I own an FXD and though theres been 14000 miles of good riding w/no problems I'm thinking of selling the Super Glide and buy an R1150R. drool
My mechanical skills allows me to change fluids, plugs and such but after that not so good. I live on the big island hawaii, and would need to order the Beemer from Oahu, (talked to the dealers who are willing to put the bike on the barge) My thinking was I could do the basic mainteance and it being a BMW, little more would be required. But then I read in the forum of valve adjustments needed after 600 miles and then-I might have misunderstood-it is an ongoing issue. How much upper end mainteance is needed for these bikes?
mainteance skills needed to upkeep R1150R
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I've owned many Harleys and one of my bikes is a 03 R1150R. The Harley needs no valve adjustments or throttle body balances. The BMW will require both every 6000 miles. Simple tools and some good basic mechanic skills will enable you to do this.
You can do it don't worry! The reward will be worth the lesson learned.
You can do it don't worry! The reward will be worth the lesson learned.
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- Lifer
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I think the R1150R is a pretty simple machine to work on. As for the valve lash adj., if you know how to turn a wrench you can do it yourself. The only special tools would be a set of feeler guages. I adjusted mine when I first bought my bike with 10k on it, checked it again at 18k and no adj. was really necessary. I have heard the older airheads required the valve lash to be adjusted religiously. I havent been into bmw's that long to know for sure but I suspect the oilhead engine may be a little more forgiving on this.
The 600 mile figure for valve adjustment is for the first service to the bike. It includes more than just a valve adjustment. Changing oil and filter is not a big deal. Adjusting valves is not a big deal. TB synch requires a little more, but is not a big deal. If'n I can do it, anyone can...
arkline #27
not THE Ron Kline
"No matter where you go, there you are."
not THE Ron Kline
"No matter where you go, there you are."
See my new posting on this forum "600 mile service - a
i have 75,000 miles on my 1150R - and have done ALL the required and called for service. I am not a mechanic - i just got the procedures, asked a lot of questions, and went through them - after the first time it is simple!
Get the proper tools up front:
Craftsman Micro click torque wrenches - you will need two to cover all torques needed
Feeler gages
Proper metric wrenches and allen wrenches
A TwinMax or make your own throttle body balancer
You will find that after a few 6,000 mile valve checks that the valves don't move! I now do my valve checks every 12,000 miles and have not made an adjustment in the last 24,000 miles - I do recommend you check them - you will come to your own conclusion when you can spread out the inspection cycle.
Bottom line - you can do it all! Take your time, gather the information, ask questions here and buy good tools - the money you save on just one service will pay for all the tools.
I just posted a posting on 600 mile service - the one additional thing you do is re torque the head bolts - easy to do - five minute job!
Get the proper tools up front:
Craftsman Micro click torque wrenches - you will need two to cover all torques needed
Feeler gages
Proper metric wrenches and allen wrenches
A TwinMax or make your own throttle body balancer
You will find that after a few 6,000 mile valve checks that the valves don't move! I now do my valve checks every 12,000 miles and have not made an adjustment in the last 24,000 miles - I do recommend you check them - you will come to your own conclusion when you can spread out the inspection cycle.
Bottom line - you can do it all! Take your time, gather the information, ask questions here and buy good tools - the money you save on just one service will pay for all the tools.
I just posted a posting on 600 mile service - the one additional thing you do is re torque the head bolts - easy to do - five minute job!
Bill Haycock - Member #78
Huntsville, AL
Huntsville, AL
Avoid ABS
You may wanna avoid ABS 'cos if your bleed job ain't right the computer will fault out and it has to be connected to the BMW MoDiTec system to be reset.
Because mine is ABS (and I'm lazy) I bring mine to the dealer every time and drop grande bucks on servicing
Because mine is ABS (and I'm lazy) I bring mine to the dealer every time and drop grande bucks on servicing