life expectancy of a 1150rt

[tonyla]

Someone asked me today the life expectancy of the 1150rt engine. I did not know the answer. does anybody know?

 

Tony

[Bob_Minor]

Longer than the shocks, clutch, transmission, pilot bearings, final drive, cables, throttle bodies, and starter.

[smiller]

With perhaps a little top-end work in between I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an oilhead engine go 200k miles.

[peterbulgar]

From personal experience, at least 25k miles. Based on a few posts on this and other boards, the basic engine (all oilheads, not just the R1150) should last well over 100k miles without any kind of work. There have been a few (very few) reports of valve guide problems, Nikasil deterioration, etc. I've read nothing about rod or main bearings wearing out, and I can't even recall anyone with big miles doing much more than throwing in new rings.

 

However, as Bob_Minor hinted there have been reported problems with the ancilary parts of the engine as well as the driveline. The old airheads may have needed a new top-end or transmission rebuild every 90k miles, but those tasks were relatively cheap to do, whether you paid someone or did the work yourself. If your ABS goes out at 90k miles, will it be worth $2500 to replace it? How about the injection pump?

 

I suspect that there are many BMW oilheads with high mileage and a good engine that will be parted out or sold very cheaply because some part has failed that will be very expensive to repair or replace.

peter '73 R75/5, '04 R1150RA

[Stan Walker]

Someone asked me today the life expectancy of the 1150rt engine. I did not know the answer. does anybody know?

 

I don't think anyone knows, yet. First you need to wear some out.

 

There is at least one '94 R1100RS running around with 315,000 miles on it. To be fair, the engine lower end was rebuilt around 150K miles to repair damage that occurred when one of the cam chain guides shattered and plugged the oil pickup.

 

Stan

[smiller]

I suspect that there are many BMW oilheads with high mileage and a good engine that will be parted out or sold very cheaply because some part has failed that will be very expensive to repair or replace.

But... fortunately parts for these bikes are freely available on the used market (a big advantage of a manufacturer using the same design for several years in a row) so even ABS/ECU/etc. failures (rare as they are) don't have to be that expensive, making economical repair a viable option even for older bikes.

 

If one intends to rack up huge amounts of miles on a motorcycle relatively cheaply there probably isn't a much better selection than an oilhead (other than perhaps a Harley, but you'd be missing out on a lot of performance.)

[Bob Palin]

I suspect that there are many BMW oilheads with high mileage and a good engine that will be parted out or sold very cheaply because some part has failed that will be very expensive to repair or replace.

I'm certainly hoping so, as long as it isn't mine...

 

Need an emoticon of two hands rubbing together in expectation.