BMW R1150RT / 1200RT / R1250RT Mega Thread

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A 2003 R1150RT came home with me this past Saturday. This was a move from a Kawasaki Z750s. I was concerned with the difference in weight, the Kawi was just over 400 lbs, the RT over 600. I am very surprised that while under way, it does not feel heavy at all. Not until I tried to put it up on the center stand did it feel heavy . It is also the most comfortable motorbike I have ridden, and it is still quite nimble when the roads get twisty. It was also well planted on some dirt roads that we took. It did start to slide around on some loose gravel, though. I will be doing the 24k mile service this weekend, cleaning it up, and putting up some photos in the RT photo thread. I think this bike is gonna be with me for a while.

Answer me a (possibly) silly question. I do not have a repair manual yet. Is the fuel pump/filter under the gold colored plate just to the right of the fuel fill, or on the bottom side of the tank? Thanks. Also, if it is just to the right of the fuel fill, how is the piece of the fairing over the center of the tank removed? Thanks again.

I recently did the fork seals on my 1100rt. Pretty straightforward even for a ham-fisted wrench like me. No photos but there's good ones on bmwsporttouring and ukgser.

Everything went well but the speedo does not work.....! The slot in the housing near the wheel turns and I was careful to line up the blade in the cable. Still nothing. I can't really see how the thing could have been damaged while doing the seals, but maybe it was.

I guess I'll fiddle around with it some more and see if it won't work before I get a new cable.

The inner cable may have come out of it's seat at the speedo????




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Thanks, I'll look at that. I didn't mess with the cable at that end but I did take the handlebars off.

Fuel filter is underneath the tank. PITA

Figures. I just filled the tank. Thanks for the input.

I did my first long-ish trip on Saturday. Just shy of 200 miles. (Hey, NJ's small, OK? ) Headed to a BBQ for a bunch of Inmates. Rain in the morning and very heavy winds riding home. Excellent protection from the elememts, though several gusts from the side caught me by surprise.:eek1 I like this bike more each time I ride it.

The headlight on my RT is weak. I put HID's on my GS and wonder if anyone has put an HID setup on the 1100RT? Does the bulb opening need to be increased in size?

The Twinmax I ordered arrived yesterday, so the rough idle is sorted. Riding today, I noticed the high beam indicator illuminated. Toggled the high/low/pass switch several times did not extinguish it. Checked the headlights, they're not working. Switched on the fog lights and continued on. There is apparently a loose connection, is there a common spot where a connector loosens up, or does the harness rub the fairing somewhere? TIA.

Almost forgot, when I got where I was going, the headlight was working again.

I finally found the RT thread. Thanks Hondo.

I have a sickness for these things.

RT#1





RT#2



The R80 is slow and reliable and fun to ride. The R1150 is a cruiser and a canyon carver.



Marc

Let me know if it solves the problem. I have no issues on mine yet but you never know. This might be a good future idea.

Marc

I need to get one of those too; I've never done the TB sync. How did that go?

The idle is much smoother now, since it is right around 1100 rpm. It was about 900 rpm. I ended up adjusting the throttle cables but I still want to tinker with the brass screws. At idle the needle is even, but when you increase the throttle, the needle pulls to the right. Meaning that the right cylinder is pulling more vacuum. There is a write up in the wisdom section at the bottom of the page to explain the whole procedure. Also, sixth gear no longer shakes the bike like it did before.

Can someone tell me the location of the headlamp fuse and/or relay? I know, under the seat, wiseguys. The headlamp failed to operate on the way home from work today, so I used the fog lights again. Please tell me where in the fuse box/relay block they might be found. And if someone's got a spare owners manual, I'd pay a fair price for one.

Maybe someone else has mentioned this or you are otherwise already aware of it but IIRC there is a coding plug that programs the ECU for various motors and octanes. This also affects surging.

Here's a thread on that:
http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=32933

So make me a recommendation on a wind screen.

Mine only has one thing that I don't like about it. When it is up high enough to block the actual wind, the flow comes around and hits me in the back of the neck.

I usually like it down but for cruising it would be nice to be able to actually hide.

I am 5"10" and use a Corbin seat in the mid position if that makes any difference.

Marc

I believe that I've found out the cause of my headlight woes. After searching online a bit last night, I found on BMWsporttour.com (I think) an owner with the same problem. Turns out that the ground for the headlight bulbs is insufficient, heats up, causing resistance to increase, and eventually causes an open circuit. When I applied ground directly to the headlight bulb, it lit up. I'll post some photos tomorrow with my fix. The folks on the site mentioned above made it seem like a common problem, and BMW's solution was to replace the whole headlight assembly (same crap, not an improved design) with a $1000 price tag.

The effect you are experiencing is caused by a low-pressure area (vacuum) formed behind windshield. It's similar to the lift effect created by an airplane wing.

The solution is to provide a vent of some kind - google 'naca vent wind screen' and do a little reading.

Or you could read this thread:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41152