Ping Another VIew - BMW R1100RT

Saw from your tag that you have a '99 R1100 RT. I have been a fan of
this bike for some time and thought at some point, it might be in my
garage. I've followed several BMW RT forums for about 6 months. I'd
be interested in your opinion on several issues.

1. Have you experienced surging at constant speeds and if so, how
much?
2. How "clucky" is the transmission on these later model RT's?
3. And how severe is the tendency of the RT to pull to the right?
3, Can you recommend an area BMW shop as particularly customer
friendly with better than average service?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Ed L. (ex-'95 VFR & bikeless in Euless)

 

heard about it, never experienced it. my understanding is it is state
of tune related. the various "cures" are worse than the disease, such
as removing the cat code plug from the FI brain, etc. that's just dumb.
puhleeze... get your throttle bodies synced and change yer plugs. if
your shop can't fix it, find a better one that can. the new dual plug
heads increase firing efficiency, as the root cause is the mixture
leanness required for environmental regs. that means the motors really
have to be tuned accurately. the german laws make california CARB regs
look lax.

mine makes a good solid "thack" when you shift. lets you know you've
actually changed gears. the noise doesn't bother me and there is a trick
to avoid it if you want, but that's more trouble than it's worth, imo,
preloading pressure on the shifter before releasing the clutch and
making the shift. seems to me, that's adding pressure to the linkage
which is bound to increase dog/gear wear Mechanically, it's a Getrag
designed 5 speed tranny, so it's pretty beefy. I can't tell you about
the 1150 six speed, Getrag also. it supposedly addressed the noise, but
it's been non issue to me. it's more cosmetic than mechanical.

this was one thing that did surprise me when i first got the bike. i
can sit on the Toaster for a long time with no hands on the bars and
steer it easily with my knees (kids, don't try this at home). when i
first got the RT and tried that, it kept drifting right without
corrective knee pressure action. with hands on the bars in even the
lightest manner, it's not there and not perceptible. it does manifest
itself in a long term wear pattern on the front tire so there is
ongoing slight correction. the cause is the way the RT fuel tank
carries more capacity/weight on the right side of the bike than the left
to make room for the storage/radio compartment on the left. in
comparison, i'm not aware of other large bmw twins, such as the gs or
the basic r having this issue. for riding, it hasn't been anything i've
noticed when in the midst of flailing the bike around at speed in curves
or even slabbing in a straight line. knowing about it, i can now steer
with only knee input again. i'd suggest riding the bike and seeing what
they are about firsthand.

Euless, hmm. BMW of Ft Worth (the bike shop), Lone Star in Austin, Wild
West or British-USA in Houston. check the IBMWR list for further info
http://www.ibmwr.org
all these topics and more are covered there in more detail than you can
stand.

let's not be hasty... ;^D

--
jam

'73 R75/5 Toaster (not for sale)
'99 R1100RT (in use)
'00 FLHRCI (sold!)
Iron Butt Assoc, WATR 3X, EIEIO, AEIOU etc blah blah

 

Hello Jam ... I'd say you covered the bases extremely well. I'm going
to test ride a demo next Wednesday at the Ft. Worth BMW shop. BMW is
certainly making the deal sweet with 3.9% for 60 months, they make the
first 3 payments and are discounting the RT up to $1600. The San
Antonio shop is also offering a top truck as part of the deal.

I've applied for a second job and should know something within a few
days ... maybe a week. If I get this second job, and the demo feels
right, then I'm thinking '04 BMW RT.

Thank you much for such a thoughtful post. Btw, your comments matched
with the information I've gleamed from many weeks of study and
searching. And second opinions are a great source of comfort on this
end of the deal.

Take care.

 

Now come on guys.. we all know that the 04 Harley's are coming online now..
I'm given to understand that the length of contracts will go up to 72 months
and the interest is going to be very low... Let's all get mounted on one of
those 30 thousand puppies and call ourselves "somebody"... LMAO... See ya'

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

I left mine out friday night and it dropped below freezing. This morning,
early, I attempted to go to Ballys, but could not get it out of first gear.
Lube must have been frozen. I drove it around the block a couple of times
in first before it warned up enough to get out into a higher gear. I knew
something was wrong because I didnt hear the "clunk" when I attempted to
shift.

Always test drive. The one I had pulled to the right and I took it back as
it was so bad. They did something (Alamo BMW) to reduce it but it still
pulls to the right and both tires wear unevenly as a result. I once put a
25# (maybe 50?) of concrete mortor in the left case when returning from home
depot and it didnt make a difference; still pulled to the right. One issue
of the BMW BOM had a writeup on it and they clamed it was inherent.
However, a buddy of mine with a 97 RT (i have 99) claimed he didnt have the
pull to the right problem.

I am within walking distance of Alamo BMW and they are convenient, never
been anywhere else. They overhaul those midget type racers and always have
some of them plus some really weird cars in the back that you can sit in and
play with. They dont stock much and if you want a sealed battery or high
power headlight, get it on the internet.

 

sumpin is not straight.

i have never had uneven wear on the rear tire, and i've been thru a few.
cupping on the front when its' starting to show wear but that's
expected. the rear should wear evenly.

seriously consider a ride up to austin and have lone star take a look at
it, or over to houston for wild west. both excellent shops.

--
jam

'73 R75/5 Toaster (not for sale)
'99 R1100RT (in use)
'00 FLHRCI (sold!)
Iron Butt Assoc, WATR 3X, EIEIO, AEIOU etc blah blah

 

That's not even uncommon on autos. If the tranny is too cold, they
don't shift. BTW - did you mean ride to Bally's as in a work out? I
never ride to a work out. I'm always so toasted afterwards I wouldn't
feel safe on the bike. I see people do it all the time, though.


--Fullstate

 

I agree - a little cupping on a front tire is OK under wear, but you
should have even wear on the rear tire. It almost sounds like they
got your rear axle out of alignment somehow.

If anyone is real picky, and they don't mind looking around, there are
places that can make sure your frame and suspension is in alignment by
laser-sighting everything. Even brand new bikes MIGHT be out of
alignment enough to cause quirky handling behaviors.


--Fullstate