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New (to me) R1150R

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bigjnsa

bigjnsa

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I picked it up last night and man is it perfect! I can't believe the ride quality. MUCH softer (like a Cadillac) compared to my Sportster. A few things which I need help on are:

1. Axle shimmy during shifting - I'm not sure if that's the actual term but I'm so used to my Harley and the motor still spinning during shifting. When I let off the throttle at any speed on the BMW, its instantly back to idle so when I engage the clutch the whole backend wiggles to get back up to the speed I'm at. I guess I'll have to experiment with giving it more throttle while shifting, BUT I'm up for all thoughts and opinions.

2. Brakes - Holy schmollys does this thing stop on a dime! Again, I'm used to my Harley and so-so brakes, but even the slightest touch and I get a firm stop. Reminder to self, DONT grab all brake like on the Harley ;)

3. Turn signals - Argh... the ONE thing I hate about it, doesn't have self canceling signals ;(

4. Power - WOW does it have it. Nothing like my 883, even in 6th gear I can twist the throttle and it surges with power. Nice, I like it!

Those are just the things off the top of my head for now. I'm sure the more I ride it, the more I'll get used to it and discover more things, but for now, I think it was well worth the investment.

Here's me today heading out to work:

new-beemer.jpg


Farkles..

Remus exhaust w/can from the heads back (no cat)
Side bags
Reversible rear seat pan (changes to a luggage rack or passenger seat)
RheinWest chip
PIAA running lights
Llamar lip
Highway pegs
Rear brake conversion to LEDs with flashers
 
Congrats on the new to you bike!

On the shifting... let me see if I can relate a suggestion. Break the habit of completely closing the throttle on shifting. Downshifts in particular. A slight blip of the throttle on downshift will bring the engine up to speed for the new lower gear. It is easier to demonstrate and practice on a smaller bike. Road racers and MX guys can help with pointers on this. Once you get the hang of matching the RPM to the next gear it is actually smoother and quicker to shift without using the clutch. To be clear, I am NOT recommending trying clutchless shifting right off the bat on your new bike.

On upshifts as you get used to the gear spread you can match RPM to road speed pretty easy using the throttle too. Again, when you have this mastered it is possible and quite smooth to shift with no clutch.
 
Nice bike. Did you keep the 883?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Almost a full week with hit so far and I just love it. I finally found a good compromise with the adjustable rear shock. Firm but soft. Saturday I did 180 miles and never even had back/butt problems. Same ride on my Sportster and I'd be cringing with pain ;) I'm still getting used to the shifting shimmy, I can't shift as fast as my Harley but I'm learning. One thing I might change is the ratio of 1st gear. Its way too tall and I'm stalling on a daily basis. The same stop light or hill on my Harley and it chugs right through it. I know the Harley has more low end torque and I'm compensating by using more throttle on the BMW.

Average gas mileage has been 46mpg (mixed city and highway).

The Remus exhaust REALLY sounds good over 4000 RPM ;) Above 5 grand the bars start a noticeable rattle but I'm used to that because the Harley bar always rattled.

Brakes in the morning are pretty useless backing down my drive way. I guess the servos need time (or engine RPM???) to get up to speed or temperature.

There's only one problem I have and its selecting 1st while idling in neutral for a few minutes. I press one down and nothing happens, I try even harder and nothing. The only way to get it from Neutral to 1st is to hold my foot down and release the clutch slightly and it "clicks" into gear. Possible tranny problem in my future???
 
bigjnsa said:
There's only one problem I have and its selecting 1st while idling in neutral for a few minutes. I press one down and nothing happens, I try even harder and nothing. The only way to get it from Neutral to 1st is to hold my foot down and release the clutch slightly and it "clicks" into gear. Possible tranny problem in my future???
Click to expand...

Not your tranny per se, it's your BMW tranny!!! My 1150GS (23K) did that on occasion, my current K (50K) does it more often. So in my most humble opinion and based on my expereience with BMW, it is normal for your beemer to be disagreeable sometimes, like any self repecting German is!!!

My solution, release the clutch and pull it back in and "click" in drops/clunks into 1st gear
 
Doons said:
Not your tranny per se, it's your BMW tranny!!! My 1150GS (23K) did that on occasion, my current K (50K) does it more often. So in my most humble opinion and based on my expereience with BMW, it is normal for your beemer to be disagreeable sometimes, like any self repecting German is!!!

My solution, release the clutch and pull it back in and "click" in drops/clunks into 1st gear
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks for the verification. I figured nothing was wrong, but I'm so used to the loud Harley CLUNK going into first gear.
 
bigjnsa said:
There's only one problem I have and its selecting 1st while idling in neutral for a few minutes. I press one down and nothing happens, I try even harder and nothing. The only way to get it from Neutral to 1st is to hold my foot down and release the clutch slightly and it "clicks" into gear. Possible tranny problem in my future???
Click to expand...

With my 1200GS I have the same issue. From what I've read that is pretty standard. I find a little throttle blip does the trick too. Or just slightly engage the clutch, disengage and slip it into gear. I've gotten to where I don't even think about it most of the time.
 
bigjnsa said:
.

There's only one problem I have and its selecting 1st while idling in neutral for a few minutes. I press one down and nothing happens, I try even harder and nothing. The only way to get it from Neutral to 1st is to hold my foot down and release the clutch slightly and it "clicks" into gear. Possible tranny problem in my future???
Click to expand...

Ah yes the BMW tranny. I too noticed that you do not feel that clunk when hitting 1 from a stop. It is another feel thing but it is a BMW thing. Try and feather the cluch somemore when hitting that hill that you are having issues with, the 883 has a shorter release then the BMW and with a bit of gas and a bit slower release you should be fine. That is a TQ'er as well. It has much more TQ then your 883 and is most likely the same weight or lighter. Enjoy, very nice ride indeed.

Mark
 
WoodButcher said:
... From what I've read that is pretty standard. I find a little throttle blip does the trick too. Or just slightly engage the clutch, disengage and slip it into gear. I've gotten to where I don't even think about it most of the time.
Click to expand...

Same here with my older R850R tranny; all three oil-heads that I've owned were similar.

I understand your situation bigjnsa, as I switch back-and-forth between the R850R and the 883 Sportster with sidecar; both are good bikes, just way-different characteristics. And now I'm adding a KLX250S into the mix. I generally take a few neighborhood start/stops/turns to re-accustom to each bike before I head into traffic. /Lee
 
I used to have an R1150R and it was one sweet running and riding bike. If I hadn't had found such a sweet deal on my FJR I would probably still have it :)
 
I've had this bike for 3 weeks now and I am totally enjoying it. I like everything about it including the hard bags those are cool! But man, this sucker is quick! I routinely find myself thinking I'm going one speed and glancing at the speedo, its much faster than I think it is. 90 on this thing feels like 60 on the Harley ;)
 
The R1150R ranks almost equally to the 650 Dakar as my favorite BMW bike. It just looks so good :clap: Congratulations!
 
bigjnsa said:
There's only one problem I have and its selecting 1st while idling in neutral for a few minutes. I press one down and nothing happens, I try even harder and nothing. The only way to get it from Neutral to 1st is to hold my foot down and release the clutch slightly and it "clicks" into gear. Possible tranny problem in my future???
Click to expand...

First of all, congrats on the new to you bike. :clap:

As for the 1st gear thing, I have the same problem with my new 1200. I found out if I pump the clutch a few times it will go into gear first try.
 
TWTourist said:
First of all, congrats on the new to you bike. :clap:

As for the 1st gear thing, I have the same problem with my new 1200. I found out if I pump the clutch a few times it will go into gear first try.
Click to expand...

I missed the quoted post but I had the same thing on mine. Just pump the clutch a few times before shifting into first and all is well.
 
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