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While cleaning my bike, which was long overdue, i discovered that my rear engine mount nuts on my R100S were extremely loose.
Loose to the point that the foot peg mounts were loose and one was resting on the muffler.

Phew... glad i discovered it when i did. I can't even imagine the disaster if the mounting stud came out of one side.

I'm quite shocked that this happened on it's own.
I had done a thorough inspection about 6 months ago but haven't had the time lately to do much maintenance or cleaning. I've just jumped on and rode.

Lesson learned - Clean and inspect your bike more often then you think.

I know that you will keep an eye on those mounts. I think that it isn't common for them to come loose. We very seldom found loose motor mount nuts on any of the series way back to WWII.

Is it possible that you made them finger tight and forgot to finish the job? Just asking.

Until now, I've never had it happen in my 13 years of riding 70's BMWs.
I think i may have fussed with those nuts about 3 or 4 years ago when either playing with the center stand or swapping oil pans.
Since then, I had the bike tuned by a 'pro' about once a year. The last time being sometime last summer. I'd do basic maintenance stuff myself.
I'm baffled on this one. But glad i caught it.

jjwithers wrote: I had the bike tuned by a 'pro' about once a year.

Gosh - I wonder if re-torquing these fasteners is part of his maintenance?

At least doing the work myself, I know who to go to for answers when things go wrong.

justoneoftheguys wrote:
At least doing the work myself, I know who to go to for answers when things go wrong.

Doesn't mean you'll have the answers, but you know who to ask.

justoneoftheguys wrote: Gosh - I wonder if re-torquing these fasteners is part of his maintenance?
(

I know... i can't help but think that it wasn't checked, or re-tightening them got overlooked...

Major Softie wrote:

justoneoftheguys wrote:
At least doing the work myself, I know who to go to for answers when things go wrong.

Doesn't mean you'll have the answers, but you know who to ask.

Man, ain't that the truth.... you are referring to us here at Boxerworks, aren't you Major ?!

Happened to me on my R65, but I had put on a brown stand a year before and possibly didn't re torque right. I found it putting the kickstand down and fixed it with onboard tools till I could get a proper wrench at home.

Duane Ausherman wrote: Is it possible that you made them finger tight and forgot to finish the job? Just asking.

In a similar vein, I had a main dealership fit new handbrake shoes to a BMW 7 series a couple of years ago. Ruth and I collected the car, and she drove it home with me following. After about a mile the car skidded to a halt, sitting low on one side at the rear. All wheel bolts on that side had come loose and the disconnected tyre and rim were tucked in tight under the wheel arch. The "BMW senior technician" had, apparently, been called away while refitting that wheel, and forgot that he hadn't torqued the bolts on his return... almost a very expensive lesson indeed

That near miss has now made me extra careful when doing any work on cars or bikes. I'm glad that JJ's discovery came whilst the bike was parked, and it's a timely reminder to us all that a half hour with an oily rag and a wrench can be a life saver.

This is a great example of why keeping on top of maintenance and over-all condition is important to one's safety. Things can change sometimes very quickly. I had an experience, not on a BMW, but on my Concours that illustrates this. My son-in law and I were both in my garage talking about stuff when we heard a loud snap and something dropped in the area near our feet. It was a portion of a large bolt with a nut attached. Traced it back to one of the main bolts holding ther engine in the frame. the lousey thing snapped just sitting there. It would have near impossible to know of this occurance if it didn't happened when we were in the area. Checking the bolts for tightness with a wrench is only way you would have found it.