BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

Hi guys,
Newbie here..remove both side boxes when i took d bike home today.
Reinstall it back & noticed a slight free play. Is it normal or did i reinstall it wrongly

Which bike are you talking about - remember the RT comes in different model years.
If it is the 1200RTW, then if the pannier is engaged on the pegs at the top of the pannier and the front locating slot is engaged on the protruding peg from the pillion footrest plate AND the locking handle latches down, then it is on and locked. The plastic protector on the protruding peg from the rear of the pillion footrest plate has known to come loose (self tapping screws). Check these for tightness.

Model 2016

As above. But I find with mine that when you push handle down to lock there should be no resistance if there is I readjust and try again. But on mine there is a little play when attached but always check bottom lug in place. Took me a little while to have faith they were secure.

How much play are we talking about here?  On my '16 there is hardly any movement.  The panniers can be a bit of a faff when you are new to them, but you soon get used to it and can put them on with your eyes shut.  Not sure why you'd want to tho…...

Yup...the question is hw much...will try to post video here once i figure it out how

I have free play on both panniers and also the top box - in fact much more than the Givi luggage on my old TDM. However, its worked fine to Italy and back and to the Dordogne last year, plus around the UK, my friend's 2009 was exactly the same so I wouldn't be in the least concerned.

On my 2015 RT, there is about 3-4mm of discernible movement if I gently rock the pannier vertically/outwards whilst holding the bottom of the pannier. Everything is fitted where it should be, and the movement I can detect by hand isn’t really of any concern, as the panniers fit snugly and squarely on the top two spigots as well as engaging with the lower rear foot peg pannier spigot. At the end of the day, these plastic BMW pannier fixtures and fittings are going to have some discernible movement. 18k miles on and everything’s still fine with mine.


If it’s a nagging issue, just discuss it with the dealer and compare notes with other RT bikes in their showroom.

I have a 2015 and I remember that shortly after purchasing the bike, I also noticed some free play with the side cases. Obviously there's no way to tell from the OP description if it was the same issue.  I tracked my problem down to where the case attaches to the side frame.  There is a black plastic cap (item #8 in the attached drawing) that is on the lowe frame and is one of the three attach points for the case.  I found that on my bike the screws had almost backed out completely on one side and the cap was about to fall off.  My first thought was to just tighten down the screws and I then noticed that the cap (#8) had slots in the end and not straight holes. Even though it is a three point connection, I'm guessing that the frame connection was supposed to have some free play. I put some blue loctite on the two screws (item #9) and only tightened enough for the cap to remain in place but still have the ability to move in the direction of the slots. I found a similar situation on the opposite side but the screws had not backed out as far.


There been no problems since putting this back in place.