Spoke Nipples - Replaceable?

[Hamslay]

Hi all,

So I'm in mourning today for my spoke nipples!

My 2022 1250 was ACF50'd before winter, not ridden in the rain, hosed and blown dry after dry winter rides, and ACF50 reapplied in February.

Yesterday was the big degrease and every single spoke nipple on the rear hub is destroyed. Absolutely gutted. I've used so many bikes through winter with ACF50 and FS365 and never had a single corroded fastener. On the spoked GS, every single one is awful.

Without going over quality of parts, warranty or unrealistic expectations, it comes down to what is feasible to do. I'm OK spending £100 on all new spoke nipples and grub screws and swapping out each one, one by one. However, I've read that anything to do with spoked wheels is voodoo and shouldn't be attempted by mortal men.

So what's the story? If a wheel is not damaged, not been straightened, and the spokes are all fine, is it really not possible to simply remove, replace and retorque each nipple?

If it IS possible, is there a fastener that might survive a winter? Is there a reason, other than cost, that BMW don't use stainless nipples like the spokes themselves?

Any help is appreciated as I'm so gutted with the state of my pride and joy.

 

[Barnoe]

I don't know why everyone raves about AC50, ive had no joy with it either.
its not the miracle stuff people go on about.

Due to using an electric paint spray gun and it put the ACF50 on too thick and i used over £30 worth of it in one coat.
my bike still went rusty under it through winter?
So my thinking is, if a thick coat like that doesn't work forget it

Next winter i will try something else and spend this summer removing all the rust!!

The real question though is.... why does a 20k BMW bike rust like a cheap Chinese import?
we shouldn't have to try special potions to stop it rusting, other bikes dont.

 

[clutchspring]

If it's still under warranty take it back, I can remember when the new honda African twin came out they had problems withe crap finish on the spokes and honda ended up replacing them.
You have paid for a premium product which should live up to you expectation.

Ian.

 

[Buttertub]

Any pictures ? it might help with some comments.

 

[Buttertub]

Wow Barnoe, thats a humungous amount of ACF50. i buy in 1 Litre bottles and that lasts at least 4 applications, and its dripping with that, like you i use a spray gun. That' s very strange it didn't work, i've tested it outdoors on cheap nails that melt like butter and with a thin coat they were still like new after 2 months in all weathers. i've had bikes caked in road salt and grime that laterally you could peel off, never washed from Oct to March, and everything was like new underneath. Any bits i missed (e.g. footpegs) it stripped like paint stripper.

 

[Onahi]

i used over £30 worth of it in one coat.

I bought one tin, 25 years ago, its still half full, and none of my bikes (GS's since 1999) have any rust on them.........

 

[Hamslay]

Any pictures ? it might help with some comments.

Here are some pics.

 

[Neil W]

That looks like galvanic corrosion like you get on marine fixings, never seen it that bad on BMW bike rims, perhaps another factor involved

 

[Hamslay]

I had a W reg SV650 track bike and none of the fasteners were as bad as this is after one winter. Something's not right.

 

[Victor c]

A couple of hours with a small copper or brass wire brush, then a brushed on application of ACF50 will sort them. I work in the marine world and would never rely on ACF50 or their marine equivalent, Corrosion Block, as sole long term corrosion protection and I never use it on my bike, other than on small plated fasteners or linkages.

I find regular washing and drying is the best prevention.

 

[malcopopolo]

I have used gt85 and or wd40.
Spray some on a old slab and pour water over.
The water displaces.

I use gt85 to clean most metal parts.

Seems to do the trick for me

 

[malcopopolo]

In your case I would be tempted to ask n
Bmw or clean them up and paint them black

 

[Buttertub]

That looks bad Hamslay, i can see why your pained about it. On the second photo down it looks like its started to get into the wheel hub but that's maybe just the camera angle. If youve had acf50 on it and hosed it down + dried it that's shouldn't happen, as said, it looks like some kind of reaction. Is the rest of the bike okay ? e.g the usual spot on the cylinder head joints ? My first port of call before doing anything would be the dealers as its under warranty and let them inspect it, youv'e everything to gain from asking. If the rest of the bike is fine then it gives you a case to make if its just the wheels.


If you do end up going down the new nipples route i would have a chat first with a specialist in spoke wheel builds who i'm sure would be able to offer some advice. They might even have some idea why the nipples have gone like that. There's a few on the internet but i've got no experience of dealing with any so i cant recommend anyone in particular.

 

[Neil W]

Doug Richardson is your man for BMW wheels

 

[Hamslay]

I thought I should update this thread with the outcome.

I showed the wheels to my dealer around the time of the original post, and after taking some photos they submitted a warranty claim to BMW for a new rear wheel. To my surprise, BMW not only agreed to replace the rear wheel, but the front too.

I imagine I'll never know whether there was a bad batch of fasteners that perhaps BMW became aware of, or whether something caused some of these fasteners to corrode in the way they did.

But I am extremely grateful to Jack at Wollaston Motorrad for his understanding and his efforts in getting this resolved. As of today I have brand new wheels at no cost, and treated myself to a new set of Trail Attack 3 tyres to be fitted to the loose wheels before they were fitted. So I'm a happy bunny.

Thanks for your input, guys.

 

[Robbi]

I thought I should update this thread with the outcome.

I showed the wheels to my dealer around the time of the original post, and after taking some photos they submitted a warranty claim to BMW for a new rear wheel. To my surprise, BMW not only agreed to replace the rear wheel, but the front too.

I imagine I'll never know whether there was a bad batch of fasteners that perhaps BMW became aware of, or whether something caused some of these fasteners to corrode in the way they did.

But I am extremely grateful to Jack at Wollaston Motorrad for his understanding and his efforts in getting this resolved. As of today I have brand new wheels at no cost, and treated myself to a new set of Trail Attack 3 tyres to be fitted to the loose wheels before they were fitted. So I'm a happy bunny.

Thanks for your input, guys.

Great result

 

[Santa-2512]

lol,

every one of my nipples on my 2016 GS is rusty as fuck,

been serviced by the mother ship from the word go ....


nothing has been mentioned in any way shape or form !!

 

[SMB]

So pleased, great outcome.
However it should never of happened

 

[GrinningGSer]

Here are some pics.

Hey .. and you know there’s a very tiny hex grub screw , almost invisible , for locking purposes , within that corroded tightening spoke head nut ???? Many don’t .

I have manually applied (OCD purposes) , a small drop of ACF50 , using a cotton bud , to both ends , of each spoke , EVERY November . My reason was , a previous GSA suffered a spoke breakage and the barsteward proved unbelievably difficult to remove .