harleyjohn45 Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 my rt 1100 will not start with the kickstand down. it will not run with the kickstand down. even in neutral. do i have a problem or is this the way they work? thanks in advance john Link to comment
JohnBeaven Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 That is the way mine used to work. But then maybe mine has a problem too.... Link to comment
GordonB Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 That's the way it works...... Link to comment
breyfogle Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Think of the side stand as a foot operated kill switch ... Link to comment
harleyjohn45 Posted February 27, 2007 Author Share Posted February 27, 2007 That's the way it works...... well it sucks then. i have never heard of a motorcycle that would not idle sitting on the side stand. Link to comment
harleyjohn45 Posted February 27, 2007 Author Share Posted February 27, 2007 thanks for the replys to my inquiry. john Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 That's the way it works...... well it sucks then. i have never heard of a motorcycle that would not idle sitting on the side stand. Can be modified (jumper the wires to the sidestand switch to permanently close the circuit), but I've heard of riders (not just on BMW's) occasionally riding off with the sidestand down, only to be rudely awakened some time later during a left turn. Link to comment
DavidEBSmith Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 If it really p***es you off, do this modification or Mick's cheap alternative for a safe way of allowing your bike to safely start and run with the sidestand down. Yes, BMW screwed this up on the 1100s. They fixed it on later models. You can easily upgrade using the same parts that CHPs uses. Be like Ponch and John. Link to comment
flat_twin Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 That's the way it works...... well it sucks then. i have never heard of a motorcycle that would not idle sitting on the side stand. John, Unless you're working on the bike with fans moving air over the jugs, you really shouldn't let it idle on the stand. That goes for the center stand too. A few folks who wanted to warm up the engine and run in the house came back to find melted body panels. Start it up and take off. Leave the fuel enrichener "aka choke" on for a couple miles. Link to comment
JohnBeaven Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 The problem is when you want to get off the bike to open a gate or similar. But the center stand is so easy to use I would just use this in these when these circumstances arise. In fact I rarely use the side stand at all. Link to comment
Sheepherder Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 My r1100 does the same thing. It will stay that way. A long time a go on my Guzzi, it did not have the sidestand switch. I found out the side stand was down when I went into a left hand corner, you do not have many choices, just push it over into the corner and hope the sidestand retracts which it did. I felt very lucky! Link to comment
James Clark Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 You can easily upgrade using the same parts that CHPs uses. Do you mean the sticker that says, "Do not leave idling while parked"? Link to comment
Charles Elms Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 well it sucks then. i have never heard of a motorcycle that would not idle sitting on the side stand Don't understand why you would need to idle a bike on sidestand. Get on, start, and drive off. Others have melted tupperware if fast idled for short period of time. Keep that in mind if you disable the sidestand switch. Link to comment
E30TECH Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Be like Ponch and John. http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=4966 Link to comment
DavidEBSmith Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Don't understand why you would need to idle a bike on sidestand. Come see my driveway. I have two manual gates I have to open and close. Leaving the house, that meant restarting the bike three times before I installed the mod. On a cold morning, I'd be having ABS faults by the time I got to the street. Plus there are a lot of times you might want to pause for a picture or something. Why cause wear and tear on your starter and a hit on the battery if you don't need to? Sitting a couple of minutes at idle (not fast idle) won't hurt the bike. Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Plus there are a lot of times you might want to pause for a picture or something. Why cause wear and tear on your starter and a hit on the battery if you don't need to? Sitting a couple of minutes at idle (not fast idle) won't hurt the bike. Right. The whole "If you run the bike without it moving, it'll melt/burst into flames" thing is pretty funny considering how much time we generally spend sitting at traffic lights with the engine running and no airflow. The key is, like you said...normal idle vs. fast idle. Link to comment
harleyjohn45 Posted February 27, 2007 Author Share Posted February 27, 2007 Don't understand why you would need to idle a bike on sidestand. Come see my driveway. I have two manual gates I have to open and close. Leaving the house, that meant restarting the bike three times before I installed the mod. On a cold morning, I'd be having ABS faults by the time I got to the street. Plus there are a lot of times you might want to pause for a picture or something. Why cause wear and tear on your starter and a hit on the battery if you don't need to? Sitting a couple of minutes at idle (not fast idle) won't hurt the bike. well gang, gates are my biggest problem. i'm not in a habit of letting my bike idle for extended periods of time. i'm new to BMW, but this bike has more weird things than any motorcycle i have ever seen. i will locate the parts and modify this side stand switch with the police mod. i suppose the bmw dealer can sell me the right parts. the first day i bought it i started it and bliped the throttle and the bike tourqued to the right. i thought whoa, my motor is falling out. almost weekly, i find something else that is troubling. i like riding the bike but sometimes i wonder. lol john Link to comment
EffBee Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Don't understand why you would need to idle a bike on sidestand. Come see my driveway. I have two manual gates I have to open and close. Leaving the house, that meant restarting the bike three times before I installed the mod. On a cold morning, I'd be having ABS faults by the time I got to the street. Plus there are a lot of times you might want to pause for a picture or something. Why cause wear and tear on your starter and a hit on the battery if you don't need to? Sitting a couple of minutes at idle (not fast idle) won't hurt the bike. well gang, gates are my biggest problem. i'm not in a habit of letting my bike idle for extended periods of time. i'm new to BMW, but this bike has more weird things than any motorcycle i have ever seen. i will locate the parts and modify this side stand switch with the police mod. i suppose the bmw dealer can sell me the right parts. the first day i bought it i started it and bliped the throttle and the bike tourqued to the right. i thought whoa, my motor is falling out. almost weekly, i find something else that is troubling. i like riding the bike but sometimes i wonder. lol john John, different bikes do different things. The fact that your bike torques to the right is absolutely normal for any longitudinally mounted engine. Every single car ever made with an engine mounted front to back (like an American V-8) exhibits this exact same torque reaction. The difference is that in a car the vehicle is balanced on four wheels and on a motorcycle, being balanced on only two, you feel the torque reaction much more. Perhaps you are more used to transversely mounted engines, like most other bikes have, as do most FWD cars (both of which exhibit a fore/aft rocking couple instead of left/right) Your personal reaction is nothing more than a temporary lack of familiarity with the brand. Imagine someone who's never ridden a Harley wondering why they vibrate. Or someone who's only ridden Harleys wondering why he can't feel the piston pulses on his new Gold Wing. Take it as a learning process. You will acclimate and if you let the bike do for you what it was designed to do, you will love it. If you try to turn it into something it was never intended to be, you will be unhappy. Quick story. I've ridden an RT for the past 8 years. Added a Suzuki V-Strom to the stable last year. First time I rode it in the dark, and I went into an unlit mountain corner, all my lighting disappeared and scared the crap out of me. You see, I was spoiled by the telelever front suspension on the BMW which does not allow the front end to dive under braking. Therefore, my lighting stayed even and illuminated well. But conventional telescopic forks will dive under braking and that's what happened to my Suzuki's lighting, it suddenly pointed a lot lower than I was expecting and I had to drive the corner literally blind. Like you, I had to learn to acclimate to the bike's characteristics. Take care and enjoy your BMW. It's a great machine. Link to comment
Green RT Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Am I the only one that ever drops a glove? Yesterday, I backed out or my garage. Couldn't get the door closer to work with the mitten I had on (this is winter in Colorado). Took off one mitten and, naturally, dropped it on the ground. This necessitated pulling back into the garage (the driveway is too sloped), putting it on the center stand (I didn't want to stop the engine and restart it). And starting over. Every once in a while, I wish it would run on the side stand. However, I once rode off with the side stand down on my old /5. It was enough of a surprise that I am happy not to repeat. So I live with the side stand switch as the lesser of two evils. Link to comment
Indy Bill Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 almost weekly, i find something else that is troubling. i like riding the bike but sometimes i wonder. lol john As the buddy of mine that turned me on to BMWs said, that is "character". If you want boring, buy a Honda Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Every once in a while, I wish it would run on the side stand. However, I once rode off with the side stand down on my old /5. It was enough of a surprise that I am happy not to repeat. So I live with the side stand switch as the lesser of two evils. It doesn't have to be either/or. My Tuono starts and runs with the sidestand down...as long as it's in neutral. (Gelstra...I swear to Gumby...if you say ANYTHING....) Actually, all of my bikes behave that way except for Lisa's R1100RS...which is just like my RT was. I believe the police sidestand mod gives you that behavior...you can start and run the bike with the sidestand down as long as it is in neutral. Link to comment
Mulepick Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 >well it sucks then. i have never heard of a motorcycle >that would not idle sitting on the side stand. Don't get me started. I'm still trying to get used to turn signal buttons on ea side and no horn button to stab. Next time I'm in there, I'm going to wire the horns over to the "flash to pass" button. Link to comment
catmandoo Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 my 2000 rt-p will idle in neutral on the sidestand.but bike has to be in neutral before putting the sidestand down. Link to comment
boatzo Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Will brings to mind a question. Where do Y-all put/carry/stow the garage door opener? Link to comment
Davis Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Garage door opener resides in forearm pocket of Roadcrafter. Link to comment
Green RT Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Will brings to mind a question. Where do Y-all put/carry/stow the garage door opener? Bill, I carry it in my motorcycle jacket pocket. Russell, I have seen the side stand switch mod discussed. Your post prompted me to find the write up on it ( Sidestand switch mod). That is a good compromise. Link to comment
harleyjohn45 Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 If it really p***es you off, do this modification or Mick's cheap alternative for a safe way of allowing your bike to safely start and run with the sidestand down. Yes, BMW screwed this up on the 1100s. They fixed it on later models. You can easily upgrade using the same parts that CHPs uses. Be like Ponch and John. well i am getting the modification installed. i think of all the quirks (character) on this bike i think this upsets me the most. i will not disconnect the side stand switch. i am not that upset. i have vintage bikes with out the side stand cutoff and they can be dangerous. i know a harley 45 side stand will make you crash. it appears not to be a big problem to correct and this group gave me some good information. thanks john Link to comment
frankflattwin Posted March 3, 2007 Share Posted March 3, 2007 It will idle in neutral with the sidestand down. But when it is put in gear, the engine will die. Link to comment
E30TECH Posted March 3, 2007 Share Posted March 3, 2007 I'm still trying to get used to turn signal buttons on ea side and no horn button to stab. That gets embarassing when you make a left turn and beep at people. Link to comment
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