Q Do worn head bearings run in the family?
My 2013 BMW F650GS twin has just had its 18,000-mile service and it needed the head bearings replaced. My previous single-cylinder F650GS needed replacement bearings twice in under 30,000 miles. Is this a common problem on the F650GS family? I don’t want to buy a F700GS and have the same issue as the cost for bearing replacement is £200. John McCormick, St Helens
A Answered by Garry Evans, Balderston Motorcycles
We do seem to change F650GS bearings a little more often than the rest of the range and they can get notchy at 12,000 miles, so you’ve done quite well to get to 18,000. German engineering group Shaeffler have been supplying BMW with their FAG bearings since 1970, and S1000RRs don’t suffer, so I don’t think they are the culprits. When the F650GS Funduro arrived in 1993 with its dry sump engine and oil-in-the frame design, the factory used to blame the extra heat in the chassis tubes for making the grease dribble out of the headstock, but of course that’s no longer an issue. At the end of the day I think the faster wear is a reflection of the type of use the bike is put to. While you might think twice about bouncing up a kerb on your K1600GTL, F650 riders do that regularly, probably on the daily commute when they might crash into a few potholes too. Service inspection is at 6000-mile intervals, but if you get into the habit of doing it yourself more frequently and keep them adjusted up you should get more mileage. A head bearing check is done by raising the front wheel and letting the steering sweep from one side to the other while feeling for a tell-tale ‘notch’ in the action.