2012 R1200RT Front wheel Alignment??

[Nick6221]

A few weeks back a spring pothole put a dent in my front rim at the bead. But it held pressure for the 30 miles to get home. When I took a closer look I could see a slit in the sidewall where the tire was pinched, so I replaced both wheel & tire (OEM) at my local dealer.
After getting it home I put it up on the center stand and a front fork lift to clean the wheels. That's when I noticed that the front wheel doesn't spin freely as it did prior to this incident. Looking at the pads it appears that the rotor is contacting the pads with no visible space between. I can spin the wheel but it stops almost immediately after I release it. And there is a noticeable rubbing noise while its spinning. I'm not a mechanic (except for an oil change), so I don't know much about the brake system.
Could this be related to the installation of the new wheel? I would guess that the brake calipers would be involved in any wheel removal and re-installation.
I plan to bring it back to the shop but was hoping for some advice first.

Thanks for any replies.

Nick S.

 

[lee]

When installing the front wheel you need to compress the forks several times before tightening the last axle clamp.
The procedure is covered in your riders manual and can be done at home with basic tools.

I'm guessing the shop didn't do this last step.

 

[Nick6221]

Thanks,
I will look it up before bringing it in.

Nick S.

 

[lee]

Thanks,
I will look it up before bringing it in.

Nick S.

Looks like I was wrong. I had looked at the GS manual earlier.
Looking at the riders manual for a 2012 R1200RT does not mention bouncing the front suspension.
I looked at page 105 of the manual.

Time for someone who knows what he's talking about to jump in

 

[Nick6221]

2012 R1200RT Front wheel alignment??

No problem.
When I could not find any mention of compressing the forks in my manual, I figured your K1300S manual would be the difference.
Anyway, I will bring it in and hope they can get the wheel to spin freely and still stop when I need to.
Thanks for your offer to help.

Nick S.

 

[deilenberger]

Compressing the forks fully before tightening is more a remnant from standard forks - not so much on the Telelever front end since the fork bridge is extremely strong, and if you tighten the axle correctly (torque it IN first, then tighten the clamp side..) it's unlikely that any distortion will result.

Two possibilities I see:

1 - Rotors not installed correctly on the new rim.

2 - Bent fork bridge - but I'd consider this HIGHLY unlikely due to the way it's built.

FWIW - I had to replace my front rim last year and had no real problem with moving the rotors over from the old rim - but it is important that they be moved over in the same position - ie - outside on old = outside on new and left side on old - left side on new. I did it one at a time. They don't necessarily wear evenly, but you want them in the same relative position.

Nick - were the pads replaced when the wheel was swapped?

The pads are not supposed to have any visible space between the braking surface on the pad and the braking surface on the rotor - but the front wheel normally will spin fairly easily. IF the rotors aren't getting hot when riding (check after a good run at speed - but be careful not to burn yourself) things are probably OK.

If still in doubt - take it back to the dealer and have them check it.

 

[Nick6221]

Don,
Thanks for the timely advice.
I read your reply just before leaving for the dealer.
So I rode the 4 miles using mostly the rear brake & down shifting.
At the dealer the front rotor was cold.
Pads were not replaced. I was told that the rotors were mounted on new wheel in proper order.
And the tech said the new wheel has to break in.
So I will ride it for a while and see.

Really appreciate the help.

Nick

 

[wyman.winn]

Don,
Thanks for the timely advice.
I read your reply just before leaving for the dealer.
So I rode the 4 miles using mostly the rear brake & down shifting.
At the dealer the front rotor was cold.
Pads were not replaced. I was told that the rotors were mounted on new wheel in proper order.
And the tech said the new wheel has to break in.
So I will ride it for a while and see.

Really appreciate the help.

Nick

What????? you have got to be kidding.....!!!!

pads need "breaking in"....
rotors need "breaking in"...
tires need "breaking in"....


there is nothing to "break in" on a new wheel.....!!!!!

 

[lee]

there is nothing to "break in" on a new wheel.....!!!!!

That one caught my eye also.

 

[lee]

So I rode the 4 miles using mostly the rear brake & down shifting.

Does the front wheel turn easier after your ride?

 

[jayjay]

What????? you have got to be kidding.....!!!!

pads need "breaking in"....
rotors need "breaking in"...
tires need "breaking in"....


there is nothing to "break in" on a new wheel.....!!!!!

Sure there is - the totalizer backflush valve needs to get properly seated.

JayJay

 

[BrianV]

Hopefully, they changed the air in your tires, too !!!

They should know better than trying to put that over on this crowd. It akin to the IRS "losing emails" because a workstation crashed.

Actually, I'm with Dave on this one - rotors mounted improperly.