Spokes Loose across the Pond

I find it fairly worrying that dealers mechanics are being informed to tighten spokes in the wheels, as stated in another post I know someone who used to run his own wheel rebuilding business and he was able to rebuild the BMW wheels which he described as utter b*stards.

As he pointed out building them from scratch on a more than one off basis really requires special jigs and if building them by hand they are totally unlike a conventional wheel to true up , if there is any deflection in the rim then it is not just a case of tightening the opposite spokes as you would with a normal rim.

Personally I would rather send my wheels off to the Devon Wheel Company and have them built up properly rather than risk a tweaked wheel either failing or a replacement wheel having the same issues a few thousand miles down the line
 
I'll be checking how "true" the wheel is on its return....... for a spoke wheel ( Aluminium Cast or Fabricated) I believe the MOT tolerance to be 2mm.....

2mm would be easy to spot on a spinning wheel...

I had two loose and five "dead" spokes - not loose but no tension or Ting when tapped with a screwdriver.
 
Seems to be that in the BMW headquarters some bean counter has a few spokes loose, first the forks now the spokes, whoever is dealing with the PR should start to worry I think, unless the new bike 1250 comes with wheels from somewhere else, or a different build.
 
If these spokes are losing tension, presumably either the metal is stretching or the spoke nipples are loosening off

Sounds like somebody in the engineering department of the mothership needs to invent a solution pronto and not just keep kicking this can down the road until we have another Kevin Ash episode.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The spokes issue is a recent issue . The design has not changed but the manufacture has (my 2014 has the new Chinese Giant rims and has no issues ) . Before anyone knocks Giant, be aware that they are the biggest manufacturer of rims, bicycles and extruded aluminium in the world by a very long margin and are not amateurs. These spokes cannot work loose unless not locked, or they were loose from day 1, or there is a metallurgical stretching issue .
 
A new "feature" of these wheels is a 2mm Grub Screw inside the Torx head on the Spoke Nipple - I reckon they have a batch that have not been torqued correctly as most of the failures seem to be 2018 bikes with the issue cropping up in the first few thousand miles....

Pukmeister said:
If these spokes are losing tension, presumably either the metal is stretching or the spoke nipples are loosening off

Sounds like somebody in the engineering department of the mothership needs to invent a solution pronto and not just keep kicking this can down the road until we have another Kevin Ash episode.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
Twizzle; grub screws are not a new feature ; the German Behr wheels were identical with the same locking grub screw . Not easy to see when caked with mud .
 
My spokes are loose as well, 2018 bike. As said above this appears to be either 1) not tightened correctly from the factory or 2) The spokes (material/thread locking) are not fit for purpose.

Does anyone know why the spokes are coming loose? Is it 1) or 2) above?
 
shadude said:
My spokes are loose as well, 2018 bike. As said above this appears to be either 1) not tightened correctly from the factory or 2) The spokes (material/thread locking) are not fit for purpose.

Does anyone know why the spokes are coming loose? Is it 1) or 2) above?
Click to expand...

Ask BMW they might be nice and admit it to you...........:D
 
Smogbob said:
Ask BMW they might be nice and admit it to you...........:D
Click to expand...

I've been told it was a batch of wheels where the threads of the nuts had been oiled, thus the locking compound added to the grub scews slipped and the spokes unscrewed them selves.


I spoke to my dealer about this issue in the beginning of the summer, they had received a note from BMW regarding this issue. Surely my dealer could not possibly be the only one receiving the notification.

A simple check is to merely check the grubscrews. If they are tight there ought to be no problem down the road.
 
I’ve just had my rear wheel replaced 2017 GS Rallye at 1300miles, 11 loose spokes were found.
 
Giles said:
<iframe width="966" height="543" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HsdHDZVYTjk" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>



There has been a spate of 'callipers in spokes'

Everyone has gone down the route of loose bolts, failing castings etc etc.

It's pretty clear to me that the wheel has got so much flex in it with the loose spokes that its touching the calliper and the rest is history.

I'm sorry .... Ive had a slating on here by the GS lovers for being a 'hater' :rolleyes: but it's just one thing after another with BM.

I will never buy another!!!!
Click to expand...

https://advrider.com/f/threads/loose-spokes-how-about-40-advice.1337713/#post-35976587
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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