My F800GS rolled 70,000 miles yesterday, on the way home from work, and celebrated by illuminating the rear brake light permanently. Anybody seen this before? I'm more used to electrical stuff not coming on when intended, rather than never going off ... Also - how many miles are people getting out of a clutch? I am feeling like I should switch it out as preventative maintenance, rather than waiting for it to fail. BTW, the dealership said it needed replacing the last time they serviced the bike, precisely 34,000 miles ago ...! Cheers!
I've only had issues with the front brake light. The rear brake light is always on, unless turned off. So if you have a switch failure, it will be on. Likely the rear switch needs cleaning or replacing, but possibly the front. You're safe disconnecting the connector and shorting the two wires to test it, as that's all the switch does. Do a physical check of the rear tab on the switch to see if it's out of position. Not hard to troubleshoot that. As far as your clutch goes, is there any room left to adjust it? If you're bored you could remove it and measure the plates. Quick test for slippage: Top gear highway speed accelerate and while doing so, pull in the clutch to get the revs up (like 1/4 sec) and let it pop back out. If it jerks the bike and the rpms fall quick , it's fine. If it slowly re-engages and softly synchronizes rpm then it's slipping and will need changing real soon. Assuming it's adjusted correctly. Get a new one or good used for the wall regardless. It won't be too long now.
nice to know you have 70Kmiles on the clutch... was wondering how long they'd last.... got 31+ on mine hopping for the longevity fairy to stay around for a while.....
Thanks for the feedback on the brake ... I had no idea they were permanently on, so was suspecting a short elsewhere. However, a brief inspection turned up a cut wire at the brake switch, and it is all good again now!
Do you know anyone that has GS911? Have you checked the front and rear brake switches? BTW I have a 2009 F8GS with 65K miles. I replaced the cam chain myself using the master link cam chain method at 45K. I replaced the clutch myself at 60K miles. The clutch is easy to replace, pay attention to how the plates go in and remember to soak the fiber plates in clean engine oil before you install them.
I have 98,590 miles on my 09. Original Clutch. Still like new. Only issue with the bike ever is two stators. ( 45k and 92k ). Two sets of wheel bearings around that same mileage, and one set of head bearings at 75k. Had to replace the battery and Starter 200 miles ago. Other than that no issues. Rides and looks like new.
From memory when I rewired the front brake to use a different master cylinder for single disc....the switch is a normally closed. So a broken wire or bad connection somewhere in the circuit would cause the light to come on permanently.
Clutch replacement has little to do with mileage; it's all about how it was used (same w/brake pads). With long-distance highway riders they get little use, very long life. Off road, or local hard use, not so much.... And as Reaver noted, they slip first in the highest gear, under heavy load.