BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

So was riding back from a service and I noticed that my right hand top panel was moving along the edge by the power socket. Few days later I took it off to investigate and the bottom tab was broken and the top one was gone. I notices that someone had stuck the front on with black silicon, so that must have been the workshop. I have never taken it off, so somewhere along the line a third party has broken the tabs whilst doing a service.


Long story short, new panel £260, dealer not interested and not covered by extended warranty. So I did some searching and found quite a few in the US have managed to snap these tabs off and there are a few fix options around.


I still had one of the tabs so I stuck this back on with Q-Bond, a super strong super glue, as recommended on another forum, result its brilliant stuff and the tab stuck straight back on and seems to be really strong.


Now to the front tab, I made a tab from ali and stuck the L shaped tab on with JB Weld. Stuck brilliantly. Put the panel back on this morning and it fits better than it did before and if the reports from other forums is to be believed, the fix is stronger than the original offering from BMW. Result

Thanks for the good advice, if this happens to mine, I'll know what to do now, have a great day!


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Hi Casbar,


It's not so much a case of if the tabs break but more when.

I broke a tab early in the ownership and my alumin(i)um fix has held since. I did not find the glue successful.

Well if the glue on the front tab gives up, I'll make another ali tab The guys on the other forums seem to think the Q-Bond stuff lasts, it certainly seemed stranger than normal super glue, nearly stuck my finger to the panel  8)

I had the same issue with my 15, not long after I bought it I noticed right panel was loose with broken tabs. Long Beach bmw stepped up and replaced the panel at no cost, my broken panel was added to the collection as they had quit a few piled up
Over on the BMW MOA site several owners have come up with fixes for this poorly designed part. Search the site, my opinion the best fix is the aluminum tad, epoxied to the panel
PS dealer hates it when you show up with duck tape holding a panel on while the bike still wears paper plates

Problem I had was the bike is a 2014, and as I have never had it off, its difficult to proved who actually broke it. But really pleased with the fix so far. Got plenty of Ali to make another tab if required.

Sorry to hear your poor experience with the dealer, my 2015 LC wnet in for a service at Cannons BMW in Braintree UK, during the service the LHS fairing panel tabs were snapped putting the panel back on and the windscreen was scratched when the workshop added the switchgear for the LED additional lights.


Both of these faults were not noticed until riding home, but a quick call to the service team was all it took to have them agree to order replacement parts and fit them next time I visited FOC.


I think it might have been the case that they knew they had damaged these parts but couldn't bring themselves to own up, but top marks to them for putting it right ASAP


As a result I continue to use Cannon and recommend them - in fact when I went back to get the parts replaced I also purchased an Evo helmet with bluetooth kit, which I think demonstrates that good service does pay dividends for the dealer

Problem is, I bought the bike used 2 years ago, and have used two dealers since then, so I don't know which one broke the tabs as I have never taken the panel off. But the dealer I use now has serviced the bike twice, so you might have thought they would have mentioned the tabs if they had to keep sticking the panel on with silicon. But hey ho, I'm back there next week with another bike and have taken pics of the black silicon on the panel before I fixed it, so will see what they say

I had the right side tabs broken off after a service by the shop.  They seem so flimsy that I made some from Aluminum and glued them on with JB Weld also.  Seems when the person putting the panels on does not align the push pins correctly over their respective rubber grommet, there is excess stress on the clips. 

Here is a thread on this and what I found on my panels from new.

http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/rt-series/171306-velcro-front-panels.html

So they have stuck velcro on as well  8) 

Casbar wrote: So they have stuck velcro on as well  8)

Yes. 

Some bikes have it and others not.  You can see from the thread guys were saying that they did not have them, and my dealer must have added it.  But it is on our bikes and I think as a backup for broken tabs.

My 2016 also has the velcro.

These all sound like good solutions, thought I’d share my own which has so far held up for 3000+ miles.
The previous owner had used a glued on tab which fooled me when buying my 2014 LC, but didn’t last long.
I used SUGRU to make a tab, thinking the flexible rubber like tab would cope with vibes and being pulled off/put back on etc better. So far it has.
If you’re not familiar with sugru it’s like a miracle fix!

Mine are still holding fine, 2k miles since fix. One glued back on and an ali tab stuck on with JB Weld. Have had it off since and all is still good