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'05 - R1200RT Front Rotors - Did I mess up?

Spinakr

New member
Took my front wheel off to replace the tire.
New tire on & aired up, but I removed both rotors to do the job.

Did I screw up? :scratch
Do I now have to buy new bolts to put the rotors back on, or do I just
replace and torque per the BMW manual
Initial torque, 12 Nm - Final torque, 30 Nm.

If so, should I use blue Loctite?

I read somewhere on-line I may have to replace those "Micro-Ecapsulated" rotor bolts.

Rob In Vancouver...
Not BC... Washington... Not DC...
 
If it were me, I'd splurge for the new bolts after checking the rotor thickness to see if they should be replaced too (with new pads). Wow, that just went from bolts to a front brake job! Bolts would cost a lot less.
 
Some perspective on bolts or not
1) Bolts are fairly cheap
2) However, med loctite subs just fine for BMW micro-encapsulated
3) In general, because rotor bolts can be exposed to heat and corrosion, they should be replaced but many times I have reused rotor bolts on my track cars when they came out easily and looked OK- with no problems, never broke a rotor bolt, ever. And race car stuff sees way way higher temps (likely by 400 or 500 degrees at the rotor surface and probably 100 or 200 more at the bolt which is sunk into the hub which is a lot cooler than the rotor) so is far more abusive on parts than your bike.

I wouldn't stress out over it- just inspect after the first ride you do and forget it. Do it right next time...
 
You don't have to remove the 2 rotors to get the front tire off. Just remove the calipers & let them hang from the brake lines. It's a simple job. & the tool required to remove the front axle can be fabricated from 2 metric nuts welded together, for a lot less $$ than buying the tool.
 
Rotors removed because...

I needed to get the tire off the wheel so I could install a new Michelin PR3.
I wasn't sure id I'd muck up the rotors with the tire irons/spoons if I left them on, so I pulled them off. I've never changed a motorcycle tire before, in hindsight, it was a lot easier than I thought. Next time I'll just leave the rotors on.
 
:doh

Did the samething this summer. Put it on the lift, removed the wheel,
Removed the Rotors and took it to the shop to get some new rubber. Proud of myself too.
First words out of the guys mouth from my local BMW shop ( A-younger smug type kid) "why did you remove the rotors we can't balance it now". More seasoned dude walks by
"You'll be fine we can do it no problem". Hands it back to the kid and off he goes.
4000 miles ago and no problems. Don't sweat it. Reused the old bolts too!
So it's all good.
 
Took my front wheel off to replace the tire.
New tire on & aired up, but I removed both rotors to do the job.

Did I screw up? :scratch
Do I now have to buy new bolts to put the rotors back on, or do I just
replace and torque per the BMW manual
Initial torque, 12 Nm - Final torque, 30 Nm.

If so, should I use blue Loctite?

I read somewhere on-line I may have to replace those "Micro-Ecapsulated" rotor bolts.

Rob In Vancouver...
Not BC... Washington... Not DC...

OK you created a little more work for yourself than was necessary, but not the end of the world.
New bolts would be a good call but if it were me unless something looks wrong with the bolts I would put loctite on them and torque them to spec.

Run them for a few hundred miles check them.If it looks ok

Ride the thing

Dave
 
I needed to get the tire off the wheel so I could install a new Michelin PR3.
I wasn't sure id I'd muck up the rotors with the tire irons/spoons if I left them on, so I pulled them off. I've never changed a motorcycle tire before, in hindsight, it was a lot easier than I thought. Next time I'll just leave the rotors on.

Build a square frame from 2x4's to support the rim and keep the rotors from contacting the floor.
 
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