New Member - New R1150R owner - Nervous as hell !!

[Roadrally]

I have an 04 (53 plate) R1150RT which has done 52,000 miles. 19,000 of them since I bought it in May 2008 including one trip to Ireland which was 1000 miles in four days. I never give the bike a moments thought, I just get on it and ride it!

So far it's needed the rear suspension pivot bearings replacing and I chose to do the cam chain tensioner modification. Everything else has been consumable items and routine maintenance. Replacing the inlet pipes with the ones off the 1150 GS makes the mid range power curve a little nicer and is worth the cost.

It's a great bike to ride so ride it and stop worrying about mechanical failures. Like other people on here have said, on an internet forum you get to read about the rogue bikes and not the thousands of utterly reliable machines that just keep on going.

[bmrgrl]

Enjoy your new motorcycle! We all worry about the safety issues, but then, that keeps us alert. I have put 60,000 miles on my 04 R1150R. I have never had a breakdown. My husband does all the routine work on our motorcycles (he has an R1200RT) and it only rarely gets taken to the dealership. We do lots of long distance riding (coast to coast USA, Canada, and Mexico) and have never had a problem on a trip. The only unusual issues that I have had with this bike were a faulty pencil coil and a starter issue. The starter was replaced while under the extended coverage. Hope you have years of great riding.

[budH]

Excellent advice here from all who've posted.

My 2002 1150R's odometor shows 53K miles. I purchased it brand new and have had no real problems so far.
MINOR PROBLEMS: Very slight leak from a factory fuel clamp - since replaced with Fuel Injection screw type clamps. (I also replaced the ones inside the fuel tank while replacing the fuel filter.)
Only other problem has been a bit of intermittence from the turn signals - easily fixed by sanding the bulb sockets. I plan to swap out the somewhat low quality bulb sockets soon.
I've had good luck with the plastic quick disconnects so far but will probably replace them soon.

I've done all the maintenance myself, except for the original 600 miles (I believe) break-in maintenance.
Favorite improvement was installing Ohlins shocks at about 24K! Otherwise, it's pretty much stock except for little odds and end.

I love this motorcycle! It's my first BMW and just does everything I want it to do. I taken some long distance camping trips where we sought out the twistiest roads (Vermont, West VA, Tail of the Dragon @ TN/NC line, etc.) and it handled great with the extra 100 pounds of gear. There really is nothing I'd want to replace it with right now (I've purposely refrained from testing a 1200R). At one time I wanted an 1150RT as a second motorcycle but I would miss the R's riding position.

South of England huh? I'd love to ride a BMW there someday. We have friends in Liss (North of Portsmouth) who we visited a few years ago. Hope to visit again soon. Beautiful country! My wife & I saw just 20 minutes of rain over two weeks - that was in Bath and we'd quit carry ing our raincoats by then.

[ProductUser]

One of the descisions of buying something is dertermining if you can afford the item. This goes with houses, bikes, cars, golf clubs...etc. If you have reservations about affording maintencance or the reliability of BMW's, there are other brands that are more reliable, much cheaper and have a larger network of dealers in the event something does go wrong. Something will go wrong on a trip; it's just a matter of when.

So...make sure you carry the following on every trip:
Repair manual (PDF format is preferred).
Fuel line QD's
Final Drive
Alternator belt
Headlight bulbs
Transmisstion input shaft
ABS unit
Cam chain tensioner
Primary coils
Secondary plug wires
A good towing service (most important and doesn't take up much space ).

I'm just poking fun at your expensive, but I have been reading these types of posts for years and sometimes I need to just reply.

The R1150R is a solid machine; I have 72k miles with no problems so far.

PW

[vegas_rider]

hi guys, i'm also a new owner of an 1150 and was wondering if someone could kindly tell me if the clutch spline input shaft is a permanent part of the bike, or a consumable part?

i'm about to buy a contego direct warranty, and asked him specifically about thsi part being covered. he stated teh consumables would not be covered in teh clutch assemlby, but if it's a part of the bike that is meant to stay on there permanently then it would be covered should it fail...

*sidenote* those of you who have been wondering about contego direct's phone service lately, i think they hav ejust recently fixed it. the 866 number on the website now goes directly to a csr rep named adam, he's been nothing but helpful for me in answering all my questions!


cheers,


shawn

[iowabeakster]

The lining on the clutch disc is a consumable part. They wear out very slowly. I would take a (wild) guess that normal usage will wear it out at 100,000 miles. However some other issues have damaged the clutch disc, requiring it to be replaced long before it has worn out. I don't know how the warranty works...if they simply won't pay for a clutch disc or what.

The most frequent is the clutch slave leaking DOT 4 fluid and contaminating the clutch lining. Then the clutch will slip. This requires replacing the clutch slave and the clutch disc. This is not a wear issue, but a mechanical failure. But, like I said, maybe they will consider a clutch disc a consumable item at not pay for that part of it. Always have the DOT 4 clutch fluid changed according to the maintenance schedule to minimize risk of this happening.

The worst issue (the one you asked about) is the splines stripping out between the hub of the clutch disc and the transmission input shaft.

When the clutch hub strips, it also ruins the input shaft of the transmission. This means both parts must be replaced. This is not a wear issue. This is also very expensive, especially replacing the input shaft. This failure is primarily a result of misalignment between the engine and the transmission. Popping wheelies is a bad idea too. Nothing to do but hope that BMW did their job well on your bike.

I think a clutch disc, by itself, is a couple hundred bucks.

[720moto]

This is my first BMW a '02 R1150RT and I was nervous as hell also until I started searching for one and reading the forums and articles about them. Needless to say, what took me so long to buy one??? I wasted tons of money on other brands. One of the reasons I fell in love with the boxer twin motor is that I was looking at a '03 GS and the owner graciously offered for me to take it out for the weekend with no strings attached. He just said that if you haven't really ridden a Beemer, you wouldn't appreciate them. So he let me borrow it and I clocked 650 miles on it ridding all over the San Francisco Bay area. From there I was hooked and I knew I had to have one.

I bough my RT from a guy who needed to sell it because of his knee surgeries. It only has 25k miles, system cases, top case, new Metzeler Z6 tires, full service from the dealer, Am-FM-Cassette radio, comfort seat, engine guards, and some extras. After taking it for a test ride I bought it for $5500 USD. You will need to get use to the noises it makes but take it out on the highway and open her up and she purrrrs like a kitten and so dam comfortable.

Good luck on your bike and like everyone says here just ride it and keep her maintained.

[email protected]

[jsparks6288]

25,000 on a 2002 without any problems. Still have plastic QD with no leakage. Only complaint is that it goes through Z6s about every 6,000 miles. I change the fluid in the differential and the trans every spring, so far so good in those areas.
Jeff Sparks
R1150R 2002

[Petrus]

Got a 2004 Rockster a few weeks ago - first beemer. Absolutely love it. Goes when it should, slows down when you must. My cousin has a beemer shop. He fixes old BMW's in Chicago and by the looks of those bikes, the R will be around for a very very very long time and still run. Seen bikes that looked like ww3 had hit them, running like a champ. So take things with a grain and enjoy one heck of a bike. take care of it and it will take care of you.

[dnat928]

Dude, quit worrying and relax. You're experiencing a bit of pre-owner anxiety - that's all. These bikes are VERY reliable. Bought my 2002 R1150R with 28k miles in 2005...now have 58k miles. NO problems of any type. Just do the usual periodic maint items. Just did a ride to NorCal and back...1712 miles in five days with complete confidence. A great ride...be prepared to enjoy your riding.

[DEDENDCRUZER]

Ride it...wail on it...beat it...scratch it scrape it dump it pick it up and enjoy the hell out of it. Every bike I ever owned (except a Sportster, go figure) broke on me at some point. They all do. If it's reliability and security you're after, buy a Toyota. So far my '02 has cracked a QD fitting on a freezing cold day, which was followed 5 minutes after my driveway repair session by my very first kidney stone attack (ah such fond memories), I've replaced the clutch slave cylinder which went on strike whilst I was sitting at a light (made for an interesting maneuver) I ripped off the right side oil cooler on the lift gate of a carnival truck (true story..was avoiding a drunk teenage girl in a Honda..and I've got the scars for souvineers) and I've had the big one...the final drive failure. BUT, I was massively impressed because I was able to limp the bike the 14 miles I was away from home when it disintegrated. Tell ya the truth, it was a fairly easy job once I got past explaining to the parts guy at the dealer what I wanted. I'm sure it'll find more parts to break in the future but I'll NEVER get rid of this bike..It's just too damn good and waaaay too much fun.

[twindave]

I did about 7500 miles in 20 days last September on my 2002, going from California to Virgina and back. She took a beating in almost every weather and road condition imaginable.

I didn't have one single mechanical problem. However, the exhaust did manage to melt a nice big hole in my left sidecase. I was able to patch the hole with some HVAC silver tape and some pieces of galvanized sheet metal purchased at a home improvement store. Since then I have lowered the can and replaced the case.

The only thing I really worried about was running out of fuel on the road at night, so I plan on fitting a 1gallon ROTOPAX fuel pack to her..... maybe a PAX for water also.