EuroKClub
General forum area => K1200 / K1300 Forum => Topic started by: howlindawg on May 18, 2019, 03:27:52 pm
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Gave the bike a thorough cleaning today and noticed that corrosion under the paint on the front wheel carrier and rear hub assembly is getting pretty bad. The paint is now bubbling around the front brakes, axle and mudguard mount.
The bikes only approaching 5 years old so really not impressed as the bike is kept immaculate.
The rear looks mostly cosmetic but I think the front is going to have to come apart and be refinished in the near future.
Has anyone undertaken this job?
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Yes, I did it on a friend’s K1200GT. It’s an ideal job to do in conjunction with ball joints. Got the whole forks stripped and power coated at the local alloy wheel refurbishers for £50, and there’s zero sign of corrosion 2 years on. Need to be very clear with instructions to the powder coaters NOT to coat anything that isn’t already painted. And the pinch bolts at the bottom of the forks might give you a bit of a fight as they have both corrosion and threadlock holding them in. Hardest job is obviously getting the ball joints back in without harming the new finish - I clamped mine in a large vice with some clean softwood.
Just found the link to a photo of them after powder coating:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ef2nsl6r7oe577b/shiny.JPG?dl=0
Whenever we clean the bike, they still come up this shiny! Well worth it.
Steve
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£50 for finish of that quality was a bargain.
How long did it take to strip the forks out?
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If you have a warranty it might be worth asking if the corrosion is covered. I seem to remember some forum members have claimed for engine corrosion successfully. From the warranty book:
Suspension
Failure of the following parts: Telelever ball joints,
telescopic forks (excluding pitting) and seals. Front and
rear shock absorber units (up to 30,000 miles only).
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Front and rear replaced on mine. Unhelpfully I forget if this was during the buying user approved warranty or the insured warranty. Either way is an acknowledgement that it's a bit crap.
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On the GT it wasn’t actually that much if a job to get the forks out - bike on centre stand, handlebars ratchet strapped to the garage roof, front wheel out, calipers off, side panels off then the two nuts on the ball joints, pretty much. Around 2 hours to get it all off, another hour to put it all back, provided you have the right tools - 50 and 55 mm spanners and sockets really help for the ball joints.
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Thanks for the replies.
The bike's due a service next month so I'll mention it to the service manager and see what he says.
I'm not hopeful though as I'm out of warranty. :D
Good to know it's not a major job to remove the forks; I've heard horror stories about removing the ball joints.
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I'm still puzzled as to why us bikers have to put up with this inferior crap, especially with a BMW badge. If this were a BMW car with this sort of corrosion, everyone would be up in arms with complaints, there would an immediate recall on all affected models and it would make the national news headlines. Why do most carry on supporting and putting up with this? I'm glad I jumped ship when I did.
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I'm still puzzled as to why us bikers have to put up with this inferior crap, especially with a BMW badge. If this were a BMW car with this sort of corrosion, everyone would be up in arms with complaints, there would an immediate recall on all affected models and it would make the national news headlines. Why do most carry on supporting and putting up with this? I'm glad I jumped ship when I did.
Don't worry, i'm sure we'll all say the same thing after we variously jump ship at whatever arbitrary future dates that will be :).
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Thanks for the replies.
The bike's due a service next month so I'll mention it to the service manager and see what he says.
I'm not hopeful though as I'm out of warranty. :D
Good to know it's not a major job to remove the forks; I've heard horror stories about removing the ball joints.
Depends if you are fussy about doing it the REPROM way with the BMW special tools.
Easy enough to do with an allen key and ring spanner for the nut and 50mm and 55mm sockets with an impact wrench for the ball joint. Not too many have sockets that large in their tool kit. Also depends wether you are anal about achieving the prescribed torque settings when tightening.
Some have also experienced problems with the thread stripping out when the ball joints are removed. Very difficult to achieve the high temperature required to soften the concrete that BMW use to stop the ball joints coming loose.
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I'm still puzzled as to why us bikers have to put up with this inferior crap, especially with a BMW badge. If this were a BMW car with this sort of corrosion, everyone would be up in arms with complaints, there would an immediate recall on all affected models and it would make the national news headlines. Why do most carry on supporting and putting up with this? I'm glad I jumped ship when I did.
I wouldn't put money on it. When BMW's started cracking their 21†alloys on Surrey's potholes, BM's answer was 'But the wheels were never designed for ise on cart tracks like the UK roads!'.
Strange how they never said anything when they upsold the basic model in the sales suite >:(
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Sometime it can be down to what you are using to wash the bike.
The foaming type of cleaners that you apply with a jet wash (I use it one on my car) are very corrosive and can find any small imperfections to get under the paint.. Saying that it is still no excuse for allowing it to corrode
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Sometime it can be down to what you are using to wash the bike.
The foaming type of cleaners that you apply with a jet wash (I use it one on my car) are very corrosive and can find any small imperfections to get under the paint.. Saying that it is still no excuse for allowing it to corrode
I cleaned my bike today with Karcher foam wash in my Karcher jet wash.
I haven't heard about the foam being corrosive before.
So anyone who has their bike professionally washed and ACF50 protected gets that treatment?
Just had a look at the bottle and it says phosphate free.
It appears that anything that cleans your bike also damages it. Same thing was being said about MuckOff a while back.
Anyone know better?
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I use Zymol or Autoglym foam on my bikes, both of which are supposedly Ph neutral. I'd be surprised if either are unduly contributing to corrosion.
All my bikes and cars get treated the same and the 19 year old Moto Guzzi seems to be made of sterner stuff than the K. Given MotoGuzzi's infamous reputation for corroding away before your very eyes that's saying something!
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Fairly Green hip-kid. (https://eurokclub.bike/index.php?topic=3631.msg43771#msg43771)
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I read somewhere, likely MCN, that Fairy Liquid had a high concentration of salt and not to use it.
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Richard covered this earlier, no salt ;D
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Sometime it can be down to what you are using to wash the bike.
The foaming type of cleaners that you apply with a jet wash (I use it one on my car) are very corrosive and can find any small imperfections to get under the paint.. Saying that it is still no excuse for allowing it to corrode
I cleaned my bike today with Karcher foam wash in my Karcher jet wash.
I haven't heard about the foam being corrosive before.
So anyone who has their bike professionally washed and ACF50 protected gets that treatment?
Just had a look at the bottle and it says phosphate free.
It appears that anything that cleans your bike also damages it. Same thing was being said about MuckOff a while back.
Anyone know better?
I know the liquid i got from T'internet says ensure you thoroughly rinse it off.
The only true way to clean your bike is to not let it get dirty in the first place, which works for me as i never have to time to ride it..
1st time out this year was to the MOT station and back, the sensible part of my brain tells me to sell it, luckily my brain is so small my heart easily over powers it ;D
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I know the feeling...
Both of the low mileage and the small brain 8)
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Hi guys.
Well I've looked at 4 bikes now in my pursuit of finding a decent clean unmolested K1300 and all of them have paint flaking off the rear hub or the beginnings of flaking. Seems to be the Achilles heel on these bikes.
How easy is it to strip the hub to get it sent away for powder coating.
I'm tempted to make it a winter project if I can't find one without damage and for reasonable money.
If I spend £10k upwards then yes I can find one that's perfect, but they all seem to flake in the end.
How the hell do you stop it? 😔
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You don't stop it, it's built in at the factory. But not all bikes were fitted with it...
It is possible to find ones that are clean and you either pay the money or you pay the money and do the work. It seems to be a lottery. Even Matt, who had a perfectly clean example, caught the rot off my K12 when he popped round one day 8)
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I'm now too scared to look at the replacement!
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And I promise I won't either... 8)
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My 2011 one had just a touch on the rear drive at 36k miles, but you had to look hard to spot it. At 36k I thought that was acceptable.
What I'm not clear about is does it have any effect? If it's just visual and not a danger, then maybe live with it or touch it up (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ARALDITE-STEEL-ADHESIVE-2-X-15ML-FOR-METAL-SOLVENT-FREE-WATER-RESISTANT/133014866658?epid=1205275010).
(Someone more intelligent will be along soon to say NO Richtea, BAD Richtea.)
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But how difficult is it to remove the hub and take to a powder coating specialist.
Do you need special tools to remove.
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Is it acceptable?
Absolutely not. My 1987 Honda CBR1000 F-H had done 8,000 wet and windy miles whenit went into my mates wet and windy garage for 22 years (don't ask!).
It had been dragged out and cleaned about as often as lots of exceedingly low mileage K12/13's get dragged out and cleaned.
When I eventually sold it, with a mammoth 9,998 miles on the clock, it had no more rust or corrosion on it than it did when it was new. And it had NONE when it was new.
I have a mate who recently bought a 24 year old Yamaha which had had a VERY sad life. Not that many miles but a right little rat bike, even if it was a good runner. He stripped it and found it was in really good nick under all the crud and crap.
There was, inevitably, some rust creeping under the paucity of paint that Yamaha had reluctantly sprayed on it in the factory.
He decided to leave it as it was and honestly, I can't see any of it. Not a spot of rust. When he pointed it out to me, I was HORRIFIED! OMG! All that? My 2012 K13S has more rust on its caliper bolts than his whole bike.
Acceptable? No way!
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But how difficult is it to remove the hub and take to a powder coating specialist.
Do you need special tools to remove.
If you have to ask, you don't want to be doing it!
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But I like a challenge 😙
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There are two or three bubbles in the paint on the rear hub on my 2010 K1300GT, although all other paintwork is perfectly sound. I have decided to leave it as is, unless it becomes unsightly!
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https://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo/full?photo_id=501879498003
State so far.
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The rear hub is simple to get off, but preparing it for powder coating will be a nightmare. You’d need to split the drive having drained it of oil. Then you’re going to have to remove 4 bearings the axle seal, pinion gear and the rubber bush at the torque arm linkage.
Then it needs carefully masking off so as not to coat any bits that shouldn’t be (like the insides). Powder coating itself shouldn’t be too costly - £80-100 I’d guess.
Then you need new bearings....
2 of them are cheap - around £8 each. The pinion bearing will be more like £30, whilst the needle roller bearing on the axle is nearer £50. If the main crown bearing also needs replacing, add another £40.
After installing the pinion bearing, you need to adjust the backlash between it and the crown gear - new shims may well be needed for that, only available from BMW, cost unknown.
A new axle seal will be £25 or so. The rubber bush should be cheap but installing it will be painful.
And of course, it’ll be £18 for a litre bottle of gear oil. That you’ll use 180ml of.
All in all, it’s quite an undertaking.
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https://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo/full?photo_id=501879498003
State so far.
Not reachable for me, Oxford.
Have a read on how to publish images here. One of these will do the trick:
https://eurokclub.bike/index.php?topic=2500.0
https://eurokclub.bike/index.php?topic=63.0
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For the rear bevel drive I'd be inclined to try to get matching paint mixed up to avoid the need to strip and rebuild.
Paint won't be as durable as powdercoat but it should last a decade if done properly.
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But I like a challenge 😙
Well, if you must, the first step is to get yourself a copy of the RepROM, the BMW K12/13 Workshop Manual and all will be revealed.