1150R misses a lick...

[carl1957]

Hey guys, my "03 1150R misses a lick every now and then. Just today, I noticed one cylinder missing a couple, the sort of thing that might cause a stall at idle. At about 12K these are probably the original plugs, should I begin looking there?

[rocky2ie]

Hi Carl, my Rockster tends to missfire and go about stalling at tickover when the throttle bodies are out of balance, also a TPS reset might help. These bikes really like the carbs to be balanced. Cheers.

[peels]

Hi Carl, my Rockster tends to missfire and go about stalling at tickover when the throttle bodies are out of balance, also a TPS reset might help. These bikes really like the carbs to be balanced. Cheers.

THIS! ^

and, its probably NOT them but spark plugs are cheap. also, check that Throttle cable is fully seated at TB.

maybe water in gas....?

is it dual spark? start looking into those stick coils Ive read so much about... possibly.

[carl1957]

Thanks guys, Gives me a great place to start. Hadn't considered water, had the tank off last summer. Then I didn't really empty the tank, there was still some slosh as the filter was relocated... How would one empty the tank dry?

[jasondo]

Carl,

I've also battled a slight miss and traced it to a bad stick coil. It would idle with an intermittent miss that caused it to sound like it wanted to stall. The problem lies in the design of the original stick coil and its tendencies to arc out into the surrounding cylinder head. I pulled one out and it literally crumbled apart from being so badly burned from the arcing. I replaced with a brand new pair of beru coils that have the upgraded heat shield and no more miss, smooth as it should be. Pulls much stronger also. I'd say 12 year old coils are mighty suspect.

[cgguy09]

Carl,

I've also battled a slight miss and traced it to a bad stick coil. It would idle with an intermittent miss that caused it to sound like it wanted to stall. The problem lies in the design of the original stick coil and its tendencies to arc out into the surrounding cylinder head. I pulled one out and it literally crumbled apart from being so badly burned from the arcing. I replaced with a brand new pair of beru coils that have the upgraded heat shield and no more miss, smooth as it should be. Pulls much stronger also. I'd say 12 year old coils are mighty suspect.

^^^ beat me to it, apparently unlike most coils, the BMW one's die slowly taking your idle and MPG with them. Check out some of the cheaper things first:
I recommend doing the following in this order...
1.)Switch out the plugs (you'll be able to inspect the coils for any crumbling while they are out)
2.)do a TB balance (unless they are really messed up, I doubt this is it),
3.) Ditch the fuel (water/disimilation could have taken hold, & it could be bad),
4.) Clean the fuel injectors (run some SeaFoam or Techron through through the system),
5.) check your air filter (it could be clogged with a rat nest, needs to be replaced, or if a K&N reenergized)
6.) Check your fuel filter (depending on the milage, you'll be due to replace it)

Good luck, be sure to post your results so we can all learn!

cFogs

BT
NNNN

[AZBMWRIDER]

Do you still have the original ignition leads ???
How old is the battery, I had erratic engine issues when my battery started to fail, started the engine alright, but the engine management computer had issues while at idle .

[carl1957]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! Had the battery out last fall, doing the clutch hub spacer. I pulled fuse 5, switch on . and twisted to full throttle a few times, and that seems to have cleared things up. Idles smooth as glass. My '03 doesn't have the stick coils, fortunately. Battery's a year old, Fuel filter was replaced, Still has the original ignition leads, those are the cables to the spark plugs, right?

Thanks again,

Carl