Marrakesh red r1150gs

[Littledumptruck]

Done a few more runs in the 1150 since getting home from the holidays and it is very relaxing to ride and the modified seats are very comfortable.

Came across this blast from the past when clearing out some shelving in the garage, set of rear pads from my original r1150gs bought from a local BMW main dealer , at the time it was less than 30 months old with less that 3000 miles on the clock ans said dealer did a full service on the bike before I collected it.

Less than 200 miles later the rear pads fell to bits , the failed pad had less than 1.2mm of friction material left on the backing, dealers response was ' it is only a £7500 bike we would never entertain selling a BMW car worth so little '.

Fully checked the bike and the bash plate nuts were seized so when I did get the bash plate off I found written on the oil filter a note when it had been changed by the previous BMW dealer (M & S in Newcastle) two year previously.

Cracking full service

Sounds similar to the 1150 I bought from Balderstons back in about 06. Test road it, it ran like a bag o nails, coughed and spluttered like mad. Was assured it was yet to be serviced. Collected it, it still ran like a bag o nails. Called them as soon as I got home, was told it had only done 2k since last service. Asked them to explain service shedules. 6k, 12k, annual etc. looking at my service book it had only done 2k in two years!! They had it back the following weekend, gave it a full service, very begrudgingly…..got home again, one front disc was badly scored. Called to complain again that they obviously missed worn out pads. Got an earfull from the owner….’had two guys on your bike most of the day’. So I went to take a pic to prove I wasn’t lieing, could then see they’d put a pad in back to front…… The owner collected the bike personally on the monday. I also pointed out a small oil leak. Another week or so and I got it back after a full gearbox rebuild with all new seals and clutch under the warranty, and one new disc and one new pad. Never been back since.

 

[Neil W]

Well bike blotted its copy book yesterday, took the brother in law up to Leith to pick up a used Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor , all fine until the way home when the speedo packed in , got home and the cable and speedo are fine but the plastic drive gear had chewed itself to bits and the metal gear had partially seized , new one on order from Motorworks.

Other than that it went great two up

 

[nicholsonj2252]

Well bike blotted its copy book yesterday, took the brother in law up to Leith to pick up a used Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor , all fine until the way home when the speedo packed in , got home and the cable and speedo are fine but the plastic drive gear had chewed itself to bits and the metal gear had partially seized , new one on order from Motorworks.

Other than that it went great two up

Double check the cable is running 100% free . I had the same issue , replaced the metal driving dog and the plastic gear and a then got the same problem again , turned out the cable was intermittently seizing , locking the plastic gear up and the the metal tab then chewed the gear up

 

[Neil W]

Cable appears fine with no kinks or issues , I have pulled the inner and it is fine as is the outer , running a drill onto the driven lower end with an adaptor the speedo is giving an even and smooth reading.

Will stick a new cable on it as I have a spare hidden in the garage somewhere

 

[Neil W]

All sorted thanks to Motorworks, bike got a decent clean yesterday and working out a to do list for the winter, front engine casing isn't corroded but needs to be refinished and will probably fit a braided clutch line plus a load of stainless steel fixings

 

[Neil W]

Well I picked up a set of Oxford grips in a sale at J and S the other day and they are now fitted along with the homemade sat nav bracket and Touratech lockable mount , also fitted a Koso combined volt meter/clock and external temp gauge.

Hopefully the grips will work much better than the usual BMW OEM stuff (they have on every other bike) and as they are wired via the switched auxiliary fuse box there is no chance of them being left on , the only issue was the right grip would not fit until I turned the BMW throttle tube down by 0.5 mm in the lathe.

 

[KMD]

Tidy work Neil

 

[Neil W]

Thanks , I have a r1150rt rear wheel on the way and then I am going to try to find an early r1200gs 19" front wheel that has a very similar pattern and convert it to take a speedo drive ( I have already sorted out which bearings I need ) , will get them powder coated black as the wheels on the bike are letting it down and it is a fortune to get them respoked with stainless spokes and then powdercoating the hubs and rims

 

[Neil W]

Wheel fits perfectly , will get it powder coated gloss black and swap over the tyre from the spoked wheel (sticking with a 150/70 rear as with a 170 it will be over tyred with the standard front tyre , next I need to find a decent but cheapish R1200GS hexhead front wheel (up to 2008 as the pattern is similar and once it is gloss black they will look the same )

 

[Neil W]

This style of wheel will be a good match, typical I had a set for my old hexhead GSA and sold them for buttons a few years ago

 

[sproggy]

I wouldn’t put a 150 tyre on a rim designed for a 170. It would adversely affect the profile by stretching the sidewalls out so would be odd to ride on and could be dangerous. Tyre width needs to be matched to rim width.

 

[Neil W]

Well the early r1200gs 19" wheel arrived today and had a quick test fit , first thing I need to do is fit some bearings to match the smaller diameter spindle on the 1150 ( x2 6304 2rs) , once that is done I will have to machine down the speedo drive to centre the wheel between the forks and then turn up a spacer for the other side . Hopefully it will all work out .

 

[Neil W]

Not a bad match and once they are gloss black they will look all but identical

 

[KMD]

I looked into getting my spoked wheels refurbished with the view that if it’s going to be done, it had to be done properly. The person I would trust that sort of standard of work to would be Roy Thersby in Stockton but the price was about £500 per wheel. If I was doing a nut and bolt full restoration that would be the route I’d take but as I’m only tidying up a mechanically sound bike it was cheaper to source a pair of nice alloys.

Them and a set of ‘Tesco’ blue and white bodywork are going on and between them should have the bike looking nice again.

 

[Neil W]

Other option is get a set of tatty but sound spoked wheel the get them blasted and powder coated as is , seen a few wheels done like that

 

[sproggy]

Other option is get a set of tatty but sound spoked wheel the get them blasted and powder coated as is , seen a few wheels done like that

I did that with a Guzzi - I was a little worried that the powdercoat would lift off with the slight but inevitable flexing of the spokes but when I sold the bike after 10k miles including riding through the winter the powdercoat was still like new. Definitely a viable approach if the wheels are sound and true.

 

[Neil W]

Got the wheel bearings changed today and a spacer made up for the offside so that the wheel is centred and the discs are centred in the calipers, will make a dummy spacer for the nearside to work out what mods I need to carry out with the speedo drive

 

[Littledumptruck]

Probably an illusion, but that caliper looks bloody close to the wheel spoke!!

 

[Neil W]

Just the angle of the photo , there is a good 10 to 15 mm plus clearance between the rear face of the caliper and the outer face of the wheel spokes

 

[Neil W]

It has just clicked why there are flats machined on the disc mount posts cast into the wheels , they are clearance for the calipers . Who would have thunk it