Water-proofing an RT?

[KetoSoi]

Hello everyone, this is my 1st post here, so forgive any noobiness. I have an '09 RT (leftover) that I bought back in April.

 

I've been reading/searching here quite a bit over the last few weeks about all kinds of stuff, great info to be had here!

 

I've read in a few posts here about possible water contamination in the fuel pump electrical connectors, so I was wondering what other precautions I should take.

 

I ride in the rain a lot, and the season is getting near!

 

Anything I should water-proof (better) on my RT?

 

Thanks in advance

 

KS

[Beech]

Great bike, if you are worried about connectors, go to your local electronics shop or maybe auto shop and get some di electric grease. either tube or spray. Explore your bike under the plastic and open every connector you can find. Put a little of this grease on every connector to squish into the metal connections. This will keep water and corrosion away. Even light bulbs in sockets. Ford use to put this in their car bulb sockets. Many brands available. Enjoy the bike. (when opening connectors look for tiny latches on the sides that hook together, some have them others not)

[pdes]

I ride 365 days a year and in the UK for four months of the year, the road spray has more salt than the sea! I have never had any problems with the electrics but plenty of corrosion (I vented elswhere in this forum last year!). This year, and now I have a 2010 I'll be giving the bike a good going over with ACF-50. I am relying on recommendations as I haven't used it yet!

[Lmar]

In all my riding in rain and many times heavy rain over the last 37 years, I have never had any issues with water causes problems with any of my bikes.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

In all my riding in rain and many times heavy rain over the last 37 years, I have never had any issues with water causes problems with any of my bikes.

 

Me neither, until my '09 RT crapped out last month. The FPC seems to be a known vulnerability on these bikes. My FPC was replaced under warranty. Starting next spring I will carry a spare with me, and sometime between now and then I plan to examine the FPC they installe and see what I can do to better waterproof it.

 

The problem seems not to be an electrical connector, but rather corrosion of the device itself.

 

I haven't heard of other water-related problems on these bikes.

[racer7]

The fpc sits in a well that collects water if you ride in the rain because the engineers were too dim witted to make it self draining. In addition, the connector is in a well within that well that the "gasket" it has around it fails to seal. It will die eventually if you ride in the wet enough- mine did. The well needs to be inspected every time the tupperware is off to see it is dry.

The factory accessory tail light is not sealed - yeah I killed one of those also- so if you have one, disassemble it and waterproof the joint where its interior clear plastic lens meets the black plastic base. I used 2 part fishing rod epoxy varnish.

Using one of the aircraft anti corrosion items around fasteners, especially those that catch direct road spray, may help. fpc-50, etc. Can't say I've had any start on my 08 but we just get rain where I live, not snow, so no road salt.

It is pretty obvious that that the BMW finishes won't like road salt though they're better than some others.

The dielectric grease is a good trick and worthwhile especially if you intend to keep anything a very long time. Have not had any of the bike electrical connectors fail yet and haven't done it, except for the fpc connector in the well.

 

For the cooler seasons- the RT stock battery doesn't spin the motor very well when the temp drops into the 30s and less. Mine always starts - thank goodness for fuel injection because the cranking speed is too low to reliably start a carbureted bike. It helps to take the gear load off- start it clutch in- because the tranny fluid is pretty stiff in the cold.

 

DO NOT spray anything electrical with detergent cleaners like S100 when you wash the bike- concentrated surfactants will help wick water into a connector in a hurry. Dilute any detergent completely in water and wash by hand. Be careful where you direct a high pressure washer spray if you use one- better yet don't use one.

 

Accessory lights are also often not waterproof. For example, I own some TrailTech 30 W ones and their bulb (a modified INDOOR bulb type) is not waterproof- water will actually penetrate a seal around the front glass lens and get into the reflector where it kills the HID capsule. I've waterproofed the lens joint on the current bulb set with the same epoxy varnish to see if I can get a pair of these to survive on a bike but won't know until they go through this winter. Emphatically I do not recommend TrailTech lights- they are a good idea badly executed- though the maker stands behind them and tries to address mistakes (that include every part in them except the housing). All Hellas I've used have fogged over the reflectors pretty badly after going through a Carolina winter- too bad there aren't more sealed beam types available because they're immune to that sort of failure.

 

The RT dash panel, headlamps, etc are well sealed- no issues of any type in the wet that I've been able to uncover. Brakes also wipe pretty well and are good in the wet though the recovery time if you engage ABS is a bit slow for my taste.

[notacop]

Great bike, if you are worried about connectors, go to your local electronics shop or maybe auto shop and get some di electric grease. either tube or spray. Explore your bike under the plastic and open every connector you can find. Put a little of this grease on every connector to squish into the metal connections. This will keep water and corrosion away. Even light bulbs in sockets. Ford use to put this in their car bulb sockets. Many brands available. Enjoy the bike. (when opening connectors look for tiny latches on the sides that hook together, some have them others not)

 

I was down in Baja Mx. a few years ago and a fellow on a K bike was having electrical problem. Seems he was a fan of greasing and WD40ing connectors as you suggest. He manages to remove a ground and his bike was dead.

A new bike like an 09 won't need any dithering with for a long time. Leave well enough alone. Don't fix what ain't broke or you may find yourself in some seedy little Motel room agitatedly perusing the BMWST site for help on a problem you've caused.

[Hall Vince]

I've run two 1200's to 32,000 miles, bought at 3k/5k

Both of these bikes I popped off the FPC as soon as I go them home, cover it and connectors in silicon dieelectric grease (doesn't need much).also around the seal

 

And finish off with a yearly dose of ACF-50.

 

The ST went to 33k on OE FPC, (might be still going?)

The RT I have now is on 32k and still on OE FPC. Fingers crossed I won't need the spare new one I've been carrying about for the last three years!

 

ACF-50 rocks btw

Fantastic stuff. I wouldn't ride a bike in UK winters without it now.

\v/

[Beech]

Notacop, the only thing I use WD-40 for is cleaning my work bench top. Absolutely do not use it anywhere else, and the boats I use to work on I would toss that junk out whenever I ran across it. It is a "water dispersant" not a lube, it leaves a varnish when it dries in a couple of weeks that acts as an insulator as your friend found out. I am really glad you brought this up as your point is a serious one. It does a good job on tar spots on the bike though. If you intend to do a di-electric grease protection job you have to get a product designed for it. Please don't put regular grease or some spray on your connectors. I found some connectors (French)Telemartinique (sp?), the plastic reacts with some chemicals and gets brittle. Lots of things to look out for. I try to stick with Dow or 3M products, CRC is also good. Name brands that have worked for me over the years.

[Silver Surfer/AKAButters]

I have ridden every bike I've had in torrential rain for hours on end and have never had a water related issue. Luck?

 

One exception was my '72 Honda SL350 wannabe dual sport.

That thing would not start if the humidity was over 30%. Owning it on Okinawa was a nightmare. Rain? You're walking today.

[notacop]

Beech, I agree the use of a lot of sprays, ointments and salves for purposes unintended by their manufacture can result in unexpected and detrimental outcomes.

The point if my injection was that ...The bike is almost new, it don't need no stinking messing with... The bloke that killed his bike did so by persistently working on it.

 

That being said, there are lots of good uses for dielectrics, just not on a new bike with fresh factory connectors.

 

I agree with Silver Surfer Dude, hours of mid west torrential rains never caused my beemers to stall out.

 

But, 32 years of corrosion did finally cause the 80/7 to need cleaning of the main connector to be happy again. For the sake of argument one could say that if I had done periodic dielectric maint it would not buggerd up after so many years. I was too busy riding to pay attention, now I can't afford to.

[Nesbocaj]

Anyone every have trouble with the rain and the ignition switch? Looks to be in a 'well' of it's own.

[markgoodrich]

56,000 miles on my RT so far. No water issues with the electrics. Just ride it.

[KetoSoi]

Thanks everyone. Doesnt sound like theres really anything that requires attention other than the dopey FPC setup mentioned by racer7 (thanks!)

 

I'm get'n ready to sync the TB's, so while I have it apart, I'll take a look at the the FPC and see if theres anything I can do there.

 

Thanks again all

 

KS