Dual Spark Upgrade?

[Stoneman]

There is a 2002 R1150RT on ebay that describes having a "dual spark upgrade". Have any of you heard of this? I am looking to buy a 2004 1150RT because of the dual spark issue but was intrigued by this upgrade. Thanks for the info.

[T__]

There is a 2002 R1150RT on ebay that describes having a "dual spark upgrade". Have any of you heard of this? I am looking to buy a 2004 1150RT because of the dual spark issue but was intrigued by this upgrade. Thanks for the info.

 

 

Richard, I believe San Jose BMW has been doing the dual spark conversions for quite a while now.. I would imagine that would help the surging issue about as much as it helped the factory dual spark 1150’s..

 

Lots of money & work for what you get but some people don’t mind spending..

 

San Jose BMW

 

Twisty

[bross]

Part way through 2003 all of the BMW boxers received a secondary Two Spark ignition system with two spark plugs per cylinder, ostensibly to help the bikes meet future emissions standards. BMW says the system has no effect on performance either way, though we have yet to notice any of the infamous power surging of some earlier boxers in any of the Two Spark bikes we've sampled.

 

from this review...

web page

[Bob Palin]

I have a 2002 1150RT with the SJ dual plugs, had it done at San Jose for around $1100 in 2002, it did cure the surging but if I'd been riding the bike properly I wouldn't have had a problem anyway (i.e. keeping revs above 3500-4000). I wouldn't do it again but it has given me no problems.

[smiller]

I'm not certain what you are trying to achieve with a dual-spark upgrade, but in terms of improved driveability/surge reduction another way of achieving much of the same benefit is to simply to adjust the fuel mixture to a more optimal value with an external control box such as a Techlusion or Power Commander. The only downside of going this way is that a mixture adjustment might hurt fuel economy a bit while dual-spark might help a bit, but I doubt that any potential fuel savings would ever make up for the higher cost of the dual-spark upgrade.

 

That said, if the bike you are looking at already has a dual-spark upgrade and you don't have to pay for it then so much the better. All things being equal I would tend to trust the factory (2004) job more, but then again I doubt that all things are equal, particularly the cost difference between the two bikes.