Week before last was a rough one for me. I was thinking about a street bike again for a while when I came across 2002 Yamaha V-star 1100. I bought it on Tuesday night. It's a nice bike -- solid, good road manners. But then 14 hours later I found the bike that I really wanted; a 2003 black non-abs r1150r with lots of accessories. So I bought that too. Now I have to quickly liquidate the Yamaha, but that's another story.
So far I'm really enjoying the 1150r. It's smooth, powerful enough for me, and seems very confident going 80 mph down I-25. I've already experienced the hot bike starter engagement klunking noise once, and my motor emits a ticking noise that gets louder comensurate with rpm increase. I'm really happy about finding this board with all you folks who are on the ball and willing to share since I've learned that the occasional starter clank is normal, and the ticking is either fuel injectors, valves, or possibly the cam chain tensioner (guessing injectors).
I intend to take the bike to BMW once for fluid change and possibly valves and throttle body balance. This will give me a baseline for how the bike should sound and feel. I intend to do all of my own maintenance thereafter.
My first question is: Can us mortals do anything with the diagnostic connector, or is that strictly the jurisdiction of the BMW service dept? I'm thinking that on most 1996+ cars, you can pull basic service codes, and for Volkswagens, you can get the VAG-COM software/connector to read/program almost anything your ECU is doing. So what are the options for seeing what my bike's brain is doing?
My second question: What year did they switch over to the newer style cam chain tensioner? 2002 or earlier would be the answer that makes me happy.
P.S. In my other recent adventures, I accidentally picked up a pristine 1971 Hodaka Ace 100 with 322 original miles for a song. Not relavent to BMW, but maybe good for a nod from some of the board's elders.
New Owner Q's: Diag Connector, Cam Chain Tensioner
Moderator: Moderators
There is a new cam tensioner that came out after 2004 I do believe.
A few of the riders on the board here have made the upgrade. advrider.com has a good right up on it with pictures and part numbers.
on ibmwr.org somewhere is a do-it yourself for reading the montronic codes, but I do not know anyone who has actually done it.
Bill
A few of the riders on the board here have made the upgrade. advrider.com has a good right up on it with pictures and part numbers.
on ibmwr.org somewhere is a do-it yourself for reading the montronic codes, but I do not know anyone who has actually done it.
Bill
Cam chain tensioner is around 04. My 03 has the old style one but doesn't rattle...yet. Simple test is to try a 17mm socket on the tensioner, fiddly but possible. The old rattler is a 17mm, the modified one is 15mm.
Welcome to the world of beemers and congrats on the R. Seems that just about every moving part in the motor contributes to the rattles but it's just part of the character of the machine. I love it!
Welcome to the world of beemers and congrats on the R. Seems that just about every moving part in the motor contributes to the rattles but it's just part of the character of the machine. I love it!