BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

I have a 2015 R1200 RT. Done about 500 miles and have had on a couple of occasions a low pitch squeal from the rear brake. I use the rear quite a lot but twice now I have had this noise.  On arriving home disc was warm and although not binding on in anyway it felt quite gritty. Their was quite a bit of dust as though the pads are very soft.  Just a bit worried. Anyone else had similar

Quick answer is no. If your bike has only covered 500 miles then the easiest option would be to ask your dealer to look at it when it goes in for the 600 mile service. If your handy with the spanners then I would take the pads out and check that they are clean. If good then remover the caliper and check that the two halves move freely. The caliper is in two parts. The outside main part holds the two pistons, the second inner part moves on two pins on the outer part. It is important that this inner part which holds the inner pad moves freely, otherwise you will get the inner pad dragging on the disc. When I clean the caliper I always pull the two parts apart and apply a light coating of grease to the two pins. I would say its not obvious that the two parts of the caliper can be separated, but if you look carefully you can see two rubber boots that stop crud getting into the pins. No spanners are required, the two parts just pull apart. Having said all that I would be very surprised on a new bike that this is the problem, more on an older bike where the grease has been washed out. When you reassemble BMW recommend a small amount of anti seize grease on the leading edge of the pads where they sit in the caliper. There is no need to apply anything to the backs of the pads. The torque for the rear caliper bolts is 24 Nms. If none of this makes sense then leave it for your dealer to sort, brakes are kind of important.

Having read your post again I would say there is probably nothing to worry about. You say you use the rear brake a lot, which combined with the fact that the bike has linked brakes, will result in a warm disc. Too hot to touch would be wrong, warm OK. The dust and sound could be the pads just bedding in. I take it there is nothing caught between the pads and disc. At the moment I cannot think of anything else to suggest.

Bike is in today for its first service  I will mention it to the dealer to check.  thanks for all your your help.

Unless you are braking around corners,  I would rely on using front brakes only to avoid excessive wear on rear.  I have found the linking pressure on the rear to be sufficient, even in an emergency stop.