BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

Being the type of chap who likes to see how things tick I decided to strip down the bike and take a look under the covers. After about an hour I had most of the panels off having carefully put all the respective torx bolts in plastic storage containers (ex Chinese take away items). After doing a deep clean I stopped for a spot of lunch. Whilst away a gust of wind blew over my storage bins and distributed the content all over my drive! Luckily most off the torx's are the same size and after some hunting around I found them all. Another couple of hours later it was all back togetger again. Looking like 'new'

The moral of the story is .... put the lids on the takeaway tubs!


I'm glad it all went back together again OK.

Better still, draw rough templates (ie smaller than actual size) of the various fairings etc on thick paper, cardboard or similar, and then push the bolts through at their respective positions on the drawn template. Not only are they secure, but also easily identifiable where the bolts fit!

Or even , don't take them out in the first place.  Then you just need to keep thinking , "what the eye dont see the heart don't grieve".  Looks like your bike started life st my dealer.

Many of the torx bolts holding your plastic panels on have a stepped shoulder, if you attempt to use on wrong part they will bottom out before panel is tight, I make a note when removing them as to their location
Also on my 15 I have noticed the panel bolts all have a plastic washer, probably their for protection of the plastic, my dealer happily sold me a bag of them
I have learned the hard way, unless doing maintenance on the bike, don't take panels off, BMW for some reason has gone CHEAP on the plastic for the WETHEADS, most noteably is the forward fairing panels and the lousy plastic tabs that secure it to the bike. If the dealer tech breaks them, which is easy to do, dealer pays if you break them it's $600 US to replace!! A good cleaning shouldn't be a all day affair
A good rinse then a soap down with a quality cleaner, (fleet wash in my case) followed by a rinse, then a dry with micro fiber towels and my leaf blower and bike looks new again. If your really serious a quick coat of wax follows

Yes, lesson learnt, I won't be doing that again in a hurry! However I'm sure I got all the bolts back correctly.

RTman10 wrote: Or even , don't take them out in the first place.  Then you just need to keep thinking , "what the eye dont see the heart don't grieve".  Looks like your bike started life st my dealer.

Originally from Roy Pidcock, Long Eaton. Not sure if they are still around?

www.pidcock.com.  BMW, Triumph and Ducati. 


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UKDucatiman wrote: Originally from Roy Pidcock, Long Eaton. Not sure if they are still around?

Yep still there. Got my 2014 RT from them.
Just had a major refurb probably from all the extra money they charge us!

Steve F wrote: Better still, draw rough templates (ie smaller than actual size) of the various fairings etc on thick paper, cardboard or similar, and then push the bolts through at their respective positions on the drawn template. Not only are they secure, but also easily identifiable where the bolts fit!

Crikey Steve - how much time do you have on your hands??


Apart from washing mine, I do as little else as possible.  I rely on all the flashy light things to tell me if I need to do anything!


The rest of the time is for riding...

If you have a reasonable piece of thin ply wood floating around, try drilling holes 0.5 mm smaller than the screw size which the screws will self tap into thus holding them secure. You should also have space to label each screw hole and if stored the board will be available for next strip down.

richardbd wrote: Crikey Steve - how much time do you have on your hands??
Apart from washing mine, I do as little else as possible. I rely on all the flashy light things to tell me if I need to do anything!
The rest of the time is for riding...

Oh you know.......!!?? ::) No, I don't mean drawing works of art, just a rough idea as to where the bolts fit around the fairing/panel etc. I did similar on my previous K13GT when removing the fairings to install auxiliary lights, and it helped enormously in not mixing up the numerous different bolt thread lengths involved.

Pete1200 wrote: If you have a reasonable piece of thin ply wood floating around, try drilling holes 0.5 mm smaller than the screw size which the screws will self tap into thus holding them secure. You should also have space to label each screw hole and if stored the board will be available for next strip down.

See Richard, the next step up from mine....using plywood !

Saw a good trick once when Autocom fitted an intercom on an RT years ago; they put a small piece of masking tape next to each place they took a bolt out and wrote a number on the masking tape with water based felt tip.  The bolt was then placed on a strip of masking tape on a bench, with the same same number next to it.

Not a windproof idea, but perhaps less hassle than templates? 

Steve F wrote: See Richard, the next step up from mine....using plywood !

Amazing!


When do you guys ever find time to ride??


:alas: