Greetings! I've been riding Honda's since my childhood CR-50 in 1972 to my V45 Sabre that I sold when my daughter was born in '91. Been off bikes for over 20 years, I can't explain it but when I recently got the bug to get back on two wheels the only thing I could think of was a boxer. I won this 1996 R1100R with 17k miles on ebay for a song and hope to get many enjoyable miles out of it. Since I've never ridden anything but Honda 4's my entire adult life I have no reference point as to how this bike should feel. I like the seating position...very different from my Sabre, and the teutonic shifting is starting to appeal to me. I still can't get used to the turn signal switch setup. The one issue the bike has is that the front wheel has a mild dent in it that is not a problem as far as bead seal but is causing some vibration that gets progressively worse at high speed. I've been looking into either having it straightened and balanced or to replacing it, appears problematic with either choice. I don't have a garage of my own so no place to work on the bike and leave it with out the front wheel while it's sent out for repair, conversely I'm having no luck finding a good condition used wheel(buying new is out of the question). I was thinking of bringing it to Manhattan BMW for it's over due 16K service and while its there have them ship the tire for repair...but this only works if they are willing to store the bike without the wheel for 10 days to two weeks. I'd like to add hand guards and an iPhone 5 mount...any suggestions? I've got lots of questions and I'd welcome any and all comments, feedback and advice!
Last edited by WineGuyD on Wed May 29, 2013 11:18 am, edited 3 times in total.
Nice choice! I had to sell my R1150R a few years back, then bought a 2001 R1100RL. I've NEVER been happier in my replacement choice. And don't worry about the blinker buttons...you'll get used to them, soon. Keep your eyes open on the iBMWR.org marketplace for a replacement to your bent wheel, or check out Beemerboneyard.com - they have affordable R-bike parts in New Jersey. Good people, too.
You can still order the BMW R1100GS hand guards at a dealership, and they bolt right up to your R-bike bars. I have a set coming for my new-to-me R1100R. Or, just take your VIN number and have BMW match the GS hand-guards up to your year. The iPhone mount- I'm not sure where you could get a mount for those. Most BMW's I've seen use a RAM mount for phones, iPods, GPS, etc...
Photo wrote:Nice choice! I had to sell my R1150R a few years back, then bought a 2001 R1100RL. I've NEVER been happier in my replacement choice. And don't worry about the blinker buttons...you'll get used to them, soon. Keep your eyes open on the iBMWR.org marketplace for a replacement to your bent wheel, or check out Beemerboneyard.com - they have affordable R-bike parts in New Jersey. Good people, too.
You can still order the BMW R1100GS hand guards at a dealership, and they bolt right up to your R-bike bars. I have a set coming for my new-to-me R1100R. Or, just take your VIN number and have BMW match the GS hand-guards up to your year. The iPhone mount- I'm not sure where you could get a mount for those. Most BMW's I've seen use a RAM mount for phones, iPods, GPS, etc...
Thanks Photo! Great advice on the hand guards...I'll be visiting a dealer shortly and see if they've got them in stock.
you can buy the Acerbis Dual Road handgaurds (ik think you need the RT model, of maybe some tinkering of yourself) they come with LED, for indicators, but also white. I have those and they make me a lot 'wider' when driving by night and hence waaaay better so see by other roadusers. I wouldn't want anything else.
JohanOtten wrote:you can buy the Acerbis Dual Road handgaurds (ik think you need the RT model, of maybe some tinkering of yourself) they come with LED, for indicators, but also white. I have those and they make me a lot 'wider' when driving by night and hence waaaay better so see by other roadusers. I wouldn't want anything else.
Thanks Johan, does my bike have the ability to power the hand guards? where do they plug into?
boxermoose wrote:I'd suggest MAXBMW for the service based upon their steller reputation
As far as the front rim - Woodys Wheel works in Denver is my first choice for such repairs
Thanks Boxermoose! Unfortunately MAXBMW is too far away for me. I gave the bike to Bergen BMW on Monday and they shipped the wheel to Wills Rim Repair in S.C., we'll see how it all comes together next week and I'll post my impressions for all to consider.
The LED's seem to be powered by two AAA-batteries inside the hand guard. At least that is what I can read from the catalogue. Though, that means It would be strange if the hand guards could be hooked up to the direction indicator lights on the bike. Anyone have any more input on the function of these?
Okay, got the bike back from Bergen BMW today after three weeks in service, partly because I had them ship the bent front wheel to Will's Rim Repair which tied up 2 weeks. I had them do an 18k and 24k service combined which included having every single fluid replaced, every filter replaced and everything adjusted including the throttle sync. I also needed to replace the front brake master cylinder which was leaking and could not be rebuilt(part from Beemerboneyard, story to follow)...a thousand dollars later the results are mixed. Vibration from front wheel gone, shifting more precise, acceleration slightly better, front braking much improved(obviously) BUT, the rear brake feels non existent...needs extreme hard pressure to get just a bit of braking(this despite BBMW telling me my pads/rotors are good, any opinions?) and now I'm noticing an overall strong vibration at 75+ mph which is not from the front wheel which was trued and balanced...it almost feels like it could be the engine. Again, any opinions? I'm told by BBMW that the steering damper needs replacing as well...is that normal for 17k miles?
Just a note about the venders: Will at Will's Rim Repair did a great job! I can't find where the bend was and even though his website says that the service is $65 plus an additional fee if he has to remove the tire he billed me $55...my round trip shipping cost more! I highly recommend him.
After BBMW told me they could not rebuild the brake master cylinder I asked them if they would install one that I supplied and they agreed. I ordered from Beemerboneyard a new Magura unit with the updated anodized chamber and even managed to get $30 off the $229 price because they had a few units that got scratched in shipping so $199! BB was nice to deal with and they shipped the unit the same day and it got to BBMW the next morning which saved some time BUT that was lost because although BB advertised that the unit was "complete" and ready to bolt on when in fact it was missing a main screw which I ended up having to let BBMW order for $14.
As I mentioned in my first posting, I've never owned a Beemer before and I'm beginning to question the wisdom of my purchase. I got the bike dirt cheap for $2500 which I thought was great for such low miles(17k), I knew I'd have to put some money in up front but now I'm in for $3500 and the steering damper will add another $350 so I'm almost at $4000...half of a brand new Triumph Scrambler which was my second choice. If I get 10k miles without any more service needs I'll feel vindicated...what are the odds?
The rear brake isn't that powerful but you should be able to activate the ABSII system by honking on them around 25/30mph. BTW - The front brake does 90 percent of all the work......
Vibration could be just the old Boxer thing.....motor likes it best around 3/3.5k rpm's. You will get the "boxer buzz" over that. If you want to try it out, get up to the vibration speed, roll off the throttle and pull in your clutch and you should feel feel nothing other than the boxer thumping at idle. To verify even further, you could always turn off your ignition while you are doing that, but only if you are comfortable doing it. You will find that the bike SHOULD run smoothly with the engine off. Balancing the Throttle bodies on the motor is something of a science but dealers on work to a certain standard. Some of us anal owners spend time getting it "just right" and can smooth it out somewhat.
Can you feel the damper working? The bars should be easy to turn but you should feel slight resistance when you straighten the bars. The two rubber washers supporting it tend to rot away and are only a few bucks. Its an easy job to replace them. You can try Ebay or Beemerboneyard if it's gone TU.
I have always done all the work on my Beemers and so I am not at the mercy of the dealers. If you can do your own work, you will save a fortune as they really aren't that difficult to work on and you will find lots of resources and info available to help you.
philbytx wrote:The rear brake isn't that powerful but you should be able to activate the ABSII system by honking on them around 25/30mph. BTW - The front brake does 90 percent of all the work......
Vibration could be just the old Boxer thing.....motor likes it best around 3/3.5k rpm's. You will get the "boxer buzz" over that. If you want to try it out, get up to the vibration speed, roll off the throttle and pull in your clutch and you should feel feel nothing other than the boxer thumping at idle. To verify even further, you could always turn off your ignition while you are doing that, but only if you are comfortable doing it. You will find that the bike SHOULD run smoothly with the engine off. Balancing the Throttle bodies on the motor is something of a science but dealers on work to a certain standard. Some of us anal owners spend time getting it "just right" and can smooth it out somewhat.
Can you feel the damper working? The bars should be easy to turn but you should feel slight resistance when you straighten the bars. The two rubber washers supporting it tend to rot away and are only a few bucks. Its an easy job to replace them. You can try Ebay or Beemerboneyard if it's gone TU.
I have always done all the work on my Beemers and so I am not at the mercy of the dealers. If you can do your own work, you will save a fortune as they really aren't that difficult to work on and you will find lots of resources and info available to help you.
Thanks for all that great info! It's a great idea to get the bike up to 75 and then clutch it and coast...I'll try it in a few days because we've got a lot of rain till the weekend. I definitely have to find someone with a similar bike and ask to take for a spin so I'll have a reference point, I'm sure you are right that it's simply the nature of the boxer twin. I used to do this kind of work myself decades ago but I've been off bikes for over twenty years and recently moved from a house to an apartment so I have no place to do any kind of work that can't be completed in a few hours. The washers on the damper actually look good, BBNW told me the seals went on the damper and not easily rebuilt. But they also said the damper is like tonsils...you can live without it. I'll probably replace it my self with an aftermarket one later this summer after I recover from the cost of this visit. Thanks again!
As far as the steering damper, I wouldn't worry about it too much, here is a thread about the steering damper from BMWST. http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/u ... ber=703334 I would just live with it as it is until you can find a cheap replacement. Just keep checking Ebay, Re-Psycle and Beemerboneyard for parts !
