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

Hi all

just bought a 2003 (6000 miles) R1150R
super bike i love it
just noticed that the left hand side exhuast pipe (the one coming out of the cylinder) glows red when she is idling with a little choke on?
I read older posts and see that this could be normal and the carbs might need balancing but is it normal for one side to glow red and the other not to do so?
I know that they dont like to sit idle without airflow to cool them down

Any reply would be appreciated thanks

Lakeman

You have the right idea. Do a tune up, and never let this engine run for more then a minute or two without air flowing over it. Even while doing the TB sync a fan should be used unless you have the procedure down well enough to get it done within a minute or two. If you look around on this site, you will find a pic someone took of those pipes glowing red hot. He got distracted and had let his R idle for about 20 minutes as I recall. Not good.

+1!!

Welcome!!

thanks for the reply and the welcome !
There is an answer to almost every question on the forum its just a matter of finding it really!

Lakeman

What is going on here???

I can't believe that Wayne (towerworker) failed to give some sage advice about the bikes cooling system. Especially one with red pipes!

I guess you found the search function, you will indeed find most every question has been asked.

If you search "antifreeze" (or maybe "coolant") cross-referenced with the username "towerworker", I'm sure you will find massive amounts of helpful and informative advice about proper antifreeze maintenance.

Welcome aboard.

Oh yeah.................must be all the meds I'm on.

Any R overheating issues can generally be traced back to a failure to properly maintain the bike's cooling system. The R has two strategically placed radiators placed on both the port and starboard side of the fuel tank. One must annually drain, flush and replace the antifreeze/coolant within the aforementioned cooling system. If money is not the option then the BMW motorcycle specific grade of coolant can be ordered from me as I hold the distribution rights for North America. The current price is (adjusted for inflation) $99.00 gal. I do accept cash, cash or cash. I also accept PayPal. Now if for whatever reason you choose to purchase your R's antifreeze elsewhere, please feel free to do so. Just bear in mind the following link viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22823. GordonM bought his antifreeze from some unknown like Prestone or GM or some other little fly-by-night outfit. Do you really want your bike to wind up puking it's guts out in your garage or driveway?

With my antifreeze in your R you can start your bike and then go back in the house and finish that cup of coffee, or sit down with the family for dinner or even sit down and watch "Titanic" from start to end! Would you really rather have any less protection for your bike? I think not!

Wayne

It's not a 'choke'! It's a 'fast idle' lever! You use it long enough to fire up a cold bike and get to the end of the driveway, then close it. Do not leave the bike sitting idle unless doing a TB synch. Then, use a fan or other air blast. The red on one side can also be a function of the ambient air on the other side being cooler, or the red side is the side that is blanketed from a faint cooling breeze. Either way, don't do it!

22

Ok - I dont feel as worried about it now but it still looks wrong
thanks for the pics !
lakeman

Here's the pic:
[/quote]

While this may not be causing damage it is most definitely not normal. Generally in poppet-valve aspirated internal combustion engines this is caused by valve timing being off to the point where the fuel-air charge is still burning when it is released into the exhaust manifold. A late spark can do the same thing or an exhaust valve that is never closing entirely. Either will erode your efficiency and hence, fuel economy. Another possible cause, just from engine theory, is a very rich or a very lean mixture. Man that looks weird!

What kind of gas mileage are you getting? What kind of gas are you using?

Beemeridian wrote:

lakeman wrote:cylinder head exhaust pipe glows red!

I checked with King obama, he said it's Bush's fault!

Here's the pic:

is it soft? can you push the metal into new shapes?

exhuast pipes can turn red.
I've seen them before. Not on the R1150R though.

What cannot be is one side only.
If that happens, then gas air mix is to lean on htat side, and producing more heat in it.
That needs to be fixed.

lakeman wrote:Ok - I dont feel as worried about it now but it still looks wrong
thanks for the pics !
lakeman

I would worry about it, but I think if you simply shut the hi-idle lever off after about 2 minutes you won't see it again. I almost never use the hi idle and I think the red exhaust is a result of high idle speed and no airflow. I can't imagine what the head temperature must be.

+1 also if you let the left side get red sitting still, it will melt site glass

Hi, any one heard of the cat glowing red and i mean bright red? Had some building work done so had the bike outside for 2 days in freezing temps. Never had a problem before, ever, but when trying to start, she didnt want to. when I got her going, she ran really badly, dieing when I openned the trottle. Well pulled her into the garage and then notice rhe cat was a red and bright as the sun! HELP please

dutchdiver, When it would not start and then ran badly after it did, a lot of un-ignited raw fuel was dumped into the CatBox. After the catalyst got up to temperature, it ignited that fuel which then heated the CatBox red hot. You most likely have a stale fuel and/or weak (or wet) ignition and/or weak battery problem. When a very cold engine cranks slowly, the starter will drag a weak battery's voltage down so low that the ignition output is too weak to jump the spark plug gap. Check the spark plugs for fouling.

Having your bike always garaged will extend the usability of a weak, on-the-way-out battery. BTDT. Leaving the bike out in freezing temps for 2 days asked the battery to give it's "all" and that was not enough to start the bike like it should. Be prepared for replacing the battery.

BTW, what model BMW and what year?

***************

Back to the original post by lakeman, only one pipe glowing red means the TB "on throttle" balance is off quite a bit and it is running mostly on the cylinder with the red header pipe. Find someone with the know-how and get it properly set. The bike's driveability and fuel economy are really suffering when the synch is off.