BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Ever since I bought this bike, it's never run smoothly. The day I bought it, the bitch unceremoniously spit me off onto the previous owners driveway. Thought it was just the nature of the beast. The final straw was when a non-riding co worker told me I looked stupid on the bike. It was having a particularly bad day, stalling, coughing, bucking, surging, ya know, just bad behavior. I had a chat with Beemer Boneyard, and they suggested the stick coils might be bad, so I took their advice and changed them. DAY and NIGHT! Smooth as good scotch whiskey, and silky like, well silk! Best money I've spent on a bike in a while. Might actually decide I like it.

Actually got to ride it today and it was marvelous. Smooth power, good torque in the middle, no sputtering, no coughing, no bucking, no farting; just like a BMW should be.

It's probably not uncommon for many to be riding machines where the coils are slowly failing. Finally it becomes a total failure and we change them out. As you have found out it's night and day. I replaced mine at around 30K. 55K now on the bike. If they fail again I'll externalize a coil and be done with stick coils.

"If they fail again I'll externalize a coil and be done with stick coils".

Wayne, This winter would be a good time to externalize the existing stick coils running your bike now, before the hot engine summer riding kills them. It's something your transmitter/receiver TowerWorker skills could easily do. Two clamps, 3 feet of sparkplug wire, 2 sparkplug terminal connectors, matching rubber insulators and you've got a system whos coils will never fail again. Here's a Belgian rider that came up with a very simple stick coil relocation solution:
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread ... ost3778322

Follow up question-
I bought my bike 7 months ago with 13k, now it has 15k. Low milage but it is an 02. It runs well but I don't know how good it could run. Should I replace the coils due to age of bike?

CycleRob wrote:"If they fail again I'll externalize a coil and be done with stick coils".

Wayne, This winter would be a good time to externalize the existing stick coils running your bike now, before the hot engine summer riding kills them. It's something your transmitter/receiver TowerWorker skills could easily do. Two clamps, 3 feet of sparkplug wire, 2 sparkplug terminal connectors, matching rubber insulators and you've got a system whos coils will never fail again. Here's a Belgian rider that came up with a very simple stick coil relocation solution:
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread ... ost3778322

Nicely done - but not sure how it protects the stick coil from the weather....

It's not difficult to protect against weather, it's the heat deep inside the head that kills 'em.

Skyfarm, as an '02 I dont think your bike has stick coils. Believe they were introduced later, maybe '04.

I looked in my Clymers manual for stick coils for my '03 1150R and it didn't say anything about these in a single spark. I'm guessing maybe this isn't something I need to worry about?

I guess I'm thinking of a stick oil as the long rubber piece that goes in and affixes to the top of the spark plug. Something different?

That's called a coil cap. Basically conducts the spark from the visible spark wire down through the overhead valves to the plug. They can get cranky though as I found out recently when the engine was rough for no apparent reason except a heavy rainstorm. Replacing them smoothed a roughness that almost felt like a regular miss. You have a single coil under the tank.

Got it-thx.

towerworker wrote:It's not difficult to protect against weather, it's the heat deep inside the head that kills 'em.

Although I used to think that - I think its IS the wet that kills them. Remember - they were initally designed for use in cars - where they are stuffed deep into head, with a cover placed over them - would be a very hot environment - but extremely dry.

On an air-cooled bike they're very vulnerable to getting wet, and every one that I've seen fail has had corrosion issues - corrosion isn't caused by extreme heat....

I've taken to smothering mine in high-temp grease and haven't had a failure since I did (several years now).

Relocating does solve either problem, hot or wet. Corrosion is typically not a result of getting wet, but of staying wet. A relocated stick coil would almost certainly dry faster and therefore not corrode. Also, any corrosion would be easier to see and remedy before it becomes a problem.