BMW Large Skidplate Install...

[Boulder Ed]

I just put the wunderlich version on my GSA three weeks ago. Looks like similar complexity to your version. Took about an hour or so, mainly trying to see what went where due to not the best instructions and lots of bolts to install the first time around. The nightmare will be uninstall and reinstall to change oil as I do that a lot on my GSA. Teh littel stock BMS skidplate was easy to pull on/off. Not so these larger ones.

Originally Posted by GSQuester

I just ordered one of these for my GSA and am thinking to install it myself rather than pay my dealer to do it @$100/hour (or whatever their shop rate is). Can the OP, or anyone else here that's done this install give me an estimate of how long it took to do so I know what I'm in for? Thanks in advance!

[rritterson]

Originally Posted by Tracknod

Yeah, they were included as well as all new hardware. From what I have come to learn, BMW has changed the part number for the skidplate a couple of times in the last year. If you didn't have grommets, how did you mount the plate. On my plate, the front holes are big enough to put a nickle through if they aren't there.

I just bought one of these.

I got the grommets and "shouldered bushings" in my kit, but apparently got an outdated set of instructions. In mine, it lists 4x M6x20 bolts, where I actually have 2xM6x20 and 2xM6x25. It also doesn't list the grommets or sleeves in the parts list or instructions.

I figured out where the grommets had to go, and then that the M6x25 bolts had to be for mounting the front. But I don't have a picture of how the sleeves are supposed to be installed. I see from your picture that the sleeves were inserted from the inner face of the bash plate, pointing downward. Doing it this way is counterintuitive to me. (as bolt head will snug against bare rubber on bottom side) Can you verify this is how your instructions said to do things?

[Oldbear]

Your intuition is correct, the shouldered bushings should be inserted from below (pointing upwards).

And yes, M6x25 front and M6x20 rear.

[GSQuester]

Okay, so the install overview which the OP posted at the start of this thread is great, except there's a gotcha which I discovered tonight when I finally got around to trying to do the install on my 2010 GSA... Following the instructions that came with the large plate, step 1 is of course to remove the original small plate. No problem there. But when I went to the next step, to remove the "buffers" which are hexagonal rubber blocks with bolts protruding from them used to secure the small plate to the engine case, I hit a wall.

Trying to unscrew these rubber buffers from the engine case seems impossible without tearing them in half. First of all, I don't own a socket large enough for them so I tried my crescent wrench, but the rubber just deformed and the wrench slipped off. Using pliers as a last resort I could grab the block and twist this way and that but it would not unscrew. I'm not even sure if it's threaded normally or reverse, so for all I know I could be twisting the wrong way. If I keep twisting this buffer it seems like it will just rip off leaving a threaded bolt with no head (or rather a chewed up bit of rubber in place of a head) in my engine block.

Can anyone here *please* explain how to get these buffers off so I can proceed with the rest of the installation?

Pics below (assuming I link them correctly) are the instruction diagram showing the buffers (9) I'm talking about with no indication which direction to turn them, then a pic of the offending item itself, and another pic of me unsuccessfully trying to unscrew it.

[aGremlin]

GSQuester, I was going to update this thread (thank you OP btw).

Believe me, they are indeed threaded. The bottom section is all rubber, but the top little section right underneath the engine is a metal plate with the rubber glued or something to it. Take a spanner or like, right up under the engine and undo.

FYI, pulling will not work. I found out the hard way saying fuck it and cut the rubber off, then almost panicked when I couldn't figure out how to get it out...

[rritterson]

Originally Posted by GSQuester

Can anyone here *please* explain how to get these buffers off so I can proceed with the rest of the installation?
]

They are normal thread, so unscrew them like you would any other bolt. I did my install yesterday, and they weren't very tight at all--I just removed them by hand. Since yours are stuck, I suspect a little bit of corrosion or oxidation- you may want to try a solvent to loosen them.
They are basically a bolt with a hex plate on top, then rubber of the same diameter as the plate, then another hex plate and bolt. You can't loosen it with just the rubber because it deforms, but you should be able to turn it via the plate. Otherwise, go to the store and buy a deep socket of the appropriate size and get them out that way. (Or borrow one. I wonder if the local BMW dealer would oblige and help you get them out in the 20 seconds it would take with their tools)

With respect to the rest of the install, the damn rear bracket is a POS nightmare. I was able to get the left side clamp and bolt on by hand after much finagling, but couldn't get it tight. The right one was just impossible. I tried using a tie down to compress the suspension to no avail. What ended up helping is putting the bike on the side stand, then lowering the center stand and holding it agains the ground with my foot. From there, a helper pressed the bolt through and I compressed the clamp and put the nut on. From there, we were able to get a crescent wrench and torx screwdriver on the fastener--I held the wrench and he drove the bolt. On the left side, getting a tool on the bolt is tough. I ended up using a torx socket with a 2-3 inch extension, mounting it to the bolt by hand, then attaching the rachet head driver after the bit was in place. From there, my helper was able to get a spanner on the nut, and I held the socket in place while he turned the nut.

If I had to do it by myself, I don't think it would have been possible. Those deformed nuts require 20ft*lbs or so of torque just to tighten, and I couldn't hold tools in place and drive that much torque alone. No doubt the next major revision of the bike will have predrilled threads for that bracket on the frame.

Finally, my instructions said to mount the rear most bracket to the skid plate before mounting it under the motor. If done that way, getting it through the center stand (which you'll probably have deployed) would have been comedic. Instead, mount the plate to the front and center brackets, then attach the rear bracket in place. Plenty of room to get the tools in without trouble.

[Old Nuke]

What's with the weird nuts and bolts that hold the plate to the rear bracket? They have some indentations on the nuts and then seize when installed on the bolts. My bolts then sheared when tightening. Needless to say I replaced them with metric nuts, bolts and wave washers from my personal supply.

[GSQuester]

Originally Posted by rritterson

They are normal thread, so unscrew them like you would any other bolt. I did my install yesterday, and they weren't very tight at all--I just removed them by hand. Since yours are stuck, I suspect a little bit of corrosion or oxidation- you may want to try a solvent to loosen them.
They are basically a bolt with a hex plate on top, then rubber of the same diameter as the plate, then another hex plate and bolt. You can't loosen it with just the rubber because it deforms, but you should be able to turn it via the plate. Otherwise, go to the store and buy a deep socket of the appropriate size and get them out that way.

Thanks for the quick replies. I thought there must be a metal part above the rubber section closest to the case and tried gripping it there with my pliers. From my blurry phone pic you probably can't tell but the teeth on my pliers chewed into the rubber at the top of the buffer when I tried gripping it there, but I couldn't feel any metal part beneath the rubber at that spot. The rubber seems to almost overlap the boss on the engine case as if the rubber were overmolded onto the boss. So there's no obvious crack/separation line between the buffer and the engine case that I could see where I could spray in some solvent. But I suppose I'll have to give it a try - just saturate the whole area.

Oh well, at least I know which direction to turn the thing. Can't wait to get to the rear bracket install step - sounds like more fun! So much for this being an hour install...

[rritterson]

Originally Posted by GSQuester

Thanks for the quick replies. I thought there must be a metal part above the rubber section closest to the case and tried gripping it there with my pliers. From my blurry phone pic you probably can't tell but the teeth on my pliers chewed into the rubber at the top of the buffer when I tried gripping it there, but I couldn't feel any metal part beneath the rubber at that spot.

I can assure you there is metal on both ends, about 1mm thick and spanning the entire diameter. Based on your pic, you couldn't get the pliers up close enough to the motor and so were not on the metal. A crescent wrench snugged right up to the motor would probably be good enough to catch the metal up there. I also double checked and it is regular thread. If you go at it with the pliers, worst case scenario the rubber rips off like it's designed to do and you'll be left with the large hex head on the bolt to work with.

Originally Posted by Old Nuke

What's with the weird nuts and bolts that hold the plate to the rear bracket? They have some indentations on the nuts and then seize when installed on the bolts. My bolts then sheared when tightening. Needless to say I replaced them with metric nuts, bolts and wave washers from my personal supply.

Did you make sure to thread the nut with the indentations facing away from the head of the bolt so that you can get the nuts started? They are difficult to tighten, but my bolts held up just fine. I wonder if, due to the extra torque required to get them tight, you cross threaded without realizing and then sheared the bolts.

Those strange nuts make sense for the clamps holding the rear bracket to bike frame, as I bet they are very vibration resistant. Doesn't make nearly as much sense holding bracket to skid plate, as the plate has to be removed for oil changes.

[El Gato]

Originally Posted by rritterson

With respect to the rest of the install, the damn rear bracket is a POS nightmare.

Damn. I'm usually a DIY-sort of guy, but your write-up is making me reconsider whether I want to install this myself or have the dealer take care of the swearing and bleeding knuckles.

[Okie Preacher]

Originally Posted by El Gato

Damn. I'm usually a DIY-sort of guy, but your write-up is making me reconsider whether I want to install this myself or have the dealer take care of the swearing and bleeding knuckles.

It isn't that bad. It is easier than changing the high beam bulb!

Take it slow, don't tighten anything until it all comes together and you're done. Took me 30 minutes and I have hands like hams.

[GSQuester]

Originally Posted by rritterson

I can assure you there is metal on both ends, about 1mm thick and spanning the entire diameter. Based on your pic, you couldn't get the pliers up close enough to the motor and so were not on the metal. A crescent wrench snugged right up to the motor would probably be good enough to catch the metal up there. I also double checked and it is regular thread. If you go at it with the pliers, worst case scenario the rubber rips off like it's designed to do and you'll be left with the large hex head on the bolt to work with.

Got them off with a little help from some liquid wrench. Thanks for the support!

Hopefully the rest goes a bit more smoothly. I'm not that mechanically inept... honest!

[rritterson]

Originally Posted by El Gato

Damn. I'm usually a DIY-sort of guy, but your write-up is making me reconsider whether I want to install this myself or have the dealer take care of the swearing and bleeding knuckles.

It's not complicated, so no worries about doing something wrong and screwing anything up. It's just difficult to do with only two hands, as one has to hold the bolt, one the nut, and one the clamp closed. Something like this would have made the install very easy: http://www.amazon.com/SEPTLS577286LN.../dp/B001HWA9CY. A second pair of hands also helps.

It's only obnoxious because 95% of the install is pure butter and easy, the last 5% tricky.

If I were to do it again, I might ditch the deformed nuts that came in the kit and replaced them with standard nuts and locktite. Then you only have to use wrench+driver for half a turn instead of 5 whole turns.

[ATCguy]

Originally Posted by El Gato

Damn. I'm usually a DIY-sort of guy, but your write-up is making me reconsider whether I want to install this myself or have the dealer take care of the swearing and bleeding knuckles.

I had no trouble at all installing mine, and I worked alone. That said, it does help if you have a nice table-lift in your garage. Makes things much easier when you're not flat on your back, and rolling around on the ground.

[marty hill]

With the right tools it's not hard to do. Using vice grips or your hands, yeah it would be harder.