roadside fix kit:

 

 

 

 

If you didn't want to keep using the centerstand, a simple zip tie (cable tie) through the pivot holes would serve to keep the stand aligned and out of the way.

 

Once I got home, I set about to make things right.

 

In order to re-use the bushing, I pulled the broken bolt section out of it. Sometimes you get lucky with the left-handed bits and they spin the broken bolt section right out. Unlike when the other one broke, this time my left-handed drill bit did not do anything more than drill a hole, so I had to use the extractor. Oh well.

 

First, I dimpled the center of the bolt so that the drill bit wouldn't skip all over the place. You want to drill down the center of the bolt so you don't hit any threads.

 

 

Then you drill...

 

 

Then twist it out with the extractor:

 

 

 

 

Then, I cleaned up the bushing with some contact cleaner and then greased the outside of it.

 

 

Then, back it went with the new bolt:

 

 

You want to use a light duty loctite on the threads.

 

A trip to my local Ace Hardware netted me some better replacement bolts than what I bought a year ago. The new ones are stainless. M10 x 35mm. I cannot comment on the strength of these bolts compared to the OEM BMW ones, but since the OEM ones broke anyway, who cares? Besides, the OEM bolts will cost you MSRP of around THIRTEEN DOLLARS EACH (!!!) and will not be in stock, so the $2.50 each price each at the hardware store seems worth a try.

 

 

I bought 35's because I want the new bolts to stick out the end of the bushing. That way, if another one ever breaks, I should be able to grab the protruding end of it with pliers or vise grips and spin it out of the bushing, rather than resorting to drills and extractors. A 40mm length would maybe be a little better, since it would give you additional protruding threads, but I bought 35's, so that's what I used.

 

[JayW]

Nice repair job - I don't think I would have the patience for such a project. I wonder if the R12RT uses the same parts?

 

Jay

[Emoto]

Thanks. It took longer to snap pics and write it up than to make the repair. No big deal, really. It would be very interesting to find out how the other hexheads are set up.

[Don_Eilenberger]

Question - do you normally ride off the stand as many people do? Back when the early K bikes were throwing themselves on their sides when the stands broke - I found a correlation between riders who rode off, or sitting on the bike rocked off the centerstands and eventual broken stands.

 

Just curious.. (my legs aren't long enough to do that anyway..)

[Carnadero]

...or sitting on the bike rocked off the centerstands and eventual broken stands.

Hmmmm.....

[Emoto]

Question - do you normally ride off the stand as many people do? Back when the early K bikes were throwing themselves on their sides when the stands broke - I found a correlation between riders who rode off, or sitting on the bike rocked off the centerstands and eventual broken stands.

 

Just curious.. (my legs aren't long enough to do that anyway..)

 

Hi Don,

 

No, I have never ridden off the centerstand. I do, however, mount the bike while it is on the centerstand, but when I take it off the stand by pushing forward, my weight is being supported by my feet which are on the ground (I am tall).

 

So, could climbing up onto the bike while on the stand cause this? I suppose so, but I would hope that it wouldn't.

 

Bob

[Jim VonBaden]

Question - do you normally ride off the stand as many people do? Back when the early K bikes were throwing themselves on their sides when the stands broke - I found a correlation between riders who rode off, or sitting on the bike rocked off the centerstands and eventual broken stands.

 

Just curious.. (my legs aren't long enough to do that anyway..)

 

Hi Don,

 

No, I have never ridden off the centerstand. I do, however, mount the bike while it is on the centerstand, but when I take it off the stand by pushing forward, my weight is being supported by my feet which are on the ground (I am tall).

 

So, could climbing up onto the bike while on the stand cause this? I suppose so, but I would hope that it wouldn't.

 

Bob

 

Not likely Bob!

 

Hell, I even climb on my 12GS on the sidestand by stepping on the left peg and swinging a leg.

 

They can take it usually.

 

Jim

 

PS I almost never use my centerstand.