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Front brake rotors rattling.


Joe Durt

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2000 R1100RT. 120K Miles on it.

The front rotors have plenty of meat left on them but the roller pin thingy's that connect the rotor to the inner thingy to the wheel rattle and have a lot of loose play in them.

What are the chances that I can just replace the rollers only.

Hopefully that is the sacrificial metal part. Or....do I need to replace the whole shooting match ?

Thanks !!

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Rattling bobbins are not necessarily a big deal.

What is a big deal is if you can move your disc around its circumference. That is, if you face the disc and grab it at say, 10 and 2 o'clock and can move the disk from the 10 towards 9 and 11 and 2 towards 1 and 3 o'clock. Then they need to be replaced... :thumbsup:

 

 

Edited by philbytx
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They move slightly but not as much as I think you descibed. Not so much as clockwise or counter clockwise but in and out on the same axis as the axle.

At speeds above 20 or 30 mph they are quiet. At low speeds on rough road they sound like marbles in a can.

Thanks.

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Replace the bobbins. Available from BMW or other paces.

 

I think Motobins.com has them, but not sure.

 

David

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+1 on replacing them at 120K!

GO HERE to obtain a replacement kit.

About $40 plus shipping. However, if you aim on keeping your bike a while, probably wouldn't be a bad idea to replace the complete disc/bobbins. You can see that Motobins has excellent pricing :thumbsup: .

 

 

 

 

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Michaelr11
They move slightly but not as much as I think you descibed. Not so much as clockwise or counter clockwise but in and out on the same axis as the axle.

At speeds above 20 or 30 mph they are quiet. At low speeds on rough road they sound like marbles in a can.

Keep in mind that these are floating rotors; they are supposed to move "in and out" along the axle axis. Rotational movement should be very limited. If you look at the Moto-bins site, the replacement bobbins for your bike (my bike) is the part # 20393. You would need one set for each rotor.

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Clive Liddell

Good to see that the bobbins are back in stock at Motobins. I see that they are "steel" and wonder if this would (or may) increase wear on the rotor etc?

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Thanks folks. Checked the local dealership...They are pretty pricey and they only stock a couple. Go Figure !!???

Why would anybody just stock a couple. Maybe a set or two. A couple of bobbins are useless...LOL

 

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mythreesons

Hey Joe,

For what it's worth: my "rotors" were rattling like crazy and I too was going to replace the bobbins. In the meantime I needed a new set of EBC pads so I put them on. The noise completely went away! Apparently my noise was pad rattle. The old EBC's didn't have anti rattle springs - the new ones do. I've got 80k on my original bobbins.

Edited by mythreesons
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Motobins did not have them at the time so I bought the whole set from BMW. A hunnert something american bucks.

 

David

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I tend to agree with you. It would make sense that the "Bobbin " would be the sacrificial part instead of the inner ring or the rotor.

I was looking to upgrade to a newer RT and have riden several but I love the 2000 model with the Ohlin suspension that I currently own.

Botom line is...I think they perfected it that year.

I know exacly what my macine is going to do in a tight spot.

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cb75076n99

I replaced the disc bobbins on my 1996 R1100RT two years ago (it had about 100,000 miles on it then). I had been hearing two different noises - a rattling sound when starting to move from a dead stop (not just the ABS clanking sound), and very occasionally, a kind of "tuk-tuk" sound when braking hard while at a relatively slow speed. The rotors also had some play in a forward-backward movement. Replacing the bobbins took care of all those symptoms. The actual replacement work wasn't too bad, once I got the hang of it and realized that you can't force the bobbins into the holes - you have to finesse them. I've forgotten most of the details about the install, but I could look up my notes if that's helpful to anyone. I seem to recall that there were two kinds of bobbins - one with a wire around it and one without. I'll post a few photos from the install.

Here's a photo of Old and New bobbins.

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cb75076n99

A photo of the rotors as the bobbins are being replaced. I think the trick was to keep enough bobbins installed at any time so that the rotor would stay in place, yet still be movable enough to allow the insertion of new bobbins.

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Yep...makes sense. I checked all the parts with a caliper and the only worn part was the "Bobbins". Made of what appears to be aluminum so it is the wear part. Thanks.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a 1999 RT and the rattling rotors drove me crazy. I replaced the bobbins with BMW parts and have been glad I did. Quiet riding and braking.

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2000 R1100RT. 120K Miles on it.

The front rotors have plenty of meat left on them...

120K seems like a lot of mileage on the original rotors. Is "plenty of meat" by visual inspection or by measurement? At 100,000 miles, the front rotors on my 1999 RT were under the minimum thickness spec. I replaced them with new EBC rotors from Beemer Boneyard, and they made a world of difference. The EBC units come pre-assembled, and it looks like the bobbins are permanent, not replaceable. Changing rotors was one of the easier maintenance jobs I have ever tackled; the hardest part was getting the wheel off and back on the bike.

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  • 3 years later...
Hi Joe

 

I just received my shipment of bobbins ( $77 for 24) from Dan at:

 

http://boxer-upgrades.webs.com/apps/webstore/

 

I will be installing them next week, and will post the results when done.

 

Ron

 

Old thread, but...

 

Thank you for the link! Just bought a set for my newly-acquired (as in less than five hours ago... :grin: ) 99 R1100RT with rattling front rotors. Didn't measure the rotors yet, but there's a bunch of side to side movement on the bobbins, so I'm hoping the new bobbins will cure the rattle. If not and if the rotors are blow specs, I guess I need to fork over the money for new rotors.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just replaced the bobbins on the left rotor with the wheel on the bike. Other than getting out the three spring loaded ones out (they were PITA), everything went smoothly. Ran out of time, so the right side has to wait till tomorrow, but so far the difference is night and day comparing to the right side.

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