Front wheel

[gordiet]

I have a 1200RT and here is my story. When the bike had 12000 miles both front roters were replaced under warrenty because they were out of round. Well, now the bike 14000+ miles and they are whaco again. BMW says they only warrenty wheels for the 1st 1000 miles. It's vert clear that the wheel is not true but BMW says tough. It is not a dealer issue. They have tried but didn't get very far. I think this is total BS! It looks like I'm stuck. Anyone have any ideas? I guess it's time to buy another brand. Im 67 years and have been riding for 50 years and don't have time for this shit. Thanks for listing. GT

[ShovelStrokeEd]

I'm not real clear on this. You said rotors which are part of the brakes, not the wheel and are wear items that are often subject to abuse by the riders. So, dealer replaced a set of warped rotors.

 

Now you say wheels are bent? Good luck with that one. You can bend a wheel at any time, all it takes is a pot hole or curb. If your rotors are running out, how do you know it and how did you discover it? Rotors and brakes need to be broken in after replacement just like an engine. They really need to be treated fairly gently in the beginning till the bed in. Too much hard braking early in their life can create hot spots and warp them.

[smiller]

I think he means that the rotor mounting surface on the wheel isn't perfectly flat, which can be the culprit when rotors warp repeatedly. If this is true then it's clearly a manufacturing defect and BMW should fix it under warranty. If that's not what was meant then... nevermind...

[ahenka]

I also had wheels that were not true. They replaced the wheels and rotors under waranty and now all works like new. The bike had about 20k and was a little over a year old when the work was done. Talk to your dealer, they should stand behind this.

[CoarsegoldKid]

I had a Kawasaki Concours wheel that was porous. It slowly leaked air and I was always putting air in. I never figured it was a porous wheel figuring it was just the tires or the bead. SO I finaly got tired of the whole thing and asked the dealer to check the wheel before installing a new tire. SUre enough they saw the bubbles coming right out of the solid material. The bike was out of warranty. Kawasaki replaced the wheel at no charge to me. Now that's backing material and workmanship.

[gordiet]

That is exactly what is wrong! Also I know how to break in new pads. I have 7 bikes in my shop and none of them have had this problem. My Valkyrie has 48000 miles and is still very smooth. The same for my VROD and all my CB Honda's, even my CBX. This RT chatters so hard under breaking you can,t read can't see see the Tach. GT

[drzep]

Now you say wheels are bent? Good luck with that one. You can bend a wheel at any time, all it takes is a pot hole or curb. If your rotors are running out, how do you know it and how did you discover it? Rotors and brakes need to be broken in after replacement just like an engine. They really need to be treated fairly gently in the beginning till the bed in. Too much hard braking early in their life can create hot spots and warp them.

 

Ed: I don't think this is what is getting at here. As Mike stated, the rotors are warping prematurely and its most likely because the mounting points for the disks are out of tolerance. This was a problem on many 2005 hexhead alloy rims, probably because of a bad batch of rims. Proper bedding in has no influence on the process. I'm only saying this because I had the same problem - rotors would warp to an almost scary degree within 2000-3000 miles of having them replaced, irregardless of how I treated them. A rim from a newer batch (post-2006) solves the problem.

[gordiet]

THANK YOU!

[ShovelStrokeEd]

OK, now I understand and that is too bad. Shouldn't be too hard to measure the surface involved and prove that the wheel is defective. BMW should step up to the plate on that one. 1000 mile guarantee is bogus. Wear has nothing to do with it.

 

If BMW refuses to fix it, I would, before dumping the bike (I understand the wrath thing), seek the services of a good and clever machinist who owns a large, gap bed lathe. A skim cut could square things up with, worst case, some small shims behind the disk mounting points to make up for the material removed and retain alignment with the calipers. Shims shouldn't really be needed as this should involve no more than a few thousandths off the high spots.

[alexp]

Take it to another Dealer and see what they can do for you. Than get the BMW Rep involved. You shouldn't have to pay for this. Sometimes you will find out how much power this web site has... I went through in 04 and I can assure you BMW is monitoring...

[BobsST]

I had new rotors at 6K and new rotors plus a front wheel at 12K all under warranty. I have a copy of the service bulletin - PM me your email if you want it.

[gordiet]

THANKS EVERYONE FOR RESPONDING. I JUST TALKED TO THE DEALER AGAIN THIS MORNING AND TOLD THEM ABOUT THE INFO I HAVE BEEN ABLE GET FROM THIS SITE. THEY ASKED(Scottsdale BMW) ME TO GET THE NAMES OF DEALERS THAT HAVE REPAIRED OR REPLACED WHEELS WITH THIS PROBLEM. SAID IT WOULD HELP ALOT.THEY ARE REALLY GOOD PEOPLE. SO IF ANYONE CAN TELL ME THE NAME OF DEALERS WHO DID THIS REPAIR UNDER WARRENTY IT WOULD ALOT. THANKS---

GT

[gordiet]

My email address is gomato@aol.com

Thanks GT

[gordiet]

My email address is gomato@aol.com

 

Thanks GT

[keithb]

All I can say is, ain't the power of this website great?

[BobsST]

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