BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

Hi all,  HELP !!,

further to my post regarding Alternator Removal one of the preliminary tasks is to remove the Front Shock which looks to be a pretty simple job. However, the bottom securing bolt is apparently "Thread Locked" during factory assembly and as I have found out is very, very tight. I have managed to get about a turn and a half but it's tightened up again to the point where I'm afraid I'll break something. The usual solution of applying heat will not do the paint on the suspension arm any good so it's a case of either finding another method or forgetting this particular job and finding something else to pass the time !!.
Any sugestions appreciated. Thanks.

Is it possible to remove the Fork Legs, then remove the Telelever Arm with the Shock Absorber still attached.

Try washing the area above the nut with a spray of acetone and get the nut back on to it's starting position.  Spray exposed threads with more acetone (don't get in on your plastics or wiring!).  Gently run the nut back off until it gets tight and then back on, then back off again - repeat until successful!  Keep the flow of acetone up as the idea is to wash out the old threadlock and keep the threads lubricated.  Take your time and don't go to nuts with the spanners, think about when you would reverse a tap or a die when cutting a thread and you will not go far wrong.

Heat wise, if you can get your hands on a pencil type gas powered soldering iron you can usually remove the soldering tip and get access to a very hot, very fine flame.  You could then spot heat the flats of the nut to try and melt the threadlock and use the on and off method mentioned above to try and get the nut moving.

If the nut is accessible, can a nut splitter be used.

My Bike is all tucked away, has the bolt actually got a nut or is the Telelever Arm threaded.

Thank's for the replies and advice chaps. If BMW had designed the attachment of the Shock to the Telelever Arm with a Bolt and Nut arrangement there would not be a problem. As David's picture shows a T50 Torx Head driver is being applied from the offside into the lower shock mounting bolt. This bolt engages into a threaded hole in Telelever Arm casting. So then, we have a steel "Fit Bolt" engaging into an Alloy treaded casting which together with a good dollop of some propriertary chemical thread lock and 40 Nm of Torque make for a more or less "permanent" but no doubt more cost effective initial build.  The acetone method does sound a possibility so I'll give that one some thought. I,m not in a hurry as the bike is now off the road for the winter and there's lots of other jobs to do.
As an aside I've never been a fan of chemical thread lock stuff and in my own engineering experience it would normally only be used for a "permanent" assembly.

I have been over an hour getting bolts out using the acetone method.  Just take your time!
Is the bolt into a blind hole, or can you see the threaded end?  If you can see the end you could try using a fine flame to gently heat up the bolt from the threaded end...

sofnolime wrote:Is the bolt into a blind hole, or can you see the threaded end?

This is off a GS, would imaging it's the same for an RT.

Success !!.

Many thank's for the suggestions and info chaps. It was the "Acetone" Method that did it in the end. I started off with the bosse's nail varnish remover then up-graded to 99.9% Lab. Spec. Acetone/ It's amazing just what you can get on Ebay. Mind you it resisted right until the last couple of threads. All cleaned up now and the bolt threads and suspension arm threads are fine.
Looking at the dismantled components it's a strange design. The Shock lower mounting is in effect pulled up to the nearside of the suspension arm by the bolt head collar. The bolt head is a sliding fit in the offside hole in the suspension arm.
Thank's again.

Thinking ahead, to removing some BMW nuts & bolts that were micro-encapsulated with locking compound when new.
I've got some Isopropanol (Isopropyl Alcohol),  will this do the same job as Acetone.

This video suggest that Isopropanol will do the same job as Acetone, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFpWziLwDRE