I've searched the forum and browsed pics, but I can't tell. It doesn't look bent when I look at the pics on the net, but what would cause the paint to come off? I haven't been in any accidents. I can only remember 1 good jolt to the front (felt like I hit a half buried cynderblock in a water crossing). My paint is peeling up and I am thinking maybe because the telelever is bending there? Other side doesn't have the paint coming off... If it's not bent, all i can figure to the paint coming off could be from brake fluid drips from when swapping lines a year ago, but it is a bubble like a bend or corrosion below (which I am not seeing), not a wearing off from the top. ideas? thanks.
I run a body shop n looks like its bent to me . shock bottomed out hard and the front continued to collapse . had to be a huge hit i think.. sorry but you need a new telelever
The finish is powder-coat and unfortunately it's very thin on the underside, made worse by the fact that the welds on the underside are not cleaned very well before the powder-coat was applied. If you run your fingers under the arm, back towards the rear, you'll feel what seems like grit stuck to the underside. It's not grit it's spatter from the weld that's not cleaned off in the lazy build process. The weld-spatter provides a starting point for corrosion that worms its way along under the powder-coat and finally splits the coating. Mine (despite regular cleaning underneath) was starting to do the same so I whipped it off and stripped it back to bare metal. I took pains to clean the weld-spatter off with a grinding tool before re-painting it (rather than powder-coat). I wish I'd taken photos of the little worm trails of rust that were spreading all over the surface but had not yet burst through the coating. That's a downside of powder-coat, it's strong enough to prevent corrosion appearing until its got a good hold and finally burst through like something in a Sci-Fi film. Every 1100/1150 I've worked on has the same rough finish on the underside of the Tele-lever wishbone.
If that A-arm would have to be bent, the first thing to have broken is the ball joint, so see if you have any play in that part. Put the bike on the centerstand and have someone lift and let down severall times, the rear end of the bike. If there is play in the joint you will see/hear it... Dan.
Hard to tell from the pics but I don't think it's bent. You would have a ripple on the side where the paint is flakeing. All the Telelevers I've seen posted that have deformed from the suspension bottoming have done so at the point around the balljoint itself.
Check your frame alignment. http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/frame/index.htm My RT is allowed + or - .35 inches
If you decide its bent and want to replace it, I have the one sitting here off of my old RT. The bike wasn't wrecked. It was retired due to stripped input splines and high mileage. Its black, not silver, but its straight and in good shape. Good luck with whatever you figure out.
My guess is that it's just coating flaking. Removing, paintstripping, and some measuring should give you an answer. As mentioned earlier, it is true that the R1150GS is obsolete and basically not even ridable. -- (I ride an 02 with 160,000 miles on it, and it runs/rides like new)
