Front Rotors are warped at only 8100 miles (13000 Km)?2008 R1200R

[henzilla]

Andy,
Does your bike have the newer style semi float rotor upgrade? Seems there was a change in there somewhere where the rotors had some sort of floating mount.
The parts fiche only says from 08/06 and calls them offset and the screws for a rivet pack rotor

 

[ANDYVH]

My 07 RT has the solid mounted discs on the front wheel. I had heard there may be a floating rotor upgrade for the 07 RT. I may go that route. Or, this winter I'll have my rotors machined flat to see if that addresses the pulsing.

 

[exgman]

Andy - If you look at the Max BMW Parts Fiche, you'll find what is termed a "retrofit package" for the front brake on the 2005-2009 Hexhead. Here is the URL for that, which included a PDF (which you can download) and a listing of parts. See it here: https://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/DiagramsMain.aspx?vid=51560&rnd=07012015 That URL will take you to the general parts fiche, and if you look under "34-Brakes" you'll see the retrofit package as diagram #34_1392.

I had a 2008 RT, and the work was handled not as a "Recall" but as a "Campaign." As a result, it cost me nothing six years ago when my BMW dealer made the changeover.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[ANDYVH]

Thanks for the info. I looked it up and don't quite see what the kit is as far as a retrofit. To me it looks like a complete kit to replace the rotors, $372.15 per rotor?

 

[lkraus]

Thanks for the info. I looked it up and don't quite see what the kit is as far as a retrofit. To me it looks like a complete kit to replace the rotors, $372.15 per rotor?

That's the conclusion I came to. The retrofit uses a different mount that apparently requires different machining around the disc mounting holes. The slight juddering I have occurs only with heavy braking above 50mph, so I'm just going to live with it until new rotors are needed. Removing the rotors for a thorough cleaning at my last tire change helped a bit. I don't think the juddering has much, if any, effect on braking distance.

 

[exgman]

Looks like there was a recall on the brake lines on some 2008 R1200R models (Recall Campaign No. 08V-254, R1200 R, R1200 GS, R1200 ST
Front brake lines). You could check the BMW Recall site with your VIN, and see. Perhaps you could work a deal to get both done for no cost? Every transaction is an opportunity for negotiation...

 

[ANDYVH]

This winter I am taking the front rotors off the wheel and have them ground flat to within 1/2 the allowable runout by BMW. Assuming the rotor mount runout on the wheel is not the issue. Then I'll check the rotor runout when installed onto the wheel.

 

[racer7]

Remember that the most important thing with any new rotor/pad setup is proper breakin- which means hard and complete stops that make enough heat and deposit a proper pad material layer on the rotor. Do it badly and shuddering behavior becomes quite lik ely.

My last rack car used rotors meant for Indy racing that been run in on a brake dyno with the same sort of pad before being sold- this is not uncommon with very fast race stuff. The lig.hter rotors last only about 6 track hours, the heavier ones several times that

 

[alancoles]

... hard and complete stops ...

One caveat to the above, is that you should not come to a "complete stop" when breaking-in the pads. Bring the bike down to say 10 mph but do not come to a complete stop and definitely do not leave the brakes applied while stop if you do need to stop with very hot brakes during this process. I suspect racer7 knows this and simply mistyped.

Here are some of the material in the links I provided earlier to identify proper break-in procedures.
https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?80409-Front-Rotors-are-warped-at-only-8100-miles-(13000-Km)-2008-R1200R&p=1066358&viewfull=1#post1066358

 

[racer7]

Sure don't keep the pads full on when stopped but you do need to bring the bike darn close to a dead stop to get a decent deposition layer. Bikes don't build heat in rotors the way much heavier cages do and you'll never see the kind of rotor temps a cage can easily reach (even full race bike pads would become rubble on even mild speed cage racers). After hitting a full or near full stop keep rolling so pad and rotor temps can drop so you can do the next one

There is at least one well known case of how keeping pads in contact with hot rotors can crack rotors- it is recent Corvettes with stock rotors and upgraded (eg DOT track type like Hoosiers) tires. Can't stop in the hot pits with brakes on or rotors will crack almost instantly. Guys running these cars in classes requiring stock brake components always carry spare rotors.