Centre Stand Corrosion...

yofi said:

It's a known issue, but it's not corrosion: it's gravel rash. I think they've swapped out a fair number of warranty (mine included) so have moved to address the issue. As for others here, I fitted a bicycle neoprene cover. As has been said elsewhere, the problem with the stand plate will be the amount of crap that it collects.

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Correct it’s gravel rash from all the crap thrown up by the front wheel - I fitted protective tape on my first two 1200s but all I do these days is to carefully apply ACF50 to the stand with a small brush after washing the bike - still get gravel rash to centre bar, but no rust whatsoever.

I've just had my centre stand powder coated.

At the risk of stating the obvious, should we not expect, for a premium product, that it should be prepared and painted correctly, to begin with ?

Majesty said:

I've just had my centre stand powder coated.

At the risk of stating the obvious, should we not expect, for a premium product, that it should be prepared and painted correctly, to begin with ?

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In fairness due to its position and how it gets road crap flung at it from both wheels I don’t think anything other than a rubberised or plasticote would stand up for long.
Though the finish it comes from the factory with is laughable considering what it has to put up with.

Just fit helicopter tape. This issue isn’t exclusive to the GS, as the stand on my mates Yamaha Tracer is shot to pieces.

I use a sheath of corrugated black electric conduit on the bar
Coupled with 2-3 zip ties
Keeps the paint perfect
Cost is about 20 pence

JohnnyBoxer said:

I use a sheath of corrugated black electric conduit on the bar
Coupled with 2-3 zip ties
Keeps the paint perfect
Cost is about 20 pence

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Who paid the 20 pence for you ?

Weird Bob said:

I saw this part last year on the 1250 in the showroom and ordered one for my 1200 after checking the parts fiche to check it fits.
I currently haven’t picked it up from the dealer and still have the helicopter tape on.
But I took some pictures of it on a 1250 and I reckon it gives a good bit of protection while hopefully cutting down on spray.

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I was waiting for someone to pick up on this, i fitted one of these to my 1200 about a month back, works a treat

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I’ve purchased one of these for my 1250 TE Exclusive, amongst one or two other things, I don’t pick the bike up until Friday��

ghost-rider said:

I was waiting for someone to pick up on this, i fitted one of these to my 1200 about a month back, works a treat

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I'm just still a little unclear on what it protects, given that the centre bar is still exposed - is it the underneath frame?

yofi said:

I'm just still a little unclear on what it protects, given that the centre bar is still exposed - is it the underneath frame?

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Its not exposed to the full pelt of the back wheel tho

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yofi said:

I'm just still a little unclear on what it protects, given that the centre bar is still exposed - is it the underneath frame?

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That’s why I posted the pictures. The cross bar is nearly fully protected particularly from the rear wheel. The only part of the bar exposed is facing straight down so only gets some spray from the surface rather than debris.

ghost-rider said:

I was waiting for someone to pick up on this, i fitted one of these to my 1200 about a month back, works a treat

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Does it help at all with overall spraying of crap on a wet day or just about the same?
I just realised how lazy I am - I took those pictures at the beginning of December and ordered the part then - still haven’t gotten round to collecting it -eeek. Going to do that tomorrow- probably

Weird Bob said:

Does it help at all with overall spraying of crap on a wet day or just about the same?
I just realised how lazy I am - I took those pictures at the beginning of December and ordered the part then - still haven’t gotten round to collecting it -eeek. Going to do that tomorrow- probably

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Bout the same mate if im honest, maybe a fraction better, or that cud be wishful thinking, collects a few small stones every now and again tho, nothin to get stressed about tho

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I've found that the centre stand bash plates still collect debris from the rear tyre (except for the plastic one shown on this thread) but fitting one of the Pyramid rear shock protectors (an extension of the rear mudguard) significantly reduces the crud being collected. Like most things "GS" the answer is to attack all of the oversights/cost cutting (delete as appropriate) by BMW. As others have mentioned, the finish on these bikes doesn't seem to match the premium price tag. We keep being lured back to them because of the fantastic ride but to consider one long term it seems, requires care and effort as to the upkeep and extra bits and pieces needed to protect various areas of the bikes.

Now who's got a 3D printer ....

I bought one of those neoprene bicycle chain protector things of eBay. Called Survival Duck, it was 2.99 delivered iirc. Trimmed a bit off the end and it fitted a treat. When I give her a wash down yesterday I noticed all was still well under there.

I am just in the process of waiting for my replacement parts - BMW are replacing the following under warranty on a 2017 GSA TE

Centre stand
Side stand
Rear subframe
Rear drive unit
swinging arm

He also mentioned when I went in that none of this would be a problem as they are all regular items that BMW replace under warranty

The service manager called me and asked me if I'd like to have the centre stand powder coated before they fit them! I said yes and can you do the other steel items too whilst your at it? He's having that done for me although I will have to pay of course!

I think its mad that a premium bike needs the customer to fund a more durable finish on parts replaced under warranty. He also suggested that this issue is down to the water based pains that BMW now use.

Water based finishes are just shite in my oppinion, and just not fit for purpose, but nothing is built to last these days

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Rant coming on:

It's not necessarily water based paints alone to blame...in fact it definitely isn't. That may be used as an excuse but ALL cars made and sold throughout the EU have to use water based paints too and how many of those rust away within the first few years? None.

The fact that BMW use crap steel which is then not undercoated, followed by a few coats of base and an incredibly thin top coat is to blame, along with poor quality alloys. Built down to a cost. You don't need to strip and powder coat the frame although that's obviously the best route by far. You can improve things by adding a few more decent layers of top-coat. The engine casings though probably do want stripping and powder coating.

It's an outrage and a disgrace that BMW charge over £17K for their premium bikes and the finish is poorer than on most imported Chinese bikes. I won't ever buy another bmw bike again after my GSA sees me out, not when they take the p*ss out of us and insult their client base with such appalling quality. They've lost any future income they might have counted on from me and I suspect from a growing number of enthusiasts all because they cut costs at every opportunity and use the business model which counts half the bike as a "consumable warranty replacement parts cost", then couldn't give a monkeys about customers out of warranty, unless they happen to have a fancy you tube channel with lots of followers where bad publicity could hurt their sales . Dishonest and disreputable!

I had a 12 year old Lexus GS300 that would have put anything with a bmw badge to shame. Had Lexus made bikes to the same quality as their cars, bmw would not have a market. I then bought a newer Lexus and their customer care and product quality is up there with the best. They keep new customers. BMW take note.

If Honda came out with as good a bike to ride that didn't weigh so much that it creates its own gravitational field (cross-tourer), I would be riding a Honda instead. Even my Triumph Explorer was better finished than the GS. Of course I didn't know all of this when I bought my GS otherwise I would have put my hard earned elsewhere. I was assured it was top drawer for quality. It isn't even close.

Not sure it’s crap steel or it’s a fair analogy to compare to cars. None of the main painted areas on a car are directly being hammered by road debris like the stand etc is. They have plastic wheel arch liners and under sealed bodies etc. Look under your car and put it on a ramp and look at steel suspension areas and u will see surface rust. Just because u can’t see it on a car doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
It’s just on a bike it’s in your face and 100% of the bike is considered a cosmetic area by owners. I’ve certainly never owned a rust free bike if it’s seen salt etc and I’ve had loads of different makes. I toured Scotland for 3 days on an aprilia once during November and all of the Caliper bolts and hose fittings were slightly rusty by the time the 3 days was over.
The fact bmw deal with corrosion issues generally is something New to me. Aprilia told me to go forth and I had a similar issues with Ducati where the front wheel spindle had rust inside from the factory. Wouldn’t warranty it so I had it nickel plated.