Technical Tips
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Technical Tips |
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| The Technical Section is designed to pass on little hints and tips from one BMW rider to another. The section will not go into enough depth to replace your Haynes Manual when doing a top end rebuild, but it will give you some insight into things your fellow Bavorak Riders have learned over the years. Please submit your Tech Tip to the Webmeister. |
| Marc Wanner |
Found a great collection of wrenching instructions for common problems, and now is the time to do it,
before riding season gets here... http://advwisdom.hogranch.com/Wisdom/ -- February 2010 -- |
| Chris Hancock |
Apparently a lot of us with the now obsolete R1150 engine have noticed a
strange noise coming from the left side of the engine. Some notice it
as a brief rattling or slapping sound on start-up. For others it is
more evident as a light ticking or tapping noise when the warmed-up engine
is idling. The problem has been diagnosed as a faulty left side cam
chain tensioner design. (The right side tensioner apparently doesn't
exhibit the problem.) The good news is that there is a ready fix which
involves retrofitting the bad tensioner with similar parts from the R1200
engine.
The parts swap out takes about an hour to accomplish. A very detailed and ridiculously well-illustrated step-by-step guide is available here. Don't worry when your replacement parts show up and they don't look exactly like those pictured in the how-to guide. Apparently there was an interim "fix" that didn't really solve the problem, and BMW has since gone to the aforementioned R1200 parts. The good news is that the latest parts are much less expensive than the original kit. (If you're so inclined, you can read more about the evolution of parts here.) Regardless, the instructions are still valid. Here are the parts you will need (about $55 total from Chicago BMW): 07 11 9 963 308 Seal Ring The last part, strictly speaking, doesn't have to be replaced. In fact, I didn't replace it when I did the upgrade on mine and Diane's bikes. But the existing one will almost always come out looking stretched, and having a new one on hand will prevent you from having to wait overnight while the old one drys out and shrinks back to its original size. It's about $2.50...you make the call. Having done it twice now, I'm pretty familiar with the replacement procedure.
Give me a call if I can help or if you have any questions. |
| Chris Hancock |
I bought a set of used BMW system cases off Ebay for my recently aquired
GS, and had anticipated that I would need to call up my friendly dealer to
order a new lock kit keyed to match the bike's ignition. To my surprise,
the cases showed up on my doorstep with a lock tumbler kit included. A
quick Google search turned up
this web site with directions for modifying the locks to fit different keys.
It turned out to be a rather simple task that took no more than half an
hour to complete. I have an assortment of springs and tumblers (or wafers,
as they're called on the web site) if anyone needs them. -- August 2004 -- |
| Kim Miles | Just a note to let you all know that working on a bike is not always as easy as it looks on American Chopper. In a desire to upgrade the looks of my old Goldwing standard, I thought a set of drag bars and a cafe fairing would be neat. Well, the simple switch of the handlebars was anything but simple. The first problem was the width of the bars. Those GW controls are way too big for the little bars. The diameter was fine, but the width did not allow enough room for mounting easily and all the cables were too long. Next problem was the angle of the bars. The old GW bars were of the buckhorn variety, so when I mounted the front brake lever the master cylinder was setting at a 45 degree angle, thus the fluid was not level. Finally, on many bikes the clamp is knurled to hold the bars tight, but on the GW the bars themselves are knurled. No matter how tight I cranked down the bolts, the non-knurled bars would move up and down. After hours of work, the bike went back together as it was. I guess I'm a Mikey instead of a Paulie. |
| Charles Compton |
A couple of years ago when I bought my first BMW, that would be the one I
have now, I purchased a male plug adapter from BMW to affix to my
heated vest which had a different plug. My wife also purchased a
vest but we sprang for the BMW vest with the added features and the
correct plug. Now to the power end of the this story and my
tip. I needed a way to rig my wife's bike with a female adapter
socket for the vest. After pricing a BMW socket I nearly lost my
lunch. Chris Hancock said his Ducati had the same European plug set
and that the Ducati boys had located a suitable assembly from JOHN DEERE.
That'd be the tractor folks, green that is. I ordered the
socket and it was cheap. I mounted one on my wife's bike and one
on my ZX11 with the help of some additional chrome hardware from Custom
Cycle and Van. The socket is just like the BMW original. The
John Deere part number is MG82002966.
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| Dave Edwards | Posting by Kim Miles: While riding home on 64 from "The Dock" on our Sunday ride, my left mirror decided to leave the RTP. Luckily it did not go crashing to the highway, being held in place by the turn signal socket. At the next stop, I described my problem to 'Big Dave' and the fact that it had taken over 20 minutes to adjust the spring fingers just so I could attach the darn thing. Dave suggested I remove the studs mounted on the fairing, place a washer on the stud, and then remount, thereby bringing the stud a fraction of an inch out, allowing the springs to grab more firmly. Being an admirer of 'Big Dave', I spent about 45 minutes that evening, using magnets, special wrenches and just about anything I could think of to install the washers without dismantling the entire front fairing. SUCCESS! The mirror snapped right on with a noticeable 'CLICK' and held firmly. Thanks Dave, I just love it when I can solve a $100 problem for less than 25 cents in cost. |
| Dave Godeke | Tired of being turned down or having to pay a high 'penalty' price at the dealer for mounting and balancing those tires you bought by mail order. Dave G. has a friend that can do the job for you. Call Don DuVall at 853-2073. |
| Kim Miles | While rebuilding a wrecked R1100RTP, I discovered that I needed nearly all the small black screws that fastened all the plastic panels and the dashboard. After finding all the parts numbers I realized that the genuine BMW screws would cost well over $100. However, there is a guy on Ebay that puts together little kits of Stainless Steel screws for all kinds of bikes, including BMW's. They are beautiful, the proper size, allen head, and best of all, the kit of over 90 assorted screws was only $20. |