BMW F650 radiator leak

[XF650]

Mates F650 radiator seems to be leaking from the core.
No obvious damage from stones & fins look good.
He's looking to remove the radiator tomorrow
Has anyone had experience with what to watch for, likely causes etc?
Thanks

[CBobR]

What year?

I stole this passage from www.f650.com
"Michael McKeon from NZ notes: On a recent BMW New Zealand "adventure" ride it was pointed out to me that the small stones, typically used on gravel roads here, can become trapped behind the plastic radiator shrouds on the fuel injected 650 and over time rub through the radiator. This has apparently happened to some NZ 650's. I use my Dakar on gravel a lot and sure enough, at 16,000 km it had 4-5 stones sitting there. Something easily checked by removing the plastic radiator shrouds."
http://faq.f650.com/GSFAQs/RadiatorFAQGS.htm

The above happened to my '01, rubbed through at about 25,000km.

[merv]

Mike (Mr Bean to some of us) is a member of this site http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/member.php?u=6123 but the bugger mainly lurks and has only done one post. Perhaps you can arouse a response on this.

[XF650]

Thanks for the quick responces - have forwarded the link
It's an 2004 (injected) model

[rob8888]

Yeah, had it happen to mine a couple of weeks back 2001 F650GS Dakar. Seems like the front plastic shroud has actually been rubbing on part of the core. Easy to get out. Took it to a radiator repair place that put some crap on it and it lasted 5 mins. BMW want nearly $600 for new one.

Was wondering
1) if anyone knows of a wrecker that might have this bike?

and
2) as these don't run that hot, whether I could cut out that core 'rung' and seal it somehow (think it's aluminium, not brass otherwise I'd have the solder out).

Cheers, Rob

[PLUG]

had similair problem ... pin hole in 1 tube ... they are an alloy radiator, got a radiator repair shop to pull the tanks & block that tube off, reassembled & test ... all sweet ... that was 50+K ago ... no cooling issues have presented themselves even though it's 1 tube down (of 13 tubes in total if I remember correctly) in all sorts of riding conditions ... have made fly screen mesh pockets that fit into the plastic schrouds, this keeps most of the shit away & out of the core

[Pampera]

Mike (Mr Bean to some of us) is a member of this site http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/member.php?u=6123 but the bugger mainly lurks and has only done one post. Perhaps you can arouse a response on this.

Yeah well......my average here is better than ADVRider, started reading that the day it opened and have about 5 posts.
Sorry I cannot help much, my solution is to check for stones each time the oil is changed and remove them before they do too much damage!
Yesterday I signed up for what is I believe is last new Dakar coming to NZ or at least one in the last shipment. That is plan B for stopping the radiator wearing through! The black and white has served me well for 6 1/2 years but this seems like the last chance to update.
Michael

[merv]

Nice to hear from you on here Mike - there is life beyond lurking eh! I'm still only on about 13 posts on ADV but I've managed a few thou on here.

[timg]

had similair problem ...

Gawd... winter must be over.... Plug's come out of hibernation.
Welcome back mate.

[rob8888]

Yay! just repaired my BMW F650GS Dakar radiator. Easy....

-Took it out, put in vice (careful), used flathead screwdriver to lift back all the tabs holding the plastic end tanks on and removed them.
-Lift out the rubber seals.
-Dropped core down into aluminium workshop who blocked off the faulty cross tube with weld ($20).
-Was a bit worried about getting a good seal again on the rubber seals on reinstall so added a tiny amount of the appropriate silicone gasket before re-assembling. In the end I don't think I needed to worry as the seal was very tight. Simply add the rubber seal and end tanks again and peen over the metal tabs and use a punch to seat them well.
-Installed and and tested - perfect. Looks like a bought one.
-The time to dismantle and re-assemble the radiator was about 15 mins.
Thanks Plug for the idea.
Cheers
Rob