Submerged r1200gs in Mongolia

[MrHicks46]

Hello,

My name is Teo, I am doing a RTW trip solo.

I submerged (too much ) my bike in a back road in Mongolia and the engine stopped. I tried to drain the water on the road side but still did not start.

I put the bike on a truck and came to Ulan Bator, just arrived. I am at the Oasis waiting for a mechanic that the manager knows.

I just wanted to ask if someone had run into similar problems with a similar bike on this area and knows about a good, reliable bmw-able mechanic here.

Don't do Mongolia on a fully loaded 1200 if it is raining... its a nightmare.

Thanks!

[Hemuli]

You made sure that the air box, exhaust and cylinders are dry?
Did you check that the airfilter is ok?

[TravellingStrom]

Do a search of BMW forums, I know that the GS1150A has an issue with a sensor when it gets wet, it shuts the engine down. There is a workaround by removing the sensor and putting a resistor in its place, I do not know any details.

[MrHicks46]

The bike is now in a shop and they removed the water now. They will open the engine tomorrow and see if anything is broken, because it still does not turn. Maybe one of the piston rods is bent... I will let you know how it goes!

[klausmong1]

Originally Posted by MrHicks46

Don't do Mongolia on a fully loaded 1200 if it is raining... its a nightmare.

Thanks!

Well, thats was everyone says, also any other big Endurobike.....

I am also in UB at the moment and i know that here is a BMW dependance, but i dont think that they help with motorcycles.

[colebatch]

Originally Posted by MrHicks46

Don't do Mongolia on a fully loaded 1200 if it is raining... its a nightmare.

Wise words Teo.

I do TRY to advise exactly that.

A 1200 is a pain in the @ss bike for Mongolia even with the best of weather.

It has a low air intake which makes river crossings very hazardous (as you discovered it quickly becomes a water intake), small wheels (good for asphalt, not good for obstacles or general off road) - with a very limited selection of Mongolia suitable tyres, and it weighs approx 3000 tonnes.

Kinda sounds so far like a conrod is bent. Good luck tomorrow.

[Belle]

".....Well, thats was everyone says, also any other big Endurobike....."


Yep.....

[tmotten]

and was shown on the main documentary that inspired so many...

Really hope it's not the end of your trip though.

[MrHicks46]

Everything is good now. I am ready to leave the Oasis.

The people from the Oasis took me to a very good mechanic shop here in Ulan Bator. His name is Ratna, and he used to work in Japan and he has contacts there to get parts. So besides having way less resources here in Mongolia, if you have a big bike stuck in Ulan Bator, it looks like the best place to go. Ratna even owns a 1200gs now. He just bought it. So they know it well.

ARKA MOTO SHOP

So the engine was stuck and it did not turn. Even after removing all the water. The mechanics started pulling out pieces to look what was preventing the engine to turn. Bent conrod was their first guess. But they were ok and they continued pulling out pieces until they got to the distribution system.

They stopped there for one day waiting for me to download some pages of the repair manual for the bike, they were in Spanish, but only looking at the pictures they figured out how to put the whole engine apart.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...6&l=92ff20e43e

Finally they found a broken tooth in the flywheel. Which is a good thing. It probably broke when I tried to start the bike with water in the engine and by breaking it prevented something worse.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...3&l=68aea71252

So once the failure was found, I had to decide between waiting for the part from Spain or Japan or just let them weld it. They suggested the welding solution and they seemed very confident on being able to do a good job.

I had a good feeling about them, since I saw them working all the time and to me it looked that they knew quite well what they where doing all the time. Also, I do believe that in these countries, people are much more resourceful that we in Europe or North America, where we just change the parts when things break.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...1&l=c9e4802b6b

The welding looked perfect and they put everything back together... and the bike sounds, feels and rides normal. So I guess it is problem solved.

The total cost of the reparation (4 days) was 276 euros. This would have costed 1700 euros in Spain. So I am quite happy.

However my original plan was to go to Magadan at the end of august but now I changed my mind and I am going to Japan through the Shakhalin island. Rescuing the bike from Magadan is way too expensive and I suspect that going to Magadan can be very boring and also if the weather is bad may be another mud madness with more water crossings and everything...

So I am expending the money I had planned to spend in bringing the bike Magadan - Vlad - South Corea - Vancouver in a Shakhalin - Japan - Vancouver instead.

Cheers!

[colebatch]

Thanks Teo, I will add the shop to the waypoints. Nice fix in a difficult spot