Rusted back-box bolts on 7-month-old bike

[Paggers]

My 2016 RT has a nice chrome cover over the point where the exhaust pipe meets the back-box. I just had the tyres changed and - bearing in mind that the bike is only 7 months old and has done 7k miles - I was pretty gutted to learn that two out of three of the screws that hold the cover on were seized, and the bolt holding the back-box onto the pipe was rusted solid.

Fortunately the fitters managed to free up the screws so they could get the cover off, and were then able to loosen the bolt on the back-box just enough to leave a friction fit. But they have said they dare not fully tighten the bolt on the back-box as it is likely to be rusted solid when I next come to take it off. Fortunately as I have a replacement Remus back-box due to arrive within the next two weeks the rusted bolt on the OE box is not as big an issue as it might have been.

The moral of the story for me is that I need to be taking the cover off from time to time and give everything a good clean. I may also see if I can find some high temperature grease that I can use to lubricate the various parts, although I need to make sure I don't just turn it into a dirt trap. I'm not sure if all the LC bikes have this cover over the exhaust pipe but if yours does, I strongly recommend popping it off and checking the state of things underneath.

[Casbar]

I changed my end can a year ago on a 2014, the bolts were fine and undid ok. Maybe the previous owner checked them regularly Now is that rust or corrosion  :whistle:

[Paggers]

They brought the can in and showed me the state of the bolt - it's the one that acts on a collar around the slip-on part of the exhaust to make a compression fitting. I can definitely confirm that it was rust.

My biggest beef with BMW continues to be their unwillingness to use stainless steel bolts in places where even an idiot can tell that regular steel is not going to survive.

>:(

[Casbar]

Harley don't either, so do any manufacturers use stainless bolts to hold on exhausts etc, or is it just BMW and Harley that don't. Guess we think we are buying a premium product, but we are buying a product at a price point.

[Paggers]

I agree they are building to a price point - but the RT is pretty much the most expensive bike of it's type on the market. If we are not paying for build quality, then I occasionally wonder what we are paying for. Presumably for the comfort of having that blue and white badge on it.


:shirty:

[Casbar]

I agree they are building to a price point - but the RT is pretty much the most expensive bike of it's type on the market. If we are not paying for build quality, then I occasionally wonder what we are paying for. Presumably for the comfort of having that blue and white badge on it.


:shirty:

Possibly, but back to my question and not trying to bate anyone, do any manufacturers use stainless fittings on things like the clamp that holds the exhaust silencer on. I think that particular clamp is seen as a throw away piece, that gets replaced if rusted and cut off. My Harley cost north of 26k and had the same clamps.

[Paggers]

Possibly, but back to my question and not trying to bate anyone, do any manufacturers use stainless fittings on things like the clamp that holds the exhaust silencer on. I think that particular clamp is seen as a throw away piece, that gets replaced if rusted and cut off. My Harley cost north of 26k and had the same clamps.

That's a fair point, and one that I hadn't considered. So potentially if I had asked the dealer to replace the tyres they would have just replaced the clamp bolt without saying anything to me. I wonder how often stuff like that happens and we aren't even aware. I may need to rethink my perpetual cynicism ... at least a little.