No that is not normal. I don't know how it's vented but you should have the system checked out by your dealer of choice.

 

My 19 was doing the same thing. I removed the charcoal canister and routed the right side fuel vent into the left side vent hose, bypassing the vent valve. You will want to remove the tiny ball inside the red vent attachment. You will never have to deal with the venting problem again.

 

BerndV thanks for your response. I poked around but couldn't find the canister; where is it located? Do all K 1600's have one, or just bikes spec'd for CA & other states with stricter emissions laws? What I did find was 2 vent tubes terminating under the bike behind the sump, ahead of the center stand. I shot compressed air up them, with the fuel cap open. I heard the air go into the tank, near the top, from one hose. The air sent thru the second hose also ended up in the tank, but it sounded like it went thru somewhere else first- I could smell gasoline afterwards.
Reading up on this, is sounds like an issue that others have dealt with. My fuel gauge is messed up too; it sounds like the problems are related. I stopped in at the new Milwaukee dealership & they gave me an appointment 2 months from now to check it out! Bike was purchased 13 months ago from a now out of business dealer, but this should be under warranty.

 

Just like on the LT, a "canisterectomy"! These were usually necessary because of overfilling the LT's fuel tank. I'm not sure what performing this procedure would do in the event of a warranty issue, fuel related or otherwise.

 

All K1600's in the US have the canister. It is zip-tied to the bottom of the intake manifold. The hose coming off the left side of the fuel cap vents any fuel that spills over the edge of the filler and drains behind the engine. The right hose is the one that vents the tank. It connects to the top of the charcoal canister and another hose connects from the canister to the vent valve and then into the intake manifold. There is a third hose that runs from the bottom of the charcoal canister, alongside the left side of the engine, and finally vents to the rear of the engine. In order to get rid of all this crap, you will need to pull the gas tank and intake manifold. It is a bit of a pain but will never have to be done again.

 

Thanks for the info & advise! I've been reading up/viewing vids on this, & it seems like a Beemer issue. This is my 1st Deutsche motorrad and the 1st bike with a canister. I will wait until the dealer looks at this, as I don't want to void the warrantee, but will get rid of the system ASAP.

 

Canister is to absorb vapors from fuel tank. EPA compliance, and others similar around the globe. These can be ruined by "topping off" fuel tanks at the pump. When pump clicks off, we're suppose to stop fueling, regardless of the dollar or gallon amount shown. Some folks don't particularly like that. On my Tundra, it has been shot for years. It was an expensive repair that wasn't required as that item is not inspected in my state.

 

FOLLOW UP:
Brought the "Bismarck" in to the dealership on November 3rd, Got it back on December 4th. I purposely waited until November to get the bike in so as to extend my riding season, because I knew that once it got into the dealers hands it was gonna be a while! What they ended up doing was replacing the "General Module", a black box that lives behind the right-side fairing. The Service Mgr. (nice guy) said that his Tech went round & round with the Mother Ship about the fix. BMW wanted to replace the fuel pump, but the tech insisted that it tested out "good". Tech found a grounding issue with the module & finally convinced BMW. This box has about 10 pins that plug into the harness. God only knows what this module does! The venting & gauge problem started in June on a road trip, immediately after riding thru an all-day rainstorm. I'm wondering if that caused the problem. It was 35° out when I picked the bike back up from the dealer, so I only managed a 32 mile test ride. No issues with the gauge or a "whoosh" when opening the fuel fill cap. I'll probably have to wait until warmer weather, or when the salt washes off the roads to get more miles in & make sure the problem is truly resolved.

 

@kokbaba what you describe as "black box" is more than likely the ECU.

Duane

 

The Service Manager at the dealership called it the "General Module". Perhaps that is BMW's designated name for the ECU.