2021 1250 GS sticking back brake “issue”

ShakeyBMW

ShakeyBMW

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Further to my 200m ride thread, I’ve finally had time to sort out this issue on my bike.

What I found seems to me to have likely been caused at manufacture so I’ll post the essential information here.



The pedal lever (1) pivots on the bush (3) which is held tight to the frame by bolt 6 located behind the right footpeg.
The bearing surface inside the lever is fitted with a sintered / porus bronze type material bearing surface which as far as I know is designed to be used with oil. The oil sits in the pores and ensures that the bearing surfaces are well lubricated.

What I found is that a particularly thick grease had been used at assembly and this had collected dirt and thickened up to a nice strong glue binding the two together. Foot pressure was sufficient to depress the lever but the return spring was not strong enough to pull the lever back up.

The remedy was to remove the lever / pedal from the bike, clean up the steel bearing surface and polish any corrosion with some fine silicon paper. Also, using brake cleaner, try to get as much gunk out of the porus bearing material as possible. This worked OK too.

With the bearing surfaces lubed with engine oil and the whole thing put back on the bike, the brake pedal now works perfectly.

Why they used grease we will never know :nenau
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=0J93-USA-12-2019-K50-BMW-R_1250_GS_19_0J91,_0J93_&diagId=35_0380
 
Funnily enough, I had the same problem with brake pedal, this is exactly how I sorted it out. It did take some effort to clean it, to the point that I thought the grey/black hardened grease was actually part of it. This was summer last year. I did not have the foresight to place my works on here, so my bad. But it does work and this is part of my spring servicing, along with calliper pistons, front rear, exhaust flap and all other pivot joints that can be taken apart. Well done for putting in here others will now do this as part of their home servicing.
 
ShakeyBMW said:
Further to my 200m ride thread, I’ve finally had time to sort out this issue on my bike.

What I found seems to me to have likely been caused at manufacture so I’ll post the essential information here.



The pedal lever (1) pivots on the bush (3) which is held tight to the frame by bolt 6 located behind the right footpeg.
The bearing surface inside the lever is fitted with a sintered / porus bronze type material bearing surface which as far as I know is designed to be used with oil. The oil sits in the pores and ensures that the bearing surfaces are well lubricated.

What I found is that a particularly thick grease had been used at assembly and this had collected dirt and thickened up to a nice strong glue binding the two together. Foot pressure was sufficient to depress the lever but the return spring was not strong enough to pull the lever back up.

The remedy was to remove the lever / pedal from the bike, clean up the steel bearing surface and polish any corrosion with some fine silicon paper. Also, using brake cleaner, try to get as much gunk out of the porus bearing material as possible. This worked OK too.

With the bearing surfaces lubed with engine oil and the whole thing put back on the bike, the brake pedal now works perfectly.

Why they used grease we will never know :nenau
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=0J93-USA-12-2019-K50-BMW-R_1250_GS_19_0J91,_0J93_&diagId=35_0380
Click to expand...

Good write-up, with pictures as well for us children. :)

I might take a look at mine while the bike is still only a year old and see if it's going the same way as yours and maybe do some preventative maintenance.

Thanks for the info!
 
ShakeyBMW said:
Further to my 200m ride thread, I’ve finally had time to sort out this issue on my bike.

What I found seems to me to have likely been caused at manufacture so I’ll post the essential information here.



The pedal lever (1) pivots on the bush (3) which is held tight to the frame by bolt 6 located behind the right footpeg.
The bearing surface inside the lever is fitted with a sintered / porus bronze type material bearing surface which as far as I know is designed to be used with oil. The oil sits in the pores and ensures that the bearing surfaces are well lubricated.

What I found is that a particularly thick grease had been used at assembly and this had collected dirt and thickened up to a nice strong glue binding the two together. Foot pressure was sufficient to depress the lever but the return spring was not strong enough to pull the lever back up.

The remedy was to remove the lever / pedal from the bike, clean up the steel bearing surface and polish any corrosion with some fine silicon paper. Also, using brake cleaner, try to get as much gunk out of the porus bearing material as possible. This worked OK too.

With the bearing surfaces lubed with engine oil and the whole thing put back on the bike, the brake pedal now works perfectly.

Why they used grease we will never know :nenau
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=0J93-USA-12-2019-K50-BMW-R_1250_GS_19_0J91,_0J93_&diagId=35_0380
Click to expand...

good news happy is fixed, problem with BMW is no grease or to much grease :D
 
ShakeyBMW said:
Further to my 200m ride thread, I’ve finally had time to sort out this issue on my bike.

What I found seems to me to have likely been caused at manufacture so I’ll post the essential information here.



The pedal lever (1) pivots on the bush (3) which is held tight to the frame by bolt 6 located behind the right footpeg.
The bearing surface inside the lever is fitted with a sintered / porus bronze type material bearing surface which as far as I know is designed to be used with oil. The oil sits in the pores and ensures that the bearing surfaces are well lubricated.
Click to expand...

Interesting,

The concensus is grease should be used, oil in odd circumstances

https://www.tstar.com/blog/how-much...d some sort,most applications call for grease.
 
If the bush is phosphor bronze, that is self lubing.

If it's Oilite, that needs soaking in oil for at least 24 hrs prior to fitment and use.

I use a small can of 3in1 oil and add a few drops to every pivot I can find on all of my bikes, whenever I've cleaned them, and once a week on my winter use commuter bikes.
 
Superb write up and idiot ( suitable for me) guide/picture

I've used 'White Grease' on such moving parts for some years on a number of different bikes, I even applied some to my GS ... does anyone think this is a bad idea ?
 
BMW reckon you should use Staburags NBU30 which is the same waterproof anti-fretting stuff as they recommend for sealing the swing arm boots.
 
richtel said:
BMW reckon you should use Staburags NBU30 which is the same waterproof anti-fretting stuff as they recommend for sealing the swing arm boots.
Click to expand...
If that’s what they used when they put my bike together then I don’t think much of their recommendation.
 
My rear brake disc and caliper seem to be rather hot after a ride, and that`s just bimbling about - no frantic heavy braking/riding the brake lever or other such use which might lead to heat building up.
The caliper gets too hot to hold on to for more than a few seconds - probably about 60+ degrees..
A spin of the wheel reveals slight pad on disc noise but nothing more than any other brake caliper i`ve done such a test on. The wheel won`t keep spinning for long (like a front wheel might) due to being connected to the final drive/shaft/gearbox but it is deffo is not binding or stopping instantly like you would expect if the brake were dragging.
The brake pedal is not sticking as in the posts above.
The pistons can be pushed into the caliper body easily enough with hand pressure.
The caliper body is sliding as normal on it`s pins.
Everything seems normal but the heat generated seems too high to me..
Anybody else noticed their caliper getting hot? Could it be heat transfered from the final drive in addition to brake generated heat?
 
Hann said:
My rear brake disc and caliper seem to be rather hot after a ride, and that`s just bimbling about - no frantic heavy braking/riding the brake lever or other such use which might lead to heat building up.
The caliper gets too hot to hold on to for more than a few seconds - probably about 60+ degrees..
A spin of the wheel reveals slight pad on disc noise but nothing more than any other brake caliper i`ve done such a test on. The wheel won`t keep spinning for long (like a front wheel might) due to being connected to the final drive/shaft/gearbox but it is deffo is not binding or stopping instantly like you would expect if the brake were dragging.
The brake pedal is not sticking as in the posts above.
The pistons can be pushed into the caliper body easily enough with hand pressure.
The caliper body is sliding as normal on it`s pins.
Everything seems normal but the heat generated seems too high to me..
Anybody else noticed their caliper getting hot? Could it be heat transfered from the final drive in addition to brake generated heat?
Click to expand...

Yes, same for my bike (2021). Hardly used any brakes… fronts cool but rear very warm. No binding either. Drive housing only warm.
 
Edmund Kean said:
Yes, same for my bike (2021). Hardly used any brakes… fronts cool but rear very warm. No binding either. Drive housing only warm.
Click to expand...

When i got home tonight both the final drive and caliper were too hot to hold.
But it was ~28 degrees on the way home..
Do yours ger too hot to hold for any length of time?
 
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