R1100RS Mystery

["Tom Brown" <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rob:


>Have any of you burned valves, or had severe leakage in a cylinder,
similar
to what I've described? Or heard of another bike similarly disposed?


It's no mystery to me.  The only way you can burn valves like that is to 
either be running much too lean a mixture.  This could be caused by a 
leaking intake between the throttle body and cylinder head, or fiddiling 
with the throttle position sensor.....Or, more likely, the dealer 
misadjusted your valves or didn't tighten the lock nuts.   It is not nomal 
at all for these bikes to burn valves, no matter how hard you ride them.

>Might anyone have a contact name or a more specific (preferably email)
address
other than the generic N.A. address in NJ?

If you're a member of BMW MOA, contact them about this.  I think they have 
an ombudsman who might talk with the dealer and NA for you.

>Has anyone sold there bike as in my bikes condition?

I've never even heard of a bike in this condition after 44K miles with 
dealer service.

>I'm extremely
leery after
5 transmissions,

This tells me that the dealer doesn't know how to install transmissions 
correctly.

> a sight glass blow out,

Probably caused by overfilling the oil.   I've written you about this.

fuel pump failure,

Bizzare.  I've heard of a lot of problems with fuel filters, caused by 
overfilling the tanks and having gas back up into the crankase ventilation 
canisters.  The charcoal gets wet with fuel and then the fuel comes back 
with charcoal in it that clogs the filters.  Never heard of a fuel pump 
going, however.

 and now the
top end
problems,

Totally strange.  One other possibility is that you've used nothing but 
really cheap gas in it.

to keep this bike. The ONLY plus to this, IF one could call
it that,
is that the dealer is willing to take my bike and knock off 5K on a new
machine.

Don't know what year your RS is.  If it's an early one, this might be a 
pretty good deal.  I'd take it and then find another dealer to service it.

>They want $1500 for a full valve job and I'm pretty sure I'd have a
hard time selling
it with full disclosure of it's past.

The new bike deal is better...again depending on the model year of your 
bike.

As I said before, BMW NA is probably not the problem.  It sounds like your 
dealer is trying to pull one over on you.  They've screwed up your bike and 
now they want to buy it cheap to sell to some other poor soul who'll have 
nothing but trouble with it an provide another bonanza of service work for 
them.   I've never heard of an oilhead with this many problems.  What year 
is your bike?

If your bike is more than a couple years old, you may want to take that 
deal.   Bear in mind that new bikes sell for at least a thousand off list 
and new RS's aren't as popular as some others and can be had for even less.

As for the new bikes, the new 1200 GS is an amazing bike and is quite fun 
after you've adjusted your riding style to the lighter controls and the 
amazing new chassis.   The new engine has zero surge and 100hp.  It revs 
smoothly to 8,000 and has lot of low end torque as well.  It's a great 
improvement over the 1150 and a huge improvement over the 1100.

For sport touring in warmer climates where it's hilly, an RS or GS is the 
ticket, but if you live someplace like Chicago, you need to travel 200 miles 
to find any interesting roads.  We also have very changeable weather 
conditions and I like to ride later in the season, so it's the RT for me. 
I'm on my second, an '04 with Twin Spark.   This bike used to annoy me with 
its Evo brakes and hydraulic clutch, but I've adjusted and I really like the 
increased braking power now.   There has never been a riding situation in 
20K miles that I've needed rear only braking.   That technique of using the 
rear brake in high speed turns to steer the back of the bike can get you in 
a world of trouble.  Just use a lower gear instead and use the oilhead's 
amazing engine braking to fine tune your mid-corner handling.

GS's are the most misunderstood of BMW bikes by non-GS riders.   They corner 
on tight mountain twisties like demons!  Forget the knobbies and the trail 
riding, these things are amazing on asphalt.   Ground clearance to burn, 
soak up road imperfections like a sponge and they turn in like nothing else. 
The new GS is even more of a tool for burning up twisties.  The 1100 and 
1150 GS's would run out of steam at about 85 mph, but not the new bike. 
Plenty of power at the upper end, the lower end and that end in between. 
It's also much lighter than the old bike.  Not for small inseam riders, 
though.   If you're under 30" inseam, try extensively before you buy.

- -TB

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