BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Harold,
Thanks for posting the picture, I have also installed the seal, seems like it should take care of the issue.
Brian

As pointed out there are two issues here, and of of them is definitely a design flaw (though easily corrected)

First, the drainage tube under the fuel filler cap can get blocked. This is an issue because significant amounts of water can get in your tank - when i finally peered into my tank there were pools of water floating on the gas, and that can't be a good thing. Solution: Keep the drain cleared.

I only see one drain, on the right in this pic. The left 'drain' is blocked and seems to be used to return unused fuel to the tank (??).



The second issue, and this is a real design flaw, is that water gets in around the filler assembly and then has nowhere to go... so it rusts. If the rust spreads under the gasket then you've got more dirt and water in your gas. Fortunately this is a quick, cheap, and easy fix (how many can claim all three of those?!). As hjsbmw mentioned the three dollar 16117681038 ABDECKRING TANKCOVER part for the S1000RR fits perfect and resolves this problem.

Before the gasket, you can see the ~3mm gap around the filler cap. Enough to let water in... not enough to let it evaporate out.



My bike suffered rust, not as bad as some of the pics posted here but it's spreading.



Here's the gasket before the cap is installed. The S1000RR part fits perfect.



After the gasket things look snug and water tight. Time to ride in the rain again!

Riding in the rain is a problem, water everywhere. A thought...after a washing to bring your steed back to its beauty try using a leaf blower to dry it off, pay particular attention as the air stream passes over the filler cap...water comes out of the space between the filler cap and tank, lots of it...make several passes. My bike may have a blocked water drain but it has been this way since new... for those of you that dread washing the bike because one can't seem to get the grunge out of those nooks and cranneys try a "Easy Detail Brush" look it up on the internet for details and to dry the bike off use a electric or gas powered leaf blower, I call mine a blow dryer for the nudist colony. The large amount of air pushes and pulls water out of those unknown and unreachable areas, finish with a micro fiber towel. Mom always said to wash behind your ears.

I've been using a leaf blower for a long long time. Some people object to hitting the bike with forced air when it's wet, but the way I see it - I leave my bike sitting in the rain (sometimes a hurricane) outside my tent a few times a year and if I have a situation where water can get in somewhere and cause a problem I'd rather have it happen in my driveway.


I do however think I'll order one of those gaskets, seems to be something Beemer forgot to put on our bikes. Thanks for digging out the information guys, and a big thanks for taking the time to share it. It's stuff like that that makes this list the best resource for R1200R info in the world.

LumpyCam wrote:This is an issue because significant amounts of water can get in your tank - when i finally peered into my tank there were pools of water floating on the gas, and that can't be a good thing.

The gasket seems a great and simple solution, thanks for the posting. Water is denser than gasoline and sinks to the bottom of the tank, so I'm a bit puzzled about what you saw in your tank.

TinkerToy wrote:...water comes out of the space between the filler cap and tank, lots of it...make several passes. My bike may have a blocked water drain but it has been this way since new...

If you look closely at the filler assembly, the water has to rise a quarter of an inch or so before it even reaches the drain hole. As things are it is completely expected for a bunch of water to collect in there, even if your drain is functional.

As much as BMW obsesses over details, I doubt the gap was an oversight. In this case, I wonder if the bean counters and designers outvoted the engineers. The gasket contrast on light-colored R12Rs is jarring if you're not used to it.

waynemathews wrote:Water is denser than gasoline and sinks to the bottom of the tank, so I'm a bit puzzled about what you saw in your tank.

Might have been water bubbles under the gas in the shallow part of the tank. Even with a flashlight it's hard to see in there!

Just FYI: The rubber ring works. I got caught in a major Appalachian thunderstorm on the weekend. Checked the space under the tank filler and found no water made it in there at all.

websterize wrote:As much as BMW obsesses over details, I doubt the gap was an oversight. In this case, I wonder if the bean counters and designers outvoted the engineers. The gasket contrast on light-colored R12Rs is jarring if you're not used to it.

I wonder if putting some carbon fiber cover on that gas tank will minimize the contrast

This is why I love (and have paid for) this forum. Stuff like this is what keeps me on the road worry free. You guys rock!

Thank you Capebeemer for the least expensive (and most satisfying for the price) farkle on my R1200R. Hardly anyone believes a $3.00 BMW motorcycle part even exists. Easiest install since I put on the slip on exhaust.

I have just had my tank replaced by BMW and it only took them five months to get and then they damaged it and took another month to repaint the damage.
So I took it in and waited to have the tank fitted a supposed master technician then took four hours to swap the tank ( I am glad it was under warranty ) I mentioned the RR1000 seal you people are fitting and was told it is completely different and dose not fit do you think I need a new Dealer

Great discussion... being new to the forum, this is outstanding information. I've yet to take delivery of my 2012, so I'll inspect this when I get it home... in 3 weeks? Gasket seems to be in order, but it does seem like an odd oversight by BMW.

I have a can of BoeShield (http://boeshield.com/) that I think is going to be used in this location (BTW - Peter, president of the company that packages/markets the product is a BMW owner - 4 wheeled ones - but he is an enthusiast..)

Deilenberger, thanks for the tip on BoeShield, looks like a great product. Have you ever used a product called CorrosionX? http://www.corrosionx.com
I've only used it on firearms but it has an impressive customer list (see major accounts tab). My understanding is that it is used extensively in the military on things that have extremely rapid rates of fire, so I guess it holds up well and in harsh conditions.

My steering dampener blew up a week before my warranty expired. While in the dealer I asked him to take a look at my clogged drainage pipe (the one inside the fuel filler cap) since I don't have any compressed air at home and the grass trimmer cord wasn't relieving the blockage.

When picking the bike up I mentioned the tank rust referenced above and when he saw the gasket he got all defensive and immediately said, "if you took the filler cap off the warranty is void. BMW won't cover anything." I explained that this was separate from the drainage pipe but he wanted to say that anything involving the fuel tank was now void.

I have no idea what BMW actually would cover or not as this was just one dealer's reaction. My recommendation if you still have warranty would be to install the gasket as it really needs it if you are ever in the wet but remove it before you take it to the dealer for any claims to avoid any hassle. Or see if the dealer can install it.

Hi Guys.

Heads-up for 2011 R1200R model owners.

While installing the recommended gasket last week I notice that my 2011 model fuel tank DOES NOT have any of the red/glossy rust protection paint on the inner surface of the tank filler port, as shown on previous posts.
It is unpainted plain old galvanized steel, presumably even more prone to rust down the road.

If only I could figure out how to paste a picture on this page it would be right here for all to see…(could someone please teach this dim-wit how to attach a photo!)

Thanks to all contributors, this is a truly great resource.

Bob.

T206Bob wrote:It is unpainted plain old galvanized steel, presumably even more prone to rust down the road.

If it is really galvanized - with zinc - I don't think you need have any rust worries. Properly done this can protect steel for decades. If it's just bare metal - nothing on it - no galvanizing - then I'd be concerned.

Somewhere there is a posting about embedding photos to messages here - you can't "attach" them (which would mean uploading them to this website..) Instead of attaching them, you "host" the photo on a dedicated photo host site (I use PhotoBucket - free, there are lots of others which are good) and then insert an "IMG" link to the hosted photo in your message. When the message is viewed - the message is loaded in the users browser from the R1150R website, and the photo is loaded from the photo hosting website.

Photobucket makes it very easy to use - they provide the correct code to link to your hosted photo - you just click on it, then come over here, find a blank line and use CTRL/C to paste the image code. Done..

LumpyCam wrote:My steering dampener blew up a week before my warranty expired. While in the dealer I asked him to take a look at my clogged drainage pipe (the one inside the fuel filler cap) since I don't have any compressed air at home and the grass trimmer cord wasn't relieving the blockage.

When picking the bike up I mentioned the tank rust referenced above and when he saw the gasket he got all defensive and immediately said, "if you took the filler cap off the warranty is void. BMW won't cover anything." I explained that this was separate from the drainage pipe but he wanted to say that anything involving the fuel tank was now void.

Dog love these dealers.. it's as if they go out of their way to prove they're asswipes sometimes..

I have no idea what BMW actually would cover or not as this was just one dealer's reaction. My recommendation if you still have warranty would be to install the gasket as it really needs it if you are ever in the wet but remove it before you take it to the dealer for any claims to avoid any hassle. Or see if the dealer can install it.

Interesting idea on the part of the dealer. If you inspect for rust you've violated some mysterious warranty clause that they just made up, so you can't get the rust fixed. Classic Catch-22, and total BS. I think you should name the dealer who said this (especially if you never intend to go back to them, which given that treatment would be my plan..) so others can avoid ever darkening their doorstep.

Along these lines...

I removed the gas cap assembly looking for a way to turn it around to ease filling. I think some had done this on other bikes, the GS maybe?

Anyway I dis-assembled everything and while carefully removing the gas cap assembly believed that I heard a clunk like something dropped into the tank. I checked and could not find anything and asked the dealer's shop and they did not know of anything that could have fallen in. I haven't noticed any issues but wonder if any of you might know if there is anything that might have fallen into the tank.

Thanks in advance.

Don.

Thanks for the tip on attaching Photos... with a little help it becomes piece of cake!

Here is the image of the unpainted filler neck area on my 2011 model...Galvanized?
Should I paint it or leave it as it is?

Thanks again.

Bob.