Am I Missing Anything?

[deanr]

Hello everyone,

 

Been a lurker browsing here pretty avidly since I picked up my 2004 R1150RT in CNY for $1900 at 50,500mi. Was real down on my purchase when she blew the clutch splines 500 miles later, but with some YouTube guides and advice from here I got her up and running within a week. New transmission (grabbed a police one from the looks of it, painted black) and extended spline clutch means that hopefully won't be a problem again.

 

Judging by the general "quality" of the previous work done, I'm assuming she has the factory brake hoses and fluid (or at least >15yo vintages of each... final drive oil looked like mud) as well as the factory alternator belt. In fact, I'd be surprised if any of the maintenance has been kept up with  besides oil changes and the like. After some TPS tweaks (zero=250, she was zero=zero'd) and a throttle balance with fresh timing check, I have her running well with only an oil leak from the left side valve cover gasket and fill cap, already have them in a cart at Beemer Boneyard waiting for next paycheck along with the cam chain tensioner, air filter, fuel filter w/ change kit and fresh fuel disconnects (bike has plastic ones that leak incessantly).

 

Between all those, tires, brake hoses, and probably a R1200XX injector upgrade, is there anything else I should do to get the most out of my new (to me) bike? I can't help but feel like I'm missing something.  Debating an ABS delete but as I like to ride through the winter in CNY I would rather have some ABS than no ABS in case of black ice and the like.

 

Thank you all for your help in bringing an old girl back to life, she gets a lot of attention around the office. My grandpa had the same bike and I'm glad I could experience his favorite motorcycle he ever owned. 

 

Dean

 

[wbw6cos]

Greetings Dean, welcome to the forum.   Enjoy your stay here and have fun riding that great looking bike; nice back story.

 

 

Cheers!

[dirtrider]

11 hours ago, deanr said:

Hello everyone,

 

Been a lurker browsing here pretty avidly since I picked up my 2004 R1150RT in CNY for $1900 at 50,500mi. Was real down on my purchase when she blew the clutch splines 500 miles later, but with some YouTube guides and advice from here I got her up and running within a week. New transmission (grabbed a police one from the looks of it, painted black) and extended spline clutch means that hopefully won't be a problem again.

 

Judging by the general "quality" of the previous work done, I'm assuming she has the factory brake hoses and fluid (or at least >15yo vintages of each... final drive oil looked like mud) as well as the factory alternator belt. In fact, I'd be surprised if any of the maintenance has been kept up with  besides oil changes and the like. After some TPS tweaks (zero=250, she was zero=zero'd) and a throttle balance with fresh timing check, I have her running well with only an oil leak from the left side valve cover gasket and fill cap, already have them in a cart at Beemer Boneyard waiting for next paycheck along with the cam chain tensioner, air filter, fuel filter w/ change kit and fresh fuel disconnects (bike has plastic ones that leak incessantly).

 

Between all those, tires, brake hoses, and probably a R1200XX injector upgrade, is there anything else I should do to get the most out of my new (to me) bike? I can't help but feel like I'm missing something.  Debating an ABS delete but as I like to ride through the winter in CNY I would rather have some ABS than no ABS in case of black ice and the like.

 

Thank you all for your help in bringing an old girl back to life, she gets a lot of attention around the office. My grandpa had the same bike and I'm glad I could experience his favorite motorcycle he ever owned. 

 

Dean

 

Morning Dean

 

You might want to do the o2 sensor wire re-route away from the lower R/H spark plug wire. (there was a BMW service bulletin on doing this). If the o2 sensor wire pig tail runs close-to or across the R/H lower spark plug wire it can cause engine stalling & poor low speed engine operation at times. 

 

If it hasn't already been done cut the lower end of the ABS vent hose & the fuel tank vent hose (the ones that terminate behind the riders foot peg) to have a 45° angle on the lower hose end. This prevents road water from being sucked into the fuel tank when riding in the rain.

 

You might want to eventually go into the fuel tank & replace the hoses & fuel filter. Especially the U shaped high pressure fuel hose. That U shaped high pressure fuel hose has a tendency to split or hemorrhage a pinhole on older BMW 1100/1150 motorcycles & THAT is walk-home type deal. It usually isn't a question of (IF) it is usually a question of (WHEN). 

 

If you used synthetic gear oil in the final drive (sounds like you did) then watch for a pinion seal gear oil seep.  A number of the BMW 1100/1150 motorcycles had pinion seal seeping when using synthetic gear oil (it might take a while to show up so just keep an eye on it). If you eventually get a gear oil seep then just switch back to conventional gear oil. 

 

With having the rear frame area lifted & apart this might not be as important but there is a drain valve on the lower left rear corner of the intake air box, open that drain valve & drain the accumulated oil out of the lower air box. The engine vents into the lower air box so oil tends to accumulate in the lower air box (therefore the drain valve)

 

You mentioned a new alternator belt, the 2004 BMW 1150RT uses an elastomer alternator belt (stretchy belt), did you set the belt tension using lower crankshaft pulley to alternator pulley spacing? You can't just use the alternator adjuster to set the belt tension on the elastomer belt as that isn't near enough belt tension on the elastomer belt.  

Between upper & lower pulley should be about (118.5mm) between the two pulleys (measured at the ribs).

From outer pulley flange to outer pulley flange, which is easier to get a caliper on, it's approximately (116.0 mm).

 

You will more than likely strip the alternator adjuster trying to get this using just the alternator adjuster mechanism so it is more of a 2 person adjustment with one prying the alternator up (be careful of the HES wire harness) & the other person using the alternator adjuster & measuring the pulley spacing. (the proper BMW tool is a spreader type tool that goes between the upper & lower pulley that sets/holds the proper pulley spacing as the nuts are tightened. 

[Miguel!]

dr, your deep encyclopedic knowledge and ability to apply it to keeping these machines running reliably, coupled with your ability to diagnose and communicate solutions to the rest of us never ceases to amaze me!! Thank you for being here.

Cheers. Miguel