I got screwed!

Dean Theriot

New member
My bike is at a dealership in pensacolo for probly 2 or 3 months now. Last I heard they were gonna pull the engine. I'm not in a big hurry now. Just got slammed by hurricane ida and my house needs major repairs first. Q
 

Greg goes wild

Active member
Did it have the hydraulic chain tensioner or the 2nd Generation mechanical tensioner? It should have been making a noise ahead of time as a warning. Bmw won’t do anything if you had the 2nd gen tensioner. At least they didn’t for me. I hope you have better luck.
What kind of noise are you talking about? Did you start to hear a clicking noise when you first took off? Then after
you throttled down they clicking noise went away. I have a 2016 model that i bought from someone else in may
of this yr. For the last couple of wks i would hear a clicking sound coming from the right side. when i take off
from a start it will go away after about 4 minutes or so. I only have 5 k on the bike right now. I noticed that
sometimes there is no noise at all. As of right now i do not know which tensioner i have. I am going to
call the Honda deader in the afternoon to see IF there are any more recalls done.
 

Greg goes wild

Active member
Mine is a 2016 (new design) but the tensioner started making noise at around 2,500 miles irregardless and BMW replaced it under warranty in 2018.
Was it a clicking sound coming from the right side? Cuz i have a 2016 new design making that CLICKING
sound coming from the right side. Others here on the forum said it was the tensioner or the chain needs
to be adjusted.
 

Ceesie76

Active member
It was a loud rattle shortly after every cold start that would last a minute or two until the engine warmed up a bit. Unnerving to listen to, definitely not normal. After bmw fixed it it hasn't returned.
 

Africaprime

New member
I had my chain tensioner replace in June with hydraulic chain tensioner total cost $3992.92 BMW paid $2,500 toward labor. Goodwill they put on my receipt. 2016 c640 GT bought it with 5800 miles. Took them four months to think about it. March 16, 2021 to July 7, 2021. On September 3 of this Sunoco had water in their main gas tank so guess what water my tank. That's another $707.42 to get that fix another 2 week's to repair plus I hurt my brand new battery. 😞 I am seriously going to throw this scooter in a garbage can if another issue pop's up. Going to get me a skateboard. Lol
 

Ceesie76

Active member
Sorry that all happened to you + your C650. Fingers crossed 'that was it' for a good while. Mine (touch wood) has not given me trouble since I fixed a small but annoying (and dangerous) electrical issue: the plus terminal was not attached properly to the battery).
 

Nokey1

New member
Ok so I purchased a 2016 c650 sport. Immaculate in appearance with 10400 miles about a month and a half ago. What do you know.Timing chain jumps and valves and pistons and cylinder casing they telling me needs to be replace at a cost of 4500 dollars. I just spent about 7400 with tax for the bike and added a 400 slip on. I asked the dealer to talk to BMW to see if they can help in any way. This is ridiculous. I'm pissed to say the least.
I’ve got a2016 with low mileage as well
The chain tensioner exploded after rattling on
My way to train station..
Luckily just in warranty
Think it’s a known problem as dealer said it cost Bmw 22,000 aud with a new long motor as whatever they tried they couldn’t fix it prior ..
 

Skutorr

Active member
...and all this is why BMW no longer imports, makes or sells the C-Series Scooter anywhere on earth. They decided to just AXE the poor design permanently, rather than spend any more $ on trying to make it EURO-5 compliant. (Everyone else did though...)They even axed the C-Evolution electric scooter they had for a while.
I really had liked the 650 Sport style redesign, but the mechanical underpinnings were still fatally flawed.

If you still want a maxi twin, since the Tmax isn't sold here anymore, new plan! Sell your C-600/650's for whatever you can get and buy the still available Kymco AK550. Solid, reliable and NOT built in China to the lowest possible price point. (And again, the BMW's drivetrain was NOT a Kymco design, they just oversaw the Lonchin factory FOR BMW, as they know scooters and are Chinese (Taiwanese) themselves.)

It was worth a try at the beginning! A new Maxi from BMW? My brother and I were both onboard and excited, with him already riding his Big Burgman 650 and me on my Majesty 400. Then the problems and recalls hit. And kept coming for the entire product life. It could have and SHOULD have been a different story, but unfortunately it was what it was. The good news is that both KYMCO and SYM looked at it all and said "REALLY? Come on BMW, it's not Rocket Science " and developed their own Maxis which are really good.

And through it all, Yamaha and the Tmax just kept OWNING the market, and it even has cruise control. Maybe HONDA will change things with the Forza 750? Who can say.
 

Delray

Well-known member
"Others here on the forum said it was the tensioner or the chain needs to be adjusted."

Worth noting if someone doesn't know: we are supposed to change the chain rail every 15,000 miles or if the chain has more than 1/2 to 3/4" of slack (slack can be checked by removing the little black cover with BMW stamped on it on the chain case; no, oil won't come out). Here are the part numbers for the four rails. It's an easy DIY job (yes, you will have to drain the oil and replace with 500 ml of 75W90).

CHAIN RAIL #1: 33 35 8 533 983 $26.29 (OEM on the bike. When you replace #1 with #2, keep #1 -- it goes back on when a new chain is installed)
CHAIN RAIL #2: 33 35 8 533 984 $26.29 (take out #1 and replace with #2 at 15,000 miles or 24,000 km)
CHAIN RAIL #3: 33 35 8 533 985 $26.29 (take out #2 and replace with #3 at 30,000 miles or 48,000 km)
CHAIN RAIL #4: 33 35 8 543 854 $26.29 (take out #3 and replace with #4 at 45,000 miles or 72,000 km)

I test-rode the Kymco AK550 a few weeks ago. Smart bike but left me flat. It felt like going out with a girl who is perfect on paper except you're not attracted to her. For those who know grocery stores, it's shopping at Publix (cold, corporate, every store is the same) after you've been to Wegmans (google Wegmans, click "Images" and you get a HINT of how spectacular this grocery chain is).

I love the GT, every minute and every mile. Never had a problem and I've owned three. But to be fair, if I had heard the clickety-clack on one of those bikes and it killed my engine and cost me a bundle, I might be riding a passionless (reliable) AK550.
 
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Greg goes wild

Active member
"Others here on the forum said it was the tensioner or the chain needs to be adjusted."

Worth noting if someone doesn't know: we are supposed to change chain rails every 15,000 miles or if the chain has more than 1/2 to 3/4" of slack (slack can be checked by removing the little black cover on the chain case with BMW stamped on it; no, oil won't come out). Here are the part numbers for the four rails. It's an easy DIY job (yes, you will have to drain the oil and replace with 500 ml of 75W90).

CHAIN RAIL #1: 33 35 8 533 983 $26.29
CHAIN RAIL #2: 33 35 8 533 984 $26.29
CHAIN RAIL #3: 33 35 8 533 985 $26.29
CHAIN RAIL #4: 33 35 8 543 854 $26.29

I test-rode the Kymco AK550 a few weeks ago. Smart bike but left me flat. It felt like going out with a girl who is perfect on paper except ... you're not attracted to her. For those who know grocery stores, it's shopping at Publix (cold, corporate, every store is the same) after you've been to Wegmans.

I love the GT, every minute and every mile.

(Although it did elicit a few choice curse words yesterday in removing and reassembling the stupid f#8king plastic for a simple oil + filter change.)
Good i have more info now on when to change the chain rail and part no's. To make it easier instead of changing
the rails at 15k how come you don't do it at the 12 k service? You would buy the chain rails from the dealer
correct? OR online? i will save the info you stated.
 
Ok so I purchased a 2016 c650 sport. Immaculate in appearance with 10400 miles about a month and a half ago. What do you know.Timing chain jumps and valves and pistons and cylinder casing they telling me needs to be replace at a cost of 4500 dollars. I just spent about 7400 with tax for the bike and added a 400 slip on. I asked the dealer to talk to BMW to see if they can help in any way. This is ridiculous. I'm pissed to say the least.
My chain just jumped 2 weeks ago. When I opened up to get to the motor, I found that the motor has the old mechanical cam chain tensioner. This should not be. The BMW catalog shows a hydraulic cam chain tensioner.
 

Dean Theriot

New member
Ok . So I received great news from bmw. They will pay 100 percent of parts and 90 percent of labor to get my bike fixed. That was the best news I could have gotten. Hopefully I will have my sport back in a couple weeks!
Thanks max at adventure motor sports pensacola and bmw!
 

Delray

Well-known member
Fantastic news! That had to feel good. To BMW's credit, I've seen this kind of good news repeatedly with the company stepping up.
 

Greg goes wild

Active member
Ok . So I received great news from bmw. They will pay 100 percent of parts and 90 percent of labor to get my bike fixed. That was the best news I could have gotten. Hopefully I will have my sport back in a couple weeks!
Thanks max at adventure motor sports pensacola and bmw!
GOOD to hear the good news people have to fight for what is right.
 

moodleman

Member
"Others here on the forum said it was the tensioner or the chain needs to be adjusted."

Worth noting if someone doesn't know: we are supposed to change chain rails every 15,000 miles or if the chain has more than 1/2 to 3/4" of slack (slack can be checked by removing the little black cover with BMW stamped on it on the chain case; no, oil won't come out). Here are the part numbers for the four rails. It's an easy DIY job (yes, you will have to drain the oil and replace with 500 ml of 75W90).

CHAIN RAIL #1: 33 35 8 533 983 $26.29
CHAIN RAIL #2: 33 35 8 533 984 $26.29
CHAIN RAIL #3: 33 35 8 533 985 $26.29
CHAIN RAIL #4: 33 35 8 543 854 $26.29

I test-rode the Kymco AK550 a few weeks ago. Smart bike but left me flat. It felt like going out with a girl who is perfect on paper except you're not attracted to her. For those who know grocery stores, it's shopping at Publix (cold, corporate, every store is the same) after you've been to Wegmans (google Wegmans, click "Images" and you get a HINT of how spectacular this grocery chain is).

I love the GT, every minute and every mile. Never had a problem and I've owned three. But to be fair, if I had heard the clickety-clack on one of those bikes and it killed my engine and cost me a bundle, I might be riding a passionless (reliable) AK550.
Just a small query re the chain tensioning rails, Delray. My C650 only has about 12,000 Km on the clock, so chain tension should not be a problem until the 20,000 service. But what's the deal - I presume you would expect to change chain rail #1 first - probably at 20,000; then chain rail #2 at 40,000 and so on. Or do you change them all at the same time?
 

Delray

Well-known member
"I presume you would expect to change chain rail #1 first - probably at 20,000; then chain rail #2 at 40,000 and so on. Or do you change them all at the same time?"

My apologies if I was unclear. I said, "we are supposed to change chain rails every 15,000 miles ...". That's plural, and one could infer that there is more than one chain rail. There is only one, replaced in the same position by the next one. At 15,000 miles/24,000 km you take out #1 and replace it with #2. At 30,000 miles/48,000 km #2 comes out and #3 goes in. Each chain rail is bulkier to hold tension as the chain expands during the course of its life. I will go back to my original post and edit to make this clear. At 12,000 km, you're halfway to swapping out your chain rail (singular).
 
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