R1100R Surging

[GeoffJ]

I bought my '96 R1100R last fall with 23K miles on the odometer. When riding at highway speeds in 5th gear the bike will occasionally surge. It happens about every 15 miles. The bike runs fine in all other respects.

A BMW Service Bulletin I located (#2807, 11-15-97) states the following:

Complaint: Brief power flow interruptions observed in various gears.

Cause: Gears are not correctly and fully engaged. The edges of the shift dogs and shift gears are rounded.

Solution: Installation of tolerance-optimized gears and shift forks.

I find it hard t believe my transmission's gears could be are worn with only 23K miles. The dealer who sold me the bike thought the problem was EFI surging. They advised to make sure both battery cables are tight and to remove and reseat all of the relays in the fuse box. I did this and the bike still has a tendency to surge.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any suggestions?

[mbohn]

Does it never do this in gears 1 through 4? If only in 5th then it does sound like a gearbox problem. But I've never heard a complaint like this, especially at only 23k miles. It could be the beginning symptoms of a warn clutch and you'll eventually get slippage in all gears with a big roll-on.

If it does it in other gears, I'd suspect an electrical problem and what I'd do is re-seat the ecu connector, the injector connectors, the air/oil temperature sensor connectors, the TPS connector, and the Hall effect sensor. Disconnect battery first.

Good luck

Mark

[apaulcopy]

I am no mechanic, but I also had an R1100R that I bought with 22,000 miles (traded last month for my new R1150R!) and the symptoms you describe sound a bit different than the typical surging complaint.

My 1100 tended to exhibit mild surging in the lower gears at steady-state RPMs around 2.5K - 3K -- usually in the 20 - 30mph range. Once up to highway speed in either 4th or 5th gear, I don't recall ever experiencing surging. As I'm sure you've heard, the surging is usually attributed to a lean condition imposed by the Motronics EFI "brain". So, for example, you generally don't get the symptom when the bike is cold and the "brain" is calling for a rich mixture. I only experienced it while the bike was warmed up and only in the lower gears/lower RPMs described.

If you don't experience the surging at lower speeds/in lower gears, I'm not sure I would attribute the symptoms you describe to that very common R1100 trait.

Having said that, I also think the tranny on R is pretty stout. I got the feeling that my bike's tranny was just "settling in" at 23K (or perhaps I was just figuring out how to shift it without clunking).

Before jumping to any conclusions, if it were my bike, I would do a really good valve adjust/throttle body synch first. I found that tended to solve most drivability issues (at least for 1,000 miles or so).

Hope that helps. Good luck.

[ride1150r]

http://web.newsguy.com/steve-makohin/Bi ... Surge.html

Try this article, I think it covers all the basis.

scott

[apaulcopy]

One more thought...

At 23K you are about due for the 24K service, which is a fairly major service that includes replacing the fuel filter. It's a bit of a longshot, but a new fuel filter may help. My point is that you need to do the 24K service anyway (which also includes valves and throttle-body synch), so maybe do that and see if it makes a difference...

Good luck. The 1100 is a great bike and worth sorting out...

[GeoffJ]

Thanks to all for the input. There are numerous possible causes for my bike's problem, which is unfortunate considering it has only 23K miles. So much for legendary BMW quality, huh? I'm going to have a BMW tech look at it. If the repair costs are too high, I will simply sell the bike.

[rph802]

Thanks to all for the input. There are numerous possible causes for my bike's problem, which is unfortunate considering it has only 23K miles. So much for legendary BMW quality, huh? I'm going to have a BMW tech look at it. If the repair costs are too high, I will simply sell the bike.

I think if you read around here some more you'll see the phrase "they all do that" with dair regularity. I'm not saying that this isnt a real issue or shouldnt be taking place but its hardly worth dumping the bike over. What kind of maintenance records do you have from the previous owner(s)?? I have a 95 R1100R and havent experienced any thing I would describe as surging. maybe I just got a good/great one or the previous owner just took really good care of it. The downside of all this Teutonic engineering is that while it'll last just shy of forever is that it does need some old fashioned TLC consistently, mostly valve adjustments and TB sync as mentioned above. Both seem doable by even the relatively mechanically inept among us, myself included. And if pricey mechanical service bothers you, you better dump the bike NOW. BMW techs make good money. Good luck!!

Craig

[GeoffJ]

Thanks to all for the input. There are numerous possible causes for my bike's problem, which is unfortunate considering it has only 23K miles. So much for legendary BMW quality, huh? I'm going to have a BMW tech look at it. If the repair costs are too high, I will simply sell the bike.

I think if you read around here some more you'll see the phrase "they all do that" with dair regularity. I'm not saying that this isnt a real issue or shouldnt be taking place but its hardly worth dumping the bike over. What kind of maintenance records do you have from the previous owner(s)?? I have a 95 R1100R and havent experienced any thing I would describe as surging. maybe I just got a good/great one or the previous owner just took really good care of it.

I bought my my '96 R1100R from a dealer this fall. The dealer had no knowledge of the bike's service history. Prior to selling the bike, the dealer added fresh fluids and installed new Metzler tires and an Excide gel battery.

One thing I noticed about the bike is the clutch doesn't engage until the clutch lever is almost fully extended. There is about 7mm free-play at the hand lever. As noted above, this could be beginning symptoms of a warn clutch. Any thoughts?

[rph802]

I'd have to say that sounds about like my clutch. It is mostly all the way out before it grabs. Its normal for my bike anyway. The mileage sounds awful low but could the splines need greasing? Was the tranny and rear diff fluid changed by the dealer??

BTW, I put a set of Z4's on my bike last spring. I was blown away what they did for the feel and handling of the bike. Partly due to new shoes but some have to be the tires themselves.

Craig