Front Fender Damage

[Djonmoss49]

My 03 RT front fender started to contact the under side of the front cowl at 34K miles. BMW repalced the shock and FFender under warranty st 38K miles, but could/would not tell me why. As the front travel listed in the owners manual is about 4.8" and there is about 5.3" of room between these two parts, in theory they should NEVER meet.

 

At 52K miles the front fender is once again being damaged by the under side of the cowling. I contacted my local dealership, explained to the Service Mgr that the same thing was once again happening. He contacted the BMW NA service rep who blamed the problem on an overloaded bike.(I weigh 160 lbs and ride one up) or a bad shock setup.(Perhaps he does not know that there is no Ft shock adjustment)

 

So, my question is, have any of you ran into this problem? It really bothers me when a manufacturer plays stupid, but just maybe NO ONE has ever had this happen. I am looking for information since I will be confronting this BMW service rep in the very near future.

 

dave moss

[Ken H.]

So, my question is, have any of you ran into this problem?... just maybe NO ONE has ever had this happen

Actually almost everyone with a R1150RT has had it happen. Many may not know it, but if they catch the sun just right, the tell-tell H pattern on the front fender is there.

 

Really this is a byproduct of poor factory suspension components. Easily the weakest link on the RT. The dealer can not fix it by replacing factory parts with more factory parts. The only real answer is an upgrade to one of the several good after-market suspensions out there.

 

Probably not the answer you want to hear, but the reality of the situation never-the-less.

[tjsven]

Ken did a good job summing it up...My fender has been like that from almost day 2. Just put some wax on it from time to time and buff it out a bit.