BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Easier to fix in my garage than beside the road, a.k.a. preventive maintenance. I know that brushes have a finite life, as does most everything else, and if the alternator quits, you won't get far. Generally, the most frequent alternator failure is the bridge rectifier/voltage regulator. As for the...

I wounder what compelled you to ask about the brush in your alternator?

Have you considered the GS model? The GS is BMW's Swiss Army knife motorcycle. It will do what other boxers do but you treat it like a pack-mule. Comfortable, good touring manners, good handling (it will spank many sportbikes in the twisties), imposing, sort of farm implement looks and the ground cl...

Any late model boxer will do....easy to wrench, plenty of power and very good on trips...BMW's Swiss Army Knife motorcycle...by one and don't look back.

Sort of, but not quite, on topic... Is it true that some bikes have stainless steel headers and some have chrome headers? YES Was the choice an option or was it a production change? YES How does one tell them apart? Don't worry about it...the electroplater will know. Are the stainless pipes nonmagn...

To avoid further polishing of chrome pipes, have them jet hot coated. You'll never polish again. http://www.jet-hot.com/headercoatings.html

The debris you see are likely bits of sealant used during factory assembly of the cases. I have found similar debris in my used oil over the years.

Thanks a lot for your answers which brings me to another question. In my case I change the oil in my R1200R every 3,000 miles. I went recently on a 2,500 miles trip and the engine started to use some oil which required adding a bit. I used the same weight of oil but from a different manufacturer. C...

Follow your manual as to vis and API class. As for brands, choose one you like and change accordingly.

Me? I use Mobil1 15W-50 and Purolator filters.

Regarding the transmission and FD lubricants, use the BMW recommended fluids based upon your climate and riding style. Synthetics are fine but provide little advantage other than a higher TBN and tolerance for heat. Getrag, BMW's transmission vendor has no comment regarding the use of moly. However,...

It seems to me the FD's are not as "bullet-proof" as I once thought so I've been changing my FD oil every 6K to be safe. Possibly I'm wasting my money and time but the oil is cheap as is my labor. We'll see. Wayne Wayne, you might be better off extending your FD oil change interval to spo...

I've been using 80W90 synthetic simply because I bought a couple of quarts of Red Line on sale. IMO, there is no need to use synthetic in FD because the rear is not heavily stressed and does not get particularly hot........ Charlie Not true. While the FD does not get particularly hot, there are som...

What NoRRmad said - with this addition. When I suspected FD failure and the fluid was drained, there was little doubt. It looked like a metallic soup! The previous change had some scattered flakes and I was told by the BMW techs not to worry. Some stuff on the plug is normal however. Any metal bits...

The grey matter is moly assembly lube used by the factory and some rebuilders. I add moly to both transmission and FD oils to reduce heat, friction, ease shifting and preserve bearings. Moly is an EP lubricant and friction modifier and is compatible with GL-5 and motor oils.

Do not use a trickle charger as suggested. Use one of the new "smart" chargers such as this

http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGu ... ctID=15575

about $30.00.

Trickle charger will over charge and cook your battery dry.

Remember, the Boxers all have dry clutches which have no inherent clutch drag when disengaged. Hence, engaging first gear from neutral at a standstill may be difficult. BMW and Getrag (transmission manufacturer) have spent a lot of time attempting to provide quiet shifts and gearbox longevity for th...

I've never heard of an aircooled (or air-oil cooled) engine blowing because of the wrong oil, have you?......no oil, yeah! D.B. What do you mean by blow? ......Parts coming trough the engine case, cylinder falling off, piston burning up with a hole? While the engine may not explode as you mention, ...

outnabout wrote: Lower grade fuels also tend to have more particulates that can cause fuel system issues especially if you don't run your tank to empty occasionally.

What? I have never heard of this. What is your source for this information?

This is hearsay only but I was told by a reliable source that a supplier of gasoline told them that basically the high octane and the plus octane gas is the same. They just fill up the high octane tank at the station and use the same gas to fill up the tank for the middle grade. I have tried using ...

Now I have a question. The poll shows that most put the premium stuff in the bike, but how does that translate to MPG. All this talk about what is used doesn't help unless we have some performance benchmarks to measure with. I use the premium stuff, but my commute is mostly city streets under 35 mp...