[AZ98Taxi]

Hi,

New member with my first post. I bought a '98 K1200RS last year and have only put 600 miles on it but I'm getting ready for a summer tour.

I live a long way from a BMW dealer so I need to get my tires mounted at a dealer that mainly services Honda, Yamaha and Victory.

I've removed the front wheel and since the manual says to be careful not to damage the rotors, I'm wondering if I should remove them before letting this non-BMW shop mount my new tire? They probably have competent mechanics but.....?

Also, even though I'm doubtful that Dyna beads work as well as the hype, I've decided to give them a try to see for myself. So the missing rotors won't affect balancing.

Any thoughts?

 

[Vegeta2410]

I have never taken rotors off before had a shop change a tire. So far, no issues.


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[RAC]

Never removed the rotors. Probably would stay with stick on weights.

 

[saddleman]

If it is a motorcycle shop the tire changer will have the raised clamps to clear the rotors. I have had decent results with Dyna Beads at speeds below 90 mph. At higher speeds not so good.

 

[rjpack74]

Make note of wheel and tire rotation, and make sure they match when you pick up your tires.

I didn't think to check and realized later they're both rotating backwards.

Not a big deal on dry roads, but if you're touring you will likely hit some rain along the way.

Regarding rotors, I would leave them on as well.

 

[Bradmiester]

AZ 98,

Do Not Take off the Rotors. Better to inspect them and make sure they have plenty of meat on them! Did you oil the spools with military grade light weapons oil, so the rotors will easily find center?

Lose the Beads, thats a misnomer like puncture-less inner tubes for off road bikes or run flat tires for BMW 7 series cars......lol.

What you do want to do is: balance the wheel first! All BMW Motorcycle (non-wire wheels) will balance to 10 grams or less. That's only 1 weight bar.

That means you will have to babysit the mechanic or lay person to balance just the wheel. find the heavy spot.... mark spot with marker and take photo. You will always have this reference for the rest of the ownership of this machine.

Add the weight to wheel, and spin, confirm the wheel is balanced. Add tire (uninflated) and spin......find the heaviest spot and then rotate tire to 180 degrees out from initial heavy spot. Remove wheel weight, bead and inflate tire.....Spin! You should have 10grams or less on your front and back wheels!

If not, repeat procedure. If you're going to be gobbling down superslab miles..............Get it done.

If the shop claims they cant do that or may scratch your BMW wheels.....take them someplace else.

Best of Luck!! Enjoy the Journey.

 

[LTA_pilot]

I've never removed rotors before mounting tires - most bikes that I've owned have them sticking out past the front wheel rim, so they're always vulnerable, and any shop that knows how to do motorcycle tires is used to dealing with the issue without damaging the rotors.

I've always used stick-on weights, and I've never had an issue with them, so I'm not sure what problem the beads are supposed to be solving - any decent shop can balance a wheel quickly and well, and losing weights is (at least in my experience) a non-issue.

I'll have to try Bradmeister's tip about balancing the rim first next time I mount tires. My front needs few weights, but my rear usually takes a bit of weight to balance. I currently have 63g of weight on the rear - within BMW's limits (80g if I recall) but more than I'd like. (My wife helpfully adds that if I want less weight on my rear, I should hit the gym. )

 

[AZ98Taxi]

Thanks for all the replies! I guess I'll just leave the rotors on and trust they will be OK. I think I'll stay with weights for balancing since the rear has already been installed and balanced. I told them not to balance it since I was going to try using beads but they did anyway.

Yes, Bradmiester, I had heard of balancing a wheel separately but didn't think to ask them about it. The rear has 35 grams on it and I hope it's good to go. Actually, I won't be doing much super slab and high speeds as I plan to take the backroads up thru New Mexico,Colorado and on to Rapid City and hope to make the rally at John Day,Oregon in mid-June.

My last road bike (a long tine ago) was a Vetter-equipped Suzi GS1100G (which I loved) and this is my first BMW. I bought it on a whim and like the power but it's a bit heavy for me. I'll be stopping along the way at a few dealers to see what I might be able to get for it on a trade-in. I'm not up on all the different models but I think a lighter oilhead might suit me better. Can't afford any of the new offerings.

 

[AZ98Taxi]

Do Not Take off the Rotors. Better to inspect them and make sure they have plenty of meat on them! Did you oil the spools with military grade light weapons oil, so the rotors will easily find center?

The bike has just 39k on it and the rotors check fine for thickness and are pretty smooth,too. I guess I should set up my dial indicator and check them for runout also.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'oiling the spools'?

 

[EricK1300GTSE]

Re oiling the spools, I'm pretty sure he means the bobbins that hold the rotors to the carrier. These discs are "free floating" ensuring that they provide stable braking. To do this though, the bobbins need to be free and allow the rotor to self centre. A drop of light machine oil and spin the bobbin by hand (can try a drill on low speed with a bolt and nut) to loosen them up.

 

[Capt howdy]

Make note of wheel and tire rotation, and make sure they match when you pick up your tires.

I didn't think to check and realized later they're both rotating backwards.

Not a big deal on dry roads, but if you're touring you will likely hit some rain along the way.

Regarding rotors, I would leave them on as well.

If you have a look at the tyres in the photo you will notice that the front tyre tread is opposite to the rear and actually directs water to the centre of the tyre. This had me wondering why and apparently the braking load of the front tyre is more important than the water displacement. I would therefore think it is a big deal to make sure the tyre is on the right way as wet or dry you will be loading up the tyre under braking.

From Dunlop


Why are some front and rear patterns reversed? What about channeling the water?
TOP

Many Dunlop motorcycle tire patterns have “reversed front patterns” compared to rear, because different forces act on front and rear tires. We test all Dunlop tires for satisfactory wet performance in the direction as indicated on the sidewall. It is important to always mount the tire in the correct direction of rotation as indicated by the arrow on the sidewall.

 

[AZ98Taxi]

Re oiling the spools, I'm pretty sure he means the bobbins that hold the rotors to the carrier. These discs are "free floating" ensuring that they provide stable braking. To do this though, the bobbins need to be free and allow the rotor to self centre. A drop of light machine oil and spin the bobbin by hand (can try a drill on low speed with a bolt and nut) to loosen them up.

Ok, I see we have floating discs instead of floating calipers. Since I've decided to leave them on, do I really need to service these? I have both the Clymer and factory manuals and I can find no reference to them needing periodic maintenance or any instruction to lube them when installing a disc. It just says to use Loctite on the bolts...

 

[AZ98Taxi]

Make note of wheel and tire rotation, and make sure they match when you pick up your tires.

When I took the rear wheel in I worried about that since they weren't a BMW dealer. I pointed out to them that some BMW models had rear wheels that attached with bolts on the right but others had bolts on the left so they needed to pay attention to mount the tire with the correct direction.

I felt a little foolish when the mechanic said that, "Well,we just mount them the same way the old tire is mounted. So there would be no problem unless it was mounted wrong previously".

 

[Beech]

Beads void any tire warranty. Also make your tire guy up set when they spill all over his machine and the floor. There is a little 50mm flange on the rear wheel. A cup that fits over this allows a static balance machine to hold the wheel. Some MC shops have adjustable wheel clamps that can deal with this. Enjoy your bike.

 

[Vegeta2410]

When I took the rear wheel in I worried about that since they weren't a BMW dealer. I pointed out to them that some BMW models had rear wheels that attached with bolts on the right but others had bolts on the left so they needed to pay attention to mount the tire with the correct direction.

I felt a little foolish when the mechanic said that, "Well,we just mount them the same way the old tire is mounted. So there would be no problem unless it was mounted wrong previously".

If you look closely at your rims, there should arrows stamped on the spokes that points into the direction of forward rotation.
So hopefully the guy who changed the tire pays attention and can read ( always a plus)


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[RollingBrick]

Even though the wheel should have a small directional arrow cast into it, I always take a black marker and draw an arrow on the brake rotor so it can't be missed.

 

[rjpack74]

Even though the wheel should have a small directional arrow cast into it, I always take a black marker and draw an arrow on the brake rotor so it can't be missed.

This works for the front, and is an excellent idea, but not the back since the rear rotor isn't mounted to the wheel.

There is a lip in the center hub of the rear wheel on the mating surface, that is also a good place to indicate tire rotation.

Always helps to point it out to the tire tech the marks are there as well.