BMW R1100RT left "footrest" side plate FAILED! ( How many types???)

[SWB]

The left footrest side plate failed on my 2001 BMW R1100RT. Has any one else experienced a similar failure. Look at the cracks around the shift lever mount, just to the rear (or right) of the peg. It's cracked completely around.

 

 

 

I found one on Beemerboneyard that's supposed to be for an R1100RT, but it doesn't appear to have the bolt hole for the shift lever mount (again, look just to right of the riders peg mount). Are there differences between earlier and later R1100RT side plates? Can my bike use the this style plate? I also noted that the center-top mounting tab us shaped differently (i.e. rounded, versus square). Since this is a 2001, is it possible that this is a 2002 R1150 plate (i.e. mid-year manufacturing change)??

 

 

Here's a snapshot of the R1100RT side plate from the A&S BMW parts catalog (the R1150RT is identical). Again, note the bolt hole for the shift lever at the center, bottom of the plate, just behind the rider's (front) peg. It's not in the part from Beemerboneyard.

 

[Dan Gleebitz]

I have a crack on the plate the other side .. caused by dropping the bike at 2 mph onto the side box ... not too worried as the rear foot peg is still supported by sub frame

[SWB]

I have a crack on the plate the other side .. caused by dropping the bike at 2 mph onto the side box ... not too worried as the rear foot peg is still supported by sub frame

 

That's what I find puzzling. This bike has never, to my knowledge, been down on the left side (don't ask about the right ). Even if it did go over, the RTP crash bars would prevent contact with the peg or shifter. I can't imagine how this damage could have happened from metal stress fatigue alone.

[JohnBeaven]

Never had such a problem with my '98 R11RT.

Also, mine had the missing hole - this is used to adjust the height of the gear lever. Did later bikes miss out on this adjustment?

[Ken H.]

They sent you a R1150RT plate.

[Bill Neander]

Just looked at my 97-I have the bolt hole-with a bolt head -for adjusting the shift lever height I think.

[SWB]

They sent you a R1150RT plate.

 

Are you saying the Beemerboneyard picture is an R1150RT plate, or the one that's damaged?

 

As I wrote previously, I looked at both images from the R1150 and R1100 A&S BMW on-line parts catalog, and they both appear to be identical to mine. I saw a part similar to the boneyard pix on Ebay. (I bid low, because I wasn't certain it would fit my bike, and didn't win it. About five bids happened within 30 seconds of auction close). After additional examination, I noticed that the triangular patterned mountbolts in the center are different too. My plate has three holes in the plate, and has matching mount points behind the plate. The other version has two mount points in the plate, and the third is on the tab above. Looking at the relative position on my bike, the only mount point for that top tab available would be the subframe bolt. I'm wondering if the boneyard plate isn't an early version, and that perhaps it was changed because that top tab was failing frequently.

 

Anyway, I've yet to hear of anyone with a bike that has a side plate that looks like the boneyard configuration. It looks like most R1100 & R1150 RT's have my style of plate, i.e. with the adjustable shift lever pivot point, the triangular bolt pattern in the plate, and the square tab (without mount bolt hole) at center top.

 

In any case, the left side plates from the boneyard, ebay, and another guy parting his RT out have all been sold. This must be a more frequent failure point that I expected. The fact that the replacement part is about $300.00 ($230 at Chicago BMW), is probably an issue too.

 

I may JB Weld mine together until I can find a used replacement. Shift levers and rider pegs aren't all that important anyhow.

[DavidEBSmith]

As a general comment, don't rely too much on the images from the BMW parts fiche. They're not all that precise, they don't always reflect changes in the parts, and somebody at BMW is particularly lazy when it comes to updating the images for new models. I've seen a lot of parts where they used the image for an 1100 series for a similar but different part on the 1150 series - apparently it wasn't worth paying the artist for a new drawing. Go by part number, not the images - if the part numbers are the same, it's the same part, if the part numbers are different, it's probably a different part (but not necessarily).