BMW side cases on RS; do they wobble a little?

I purchased a new R1200RS a few months ago, it was equipped with the OEM case carriers. I wanted side cases at the time, but, of course, they have not been available until recently. Last week I was able to get the side cases but now I'm having trouble getting them to fit properly. Despite my best efforts, the cases wobble a little, front to back. This is because the 'pad' (as BMW refers to it) with the 'rubber buffer' in it is not able to fit completely down on the rail of the case carrier when the case is locked on. The pad and rubber buffer CAN fit snugly over the rail of the carrier when they are NOT attached to the side case. No amount of twiddling and tweaking of the position of the mounting of the pad to the case seems capable of fixing this.

So, my question to owners of R1200R and RS is: Is a certain amount of wobble (2 -3 mm) characteristic of these cases when mounted, or should they fit quite solidly, without wobble (the latter is what I would expect from BMW!).

Thanks for the help.

Gil Wier

Welcome to the site Gil.
The bags were loose on my RS and my wife's RS when new. I was able to adjust most of the play out, but there's still a little movement when I grab them with my hands.

I take it your bags now have the stick on reflectors the recall required.

I’ve used clear tubing over the mount bar to tighten up the bag mounting. Lowes or any car parts store will have the clear tubing.

The position of the mounting block on the case itself is adjustable (from inside the case). That's what took care of this problem for me on my R1200R cases.

sailorlite said:

The position of the mounting block on the case itself is adjustable (from inside the case). That's what took care of this problem for me on my R1200R cases.

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That's how I adjusted ours and it sounds like the OP did the same.

side cases have reflectors now

Lee said:

Welcome to the site Gil.
The bags were loose on my RS and my wife's RS when new. I was able to adjust most of the play out, but there's still a little movement when I grab them with my hands.

I take it your bags now have the stick on reflectors the recall required.

Click to expand...

Yes, these sidecases do have simple rectangular reflectors mounted on the sides. See the pic. Also, just for fun, a second picture shows the rest of the garage. The monster is good for around town (Tucson) and the Can Am Spyder is good for trips when my wife wants to drive.

Of course, I've fiddled quite a lot with adjusting the position of the buffer/rubber pad on the side case. The holes in the buffer are elongated, so up and down adjustment is possible. I haven't been able to find any position that works however.

gwier001 said:

Yes, these sidecases do have simple rectangular reflectors mounted on the sides.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the pictures. Yours is only the 2nd RS I've seen with the recall reflectors.
Seems like I had to press downward hard on the pad as I tightened the fasteners to get a tighter fit on our bags.
Run by Iron Horse and see if they can get a tighter fit.

CABNFVR said:

I’ve used clear tubing over the mount bar to tighten up the bag mounting. Lowes or any car parts store will have the clear tubing.

Click to expand...

Tim was this on your K1300S or K1200RS. The R1200RS has the same type of mount as your S.

MT S1000XR has the same panniers and in the instructions moving the lower block was the adjustment procedure. Upon first mounting my panniers were loose. A quick adjustment bu lowering that block provided the needed fit. For almost 2 years that adjustment has held tight and I get minimum movement other than the flex inherent in the plastic panniers. As I recall the lower block had teeth molded at the bag contact area. Be sure to loosen the 2 inside screws enough to allow engaging the teeth at the tighter position.

Part of the design, similar to those on the Triumph Sprint ST (which were absolutely brilliant), is to allow some movement to reduce the amount of energy transferred to the chassis in dirty air conditions. That's not to say they should be loose, but you don't want to eliminate the intended dynamic nature of the design. Those pans stick well outside of the slipstream, on all the models they are designed for. FWIW, YMMV, etc...

Lee said:

Tim was this on your K1300S or K1200RS. The R1200RS has the same type of mount as your S.

Click to expand...

K1200S and K1300S. Take a 1/2" clear hose, cut it 5" long and slice it lengthwise, then put it over the round metal mount that's under the seat area. It tightens up the rubber "hook" that's on the bag (item 2 in the post above). I'd post a pic but on our current S I haven;t done this yet. Bags are still tight (for now).

gr8ridn2 said:

As I recall the lower block had teeth molded at the bag contact area. Be sure to loosen the 2 inside screws enough to allow engaging the teeth at the tighter position.

Click to expand...

That's how I remember it.

CABNFVR said:

K1200S and K1300S. Take a 1/2" clear hose, cut it 5" long and slice it lengthwise, .

Click to expand...

Thanks Tim.

RS side cases are tight now

Thanks for all the replies. I had the bike at Ironhorse BMW here in Tucson the other day, and they were able to adjust the sidecases mounting so that they cases are satisfyingly tight now . The cases move just a little with a gentle push, probably just the way BMW designed them.

I had my new RS into Anderwerks this afternoon, where Alex was able to quickly adjust the blocks, and tighten the bags up, before my trip tomorrow.I always enjoy watching an expert do delicate adjustments.