Rider new to BMW, Riding 370 miles home, advice welcome!

[Ossiary]

Hi everyone,
I'm a new to BMW rider in Scotland. Been checking through the forum getting a feel for the kind of things to look out for in a R1150R and finally settled on a bike. '02 model, 38000 on the clock and excellent condition. Hoping to be able to pick her up middle of Feb and then have a 370 mile ride home. Looking forward to getting to know the bike over that weekend. Planning to be stopping to check mechanicals (and have a wee break!) every 2 hours or so, what would be your advice for a quick check? I was planning on:

1 - Oil (carrying a litre spare in case of top ups)
2 - Tyre pressure
3 - Brake fluid levels
4 - Top up with fuel every stop

Is there anything specific I should add to that?

Once again, thanks for all the excellent posts which have helped me along the way to getting my new bike!

Ossiary.

[boxermania]

Welcome aboard, that's a good way to get aquanted quickly with the bike.

Assuming the bike is in good order, I would suggest the following before embarking on the trip:

1) Set tire pressure to 36-38 psi front and 40-42 psi rear

Note: One of the most misunderstood things about the BMW R bikes is the oil level check, because of the thermostatically controlled oil cooling circuit. One needs to allow the oil in the circut to return back to the crankcase, otherwise the oil indication will be misleading. Also, never, never, operate the engine if no oil is visible in the window, unless you have deep pockest and want a new engine.

2) Take a 20 minute ride, upon return, place bike on side stand for 5-10 minutes, then place bike on center stand and allow to sit there for 10 minutes. Return and check the oil level at the window on the left front of the engine, insure the level is at the middle of the window.

3) During the 20 minute ride, specially if the bike is equipped with ABS, familiarize yourself with the brarking action

Enjoy the bike and be safe

[towerworker]

Welcome! and as Al has said that is an excellent way to get acquainted with the bike. The only thing I would add is if you've no experience with the performance and torque of a BMW, initially getting rolling will be a slight adjustment. I was accustomed to 4 cylinder Japanese bikes prior to owning the R. My first couple of starts I managed to stall the bike and nearly laid it over! The engine has lots of torque and is not a high revving engine. When I initially stalled it I was making a slight turn in the parking lot and when it stalled, it stalls quickly and just dead stops. Take a few minutes to get a feel for the clutch and throttle operation so you don't do what I did. You will adjust quickly and won't give it a second thought but initially just be aware and plan accordingly. You will also notice the little "torque twist" when you sit at idle and blip the throttle.

It's a great bike and this is a great forum-------so don't hesitate to jump in and ask questions!

Wayne

[TicTac50]

Congratulations and Welcome.
Make sure that your riding gear is OK.
All the suggestions above are very good.
Just enjoy the ride and DO NOT test the limits of the bike yet.
Good Luck.
P.S. 38K???... the bike is at the peak of its performance and it will stay that way for a long time.

[garr2]

After buying my first ever BM early last year my first ride was 1000 km to get home. Three things I still remember about that first long outing are -
1) I was glad I had a thermos flask of hot water with me so I could pull over where ever I liked, have a cuppa and sit admiring the bike.
2) the bloody blinker switches took some getting used to. There are 3 blinker switches - left (on the LH handlebar), right (on the RH handlebar) and cancel (on the RH handlebar). Don't let your concentration on the road be distracted by trying to sort out the less important matter of operating the blinkers correctly.
3) The servo brakes took some getting used to, not in an emergency stop but pulling up smoothly and gently at say a traffic light. The brakes felt 'grabby' in the last metre of stopping. It was just a matter of using the correct lever pressure in that last metre or so.

[Daryl.Stamp]

BE VERY CAREFUL TO CANCEL THE BLINKERS AFTER A TURN: SOMEONE MIGHT PULL OUT IN FRONT OF YOU THINKING THAT YOU ARE GOING TO TURN.

DLS

[Ossiary]

Hi everyone and thanks for the amazing response! I'll take all of that on board. I had heard about the indicator (blinkers) setup and am looking forward to getting used to that The bike that I have now has blinkers that have to be manually reset so apart from being on the other handlebar it should hopefully not take too long. The advice Re: oil levels, procedure before checking them and the torque/stalling/totallydifferentengine is fantastic, that sort of insight is only available from a group of people who live with and love their bikes....once again, an enormous thank you! I look forward to having a long and happy involvement with the forum.

Interesting that there is no advice about filling the radiator coolant reserve tank. Towerworker, is that not your specialist department?

[Ossiary]

Well, it's a go for tomorrow. Looking forward to the ride home and thanks again for all the advice.

Colin

[Ossiary]

Well, I flew down, got my new R1150R and rode her home. The first 20 minutes or so were quite a readjustment with different indicators and quite different handling/feel than anything else I have ridden, however...
The rest of the ride was fantastic, and feeling that level of power versus smaller bikes i have ridden was quite amazing. Changing gears is a bit of a new experience, nowhere near as smooth as Japanese bikes, a bit more clunky and an aquired skill!

All in all I'm growing into the whole experience, and today was the first time I really felt that I didn't have to think about riding, but just did it.

All in all fantastic.

[AirForceDirt]

The gearbox is a lot better than the previous generation one is (and way better than the last few bikes I've ridden), but does take a bit of skill to operate smoothly and efficiently. It took me almost a year to figure out where on the rpm band to shift without using the clutch. The turn signals I guess are weird, but I'm so used to them now that I can't ride much else without either honking the horn randomly, or riding with a blinker on for a few extra blocks. You'll love your R for years to come. It truly is a versatile machine and will do just about everything you ask it to.

Keep the shiny side up.

[Buckster]

Glad you are enjoying your new R and welcome. Shifting takes some time to get used to. I use the clutch, but I only pull it in about 3/4 of an inch and do so very quickly. Enjoy!

[f4tweet]

Join AAA and get the Gold plan where they tow up to 150 miles, or AMA Moto tow. I have both. Of course, a freshly charged cell phone.