2008 BMW MOTORRAD K 1200 R wheel

Incorrect tyre pressure
reduces the operating
life of the tyres.
Always check that the tyre
pressures are correct.
Check that tyre pressures
are correct as per the data
below.
Front wheel, tyre pressure
2.5 bar (When cold)
Rear wheel, tyre pressure
2.9 bar (When cold)
If tyre pressure is too low: Correct the tyre pressures.
459zOperation

Brake system, generalDescending mountain
passes
There is a danger of the
brakes fading if you use
only the rear brakes when
descending mountain passes.
Under extreme conditions,
the brakes could overheat
and suffer severe damage.
Use both front and rear
brakes, and make use of the
engine's braking effect as
well.
Wet brakes
After the motorcycle has
been washed, ridden
through water or ridden in
the rain, the brake discs and
pads might be wet and the
brakes might not take effect
immediately.
Apply the brakes in good time until the brakes have dried
out.
Salt on brakes
The brakes may fail to
take effect immediately
if the motorcycle was ridden
on salt-covered roads and the
brakes were not applied for
some time.
Apply the brakes in good
time until the salt layer on the
brake discs and brake pads
has been removed.
Oil or grease on brakes
Oil and grease on the
brake discs and pads
considerably diminish braking
efficiency.
Especially after repair and
maintenance work, make
sure that the brake discs and
brake pads are free of oil and
grease.
Dirt or mud on brakes
When riding on loose
surfaces or muddy
roads, the brakes may fail
to take effect immediately
because of dirt or moisture on
the discs or brake pads.
Apply brakes in good time
until the brakes have been
cleaned.
Brake system with
BMW Integral ABS
OE
Sensitive electronic con-
trolIt takes skill and sensitive
control of the brakes to pull
up safely on a motorcycle. If
the front brakes lock and the
wheel skids, the necessary
longitudinal and lateral stabil-
ising forces are lost, and a fall
can result. For this reason,
the rider seldom makes full
579zRiding

use of available braking per-
formance in an emergency.
BMW Integral ABS provides
improved braking deceler-
ation by means of anti-lock
braking for both wheels and
braking force distribution by
means of the integral brak-
ing function. Making full use
of the motorcycle's technical
braking capacity will minimise
braking distances noticeably,
even when road conditions
are poor. When the motor-
cycle is ravelling in a straight
line, BMW Integral ABS en-
ables safe optimised emer-
gency braking adapted to
match the road-surface con-
ditions.Reserves for safetyThe potentially shorter brak-
ing distances which BMW
Integral ABS permits must
not be used as an excusefor careless riding. ABS is
primarily a means of ensur-
ing a safety margin in genuine
emergencies.
Take care when cornering.
When you apply the brakes
on a corner, the motorcycle's
weight and momentum take
over and even BMW Integral
ABS is unable to counteract
their effects.
Partially integral brakesYour motorcycle is equipped
with partially integral brakes.
Both front and rear brakes
are applied when you pull the
handbrake lever. The foot-
brake lever acts only on the
rear brake.
The electronic controller in
the BMW Integral ABS regu-
lates braking-force distribu-
tion between front and rear
wheels. Braking-force distri-
bution depends on load andis recalculated every time the
ABS controller comes into ac-
tion.
Brake boosterThe hydraulic pump in the
BMW Integral ABS boosts
the braking force acting on
the wheel when the brakes
are applied. By boosting the
braking force in this way,
BMW Integral ABS achieves
higher braking efficiency than
standard brake systems.ABS anti-lock braking
systemABS prevents the wheels
locking under braking, thus
contributing significantly to
road safety.
580zRiding

Rear wheel liftEven under severe braking,
a high level of tyre grip can
mean that the front wheel
does not lock up until very
late, if at all. Consequently,
ABS does not intervene until
very late, if at all. Under these
circumstances the rear wheel
can lift off the ground, and the
outcome can be a highsiding
situation in which the motor-
cycle can flip over.Severe braking can
cause the rear wheel to
lift off the ground.
Bear in mind that ABS can-
not be relied on in all circum-
stances to prevent the rear
wheel from lifting clear of the
ground.
Residual braking func-
tionWhen the ignition is switched
off, during self-diagnosis,
or if the BMW Integral ABS
malfunctions, only a residual
braking function remains
available in the brake circuits
in question. The residual
braking function is the braking
power without the hydraulic
servo assistance of the BMW
Integral ABS. Under these
circumstances, therefore,
you must apply considerably
higher pressure to the brake
levers in question in order to
apply the brakes, and lever
travel is longer. When the
residual braking function
is active, the ABS function
is unavailable in the brake
system in question. When the
residual braking function is
active, the integral braking function is partially or entirely
unavailable.
Without the assistance
of the ABS function, the
wheels could lock when the
brakes are applied hard. You
have to apply considerably
more force to the brake
levers to brake without
servo-assisted brakes. The
changed braking response
can cause accidents.
Avoid hard braking if possible.
Apply brakes in good time as
increased effort is required.
Have the fault rectified as
soon as possible by a spe-
cialist workshop, preferably
an authorised BMW Motorrad
dealer.
The brake-lever travel
needed to build up brak-
ing pressure can be consider-
ably longer when the system
is in residual braking function
mode, so BMW Motorrad re-
581zRiding

Maintenance
Maintenance - general
instructions................... 92
Toolkit ........................ 92
Overview, toolkit .............. 92
Contents, supplementary
kit
OA
.......................... 92
Overview, supplementary kit . . . 92
Engine oil . .................... 93
Brake system, general ......... 95
Brake pads .................... 96
Brake fluid .................... 97
Clutch ....................... 100
Tyres ........................ 101
Rims . ........................ 101
Wheels . . . ................... 102
Front-wheel stand ............ 110 Rear wheel stand
............. 112
Bulbs ........................ 113
Jump starting . . .............. 118
Battery . . . .................... 120
791zMaintenance

workshop, preferably an
authorised BMW Motorrad
dealer.WheelsApproved wheels and
tyresFor each size of tyre BMW
Motorrad tests certain makes,
and approves those that it
certifies as roadworthy. If
BMW Motorrad has not ap-
proved the wheels and tyres,
it cannot assess their suitab-
ility or provide any guarantee
of road safety.
Use only wheels and tyres
approved by BMW Motorrad
for your type of motorcycle.
You can obtain detailed in-
formation from your author-
ised BMW Motorrad dealer or
on the Internet at www.bmw-
motorrad.com.
Removing front wheelPlace the motorcycle on an
auxiliary stand; BMW re-
commends the BMW Motor-
rad rear-wheel stand.
Install the rear wheel stand.
with OA Centre stand:
Make sure the ground is
level and firm and place
the motorcycle on its centre
stand.
Remove screws 1.
Remove cover 2. Once the calipers have
been removed, there is
a risk of the brake pads be-
ing pressed together to the
extent that they cannot be
slipped back over the brake
disc on reassembly.
Do not operate the handbrake
lever when the brake calipers
have been removed.
Remove securing screws 3
of the brake calipers on left
and right.
7102zMaintenance

Force the brake pads
slightly apart by rocking
brake calipers4back
and forth Aagainst brake
discs 5.
Mask off the parts of the
wheel rim that could be
scratched in the process of
removing the brake calipers.
Carefully pull the brake cal-
ipers back and out until
clear of the brake discs.
with OE BMW Motorrad Integ-
ral ABS: When removing the left
brake caliper, take care not to damage the ABS sensor
cable.
Raise the front of the mo-
torcycle until the front wheel
can rotate freely. It is advis-
able to use the BMW Motor-
rad front wheel stand to lift
the motorcycle.
Fitting the front wheel stand
( 110)
Remove right-hand axle
clamping screw
6.
Remove quick-release
axle 7, holding the wheel as
you do so. BMW Motorrad provides
an adapter for removing
the quick-release axle. This
adapter can be combined
with a commercially available
w/f 22 open-end or ring span-
ner. The BMW special tool
number is 36 3 691 and the
adapter is available from your
authorised BMW Motorrad
dealer.
7103zMaintenance

with OE BMW Motorrad Integ-
ral ABS:The left axle clamping
screw locates the
threaded bush in the front
suspension. If the threaded
bush is not correctly aligned
the gap between the ABS
sensor ring and the ABS
sensor will not be correct and
this can cause the ABS to
malfunction or allow the ABS
sensor to be damaged.
in order to ensure that the
threaded bush remains cor-
rectly aligned, do not slacken or remove the left axle camp-
ing screw.
Remove right-hand axle
clamping screw 6.
Remove quick-release
axle 7, holding the wheel as
you do so.
BMW Motorrad provides
an adapter for removing
the quick-release axle. This
adapter can be combined
with a commercially available
w/f 22 open-end or ring span-
ner. The BMW special tool
number is 36 3 691 and the
adapter is available from your
authorised BMW Motorrad
dealer. Lower the front wheel to the
ground between the front
forks.
Roll the front wheel forward
to remove.
with OE BMW Motorrad Integ-
ral ABS: Roll the front wheel forward
to remove.
Do not damage the ABS
sensor when rolling the
front wheel in or out between
the forks.
7104zMaintenance