Rust on rear disc

[Right Hand Drive]

Hello all. Would welcome your opinion concerning rust on the rear disc of my R. My 1150RT would develop rusty pitting on the front discs if left unridden for any length of time in winter. This was down to the front sintered pads rusting onto the discs. Apparently "they all do this" nevertheless BMW replaced my discs under warranty. However, this has recently happened to the rear disc on my R when it was laid up for a few weeks, despite the rear pads being "organic". Same rust pitting as from the sintered front pads on my old RT. I checked the last service and the rear pads were indeed replaced with the recommended organic pads, so I am perplexed as to how this rusting can occur. As far as I know "organic" means no metal "bits" in the pads. Does anyone have any opinions on this? The front discs on the R also developed the same rust but there are sintered pads there. I was told that dealers no longer replace discs when this rust occurs and that discs are only replaced if warped and then only up to 10,000 miles. I know the little rust worm holes don't effect braking but they don't look nice and I never got this on any of my Hondas. Sure, a thin rust film would form when the bikes were laid up (as on cars) but soon cleaned off with brake usage. My last three BM's have all suffered the tiny rust holes on the discs.

[maduko]

Wow!

That's bizarre. I've never seen the rotors rust that severely.

Especially in that short amount of time.

[indigoid]

Stop using crappy BMW parts, then?

Galfer rotors are pretty popular in the F650 community, do they make them for the R1200R?

[Right Hand Drive]

Yes, in that short a time the rotors pitted with the dreaded rust worm. Last December we were in Melbourne for 3 weeks (yep Indignoid, SWMBO is Australian so I recognise the humour) and when we got back I saw the discs had pitted. The bike had been left in the garage and was not really wet when I put it away. I'm still bemused at the rear disc though - the pads are organic so how can they set off that kind of reaction? The corrosion forms exactly behind each pad. Can't say I'm amused with the quality of the BMW parts. The point about Galfer discs is well taken and I believe you can get them for the R but why should you? A bike that costs that much should really have quality parts fitted.

[celticus]

I have not noticed any rust on mine what so ever.
Mark

[TT RDHS]

I have not noticed any rust on mine what so ever.
Mark

You don't live in an aquarium...
No one knows "damp", like our friends in the U.K..

[indigoid]

A bike that costs that much should really have quality parts fitted.

I concur, but if you must remain bloody-minded about it, at least have the courtesy to not whine on forums. I suppose you'd buy the same crappy rust-prone rotors when the time came to replace them, just because you paid lots of money for the bike?

My SO's 2008 Honda CB400 cost 40% of the cost my yet-to-be-delivered R1200R and exhibits some beautiful engineering. BMW could certainly learn a thing or two, even if you played dirty and excused them from gearbox comparisons

[celticus]

I have not noticed any rust on mine what so ever.
Mark

You don't live in an aquarium...
No one knows "damp", like our friends in the U.K..

The bike is parked in a garage is it not? Is it parked wet? It is quite humid a lot of the time where I live.

Mark

[Right Hand Drive]

I have not noticed any rust on mine what so ever.
Mark

Mark, that’s the strange thing, the garage is well ventilated and I dry the brakes with a good run before the bike is left for any period of time. My local dealer tells me that they see this disc corrosion all the time. May be related to the amount of salt they put down on the roads over here in the winter.

A bike that costs that much should really have quality parts fitted.

I concur, but if you must remain bloody-minded about it, at least have the courtesy to not whine on forums. I suppose you'd buy the same crappy rust-prone rotors when the time came to replace them, just because you paid lots of money for the bike?

My SO's 2008 Honda CB400 cost 40% of the cost my yet-to-be-delivered R1200R and exhibits some beautiful engineering. BMW could certainly learn a thing or two, even if you played dirty and excused them from gearbox comparisons

Indigoid, the idea of the “whinging Pom” is a bit passé these days. My comments are not discourteous [and no one else sees them as such either] – they merely raise the issue [which you agree with anyway] about purchase price and quality. You made a good suggestion regarding alternative rotors. That’s the beauty of this forum, someone raises a problem and others chime in to help out. Hopefully the R will arrive soon and give you as much pleasure as it has to the rest of us here.

[indigoid]

My comment was utterly unrelated to your origin, in fact the"whinging pom" connection hadn't even occurred to me until you mentioned it just now. If you want quality parts you'll need to buy something other (and likely cheaper) than a BMW, that much is clear. Price is irrelevant.

[celticus]

MY BMW is absolutly covered in quality parts. You could say is was made up of quality parts.
Indigoid why own BMWs if you think quality parts need to be found else where?
Isn't it POME?
Mark

[indigoid]

I buy them because they are interesting bikes. Despite the many many problems, my F650 is still good fun to ride. When I tested an R12GS prior to ordering my R12R (couldn't find an R12R to demo) I loved the feel of the Telelever front end, boxer engine and shaft drive. This is not the same as saying the quality is good, IMHO. I certainly did think long and hard before placing my order, considering all the recurring issues - EWS leaving people stranded in the middle of nowhere, R12GS fuel level sensor issues, R1200C left handgrips separating from the bars, frequent HP2 Enduro fork failures (especially on the fork leg with the caliper attached), and who could forget the seemingly interminable final drive failures?

Price is clearly not that relevant to quality.

Number of results from searching Australian Product Safety Recalls website for "FOO motorcycle", dating back to 1986:

Piaggio: 1 (did not specify the term "motorcycle" in the search)
KTM: 3
Moto Guzzi: 4
Honda: 5
Ducati: 5
Triumph: 8
Harley Davidson: 11
Suzuki: 12
BMW: 15
Yamaha: 20
Kawasaki: 27

It's not definitive by any means -- there could be typos and other data errors hindering searches -- and I'm not drawing any conclusions from it, but I certainly found it interesting.