New R1250RS “Pinking” noise

[Caterham07]

Hi, new member, new bike. I took delivery of a new 1250 RS in August having had a 1200 RT and a Nine T in the past. From new, I have a “Pinking” noise when accelerating under load in lower gears at around 3000 revs. I am not “lugging” the bike and it revs very smoothly when not in gear. It has been through its 600 mile service and dealer says all ok. This gets some mention online but it all seems inconclusive with “some of them do that”. Do other owners experience the same ? Is this just a feature of Euro 5 fueling for this engine and bike ? Thanks for taking the time to read.

 

[jetjock]

which fuel are you using ? 98 octane ?

 

[Mr Bean]

Hi, new member, new bike. I took delivery of a new 1250 RS in August having had a 1200 RT and a Nine T in the past. From new, I have a “Pinking” noise when accelerating under load in lower gears at around 3000 revs. I am not “lugging” the bike and it revs very smoothly when not in gear. It has been through its 600 mile service and dealer says all ok. This gets some mention online but it all seems inconclusive with “some of them do that”. Do other owners experience the same ? Is this just a feature of Euro 5 fueling for this engine and bike ? Thanks for taking the time to read.

I think many do it, regardless of fuel used. Mine certainly does it and there is a long thread in the GS section.

 

[Caterham07]

Thx for replies. I am using 98 Octane.

 

[wessie]

Thx for replies. I am using 98 Octane.

so try the regular 95 and see what happens

IIRC, the only bikes in the BMW range that specify 97+ RON super unleaded are the S1000 variants.

I run my R1200RS on 95. Of course, this is a different engine to the 1250 ...

 

[Mr Bean]

so try the regular 95 and see what happens

IIRC, the only bikes in the BMW range that specify 97+ RON super unleaded are the S1000 variants.

I run my R1200RS on 95. Of course, this is a different engine to the 1250 ...

I run my 1250 on 95, can't tell any difference on 98/99

 

[Hann]

There`s a long thread on this subject here, unfortunately there has never been a conclusive reason as to the cause or remedy of this engine noise.

 

[Caterham07]

Thanks for the feedback. The pinking was evident on my run back from the handover and I suspect the Dealer will have used 95 Regular, hence I decided to give higher octane a shot too no effect. Like Mr Bean said, I haven’t seen a difference in performance anyway so going back to 95 is a good idea although I doubt it will change the pinking.

 

[Caterham07]

There`s a long thread on this subject here, unfortunately there has never been a conclusive reason as to the cause or remedy of this engine noise.

Many thanks. I read this and it certainly opens up a lot of complexity as every potential symptom and cause seemed to be in it. My observation is definitely in the “metallic pinking’ category. I suppose I can rely on the bike having left the factory with tolerances / timings / ecu set, no wear and with no codes at first service. Others seem to have completed large mileages and lived with it.

 

[wessie]

Thanks for the feedback. The pinking was evident on my run back from the handover and I suspect the Dealer will have used 95 Regular, hence I decided to give higher octane a shot too no effect. Like Mr Bean said, I haven’t seen a difference in performance anyway so going back to 95 is a good idea although I doubt it will change the pinking.

my RS does not have any fuelling wobbles that worry me but in the past I have had bikes with poor fuelling at lower revs. Most likely some feature to meet emissions testing at that rev range. I had a 2015 Tracer and there were loads of comments about fuelling with people spending money on new maps. I had a simpler solution, stay in a lower gear for longer so you do not ride in the wobbly rev range.

 

[Ali-bear]

I think I know the sound you are talking about, I hear it also. But it is very unlikely to be actual pre-ignition or pinking. For a long time these engine controllers have sophisticated pre-ignition detection that detect the onset of pre-ignition and will automatically adjust fuelling/ignition to prevent it from happening at all.

 

[Caterham07]

my RS does not have any fuelling wobbles that worry me but in the past I have had bikes with poor fuelling at lower revs. Most likely some feature to meet emissions testing at that rev range. I had a 2015 Tracer and there were loads of comments about fuelling with people spending money on new maps. I had a simpler solution, stay in a lower gear for longer so you do not ride in the wobbly rev range.

Thank you. The fuelling in terms of performance and throttle is good, just this noise. I will doubtless find a way to ride around it.

 

[Pukmeister]

My 1250GSA is a bag of spanner’s between 2800-3500 at part throttle. I choose to ignore it, or turn the music up.

 

[Caterham07]

I think I know the sound you are talking about, I hear it also. But it is very unlikely to be actual pre-ignition or pinking. For a long time these engine controllers have sophisticated pre-ignition detection that detect the onset of pre-ignition and will automatically adjust fuelling/ignition to prevent it from happening at all.

Thanks for the feedback … I agree that this is a highly developed engine where protection has been added over the years. From years of owning carbed bikes and cars the sound is the same … may just be how they sound.

 

[busy builder]

My R1250R does it, I don't worry, the bike goes and rides very well, I love the bike (for an unfaired bike). Just ride it and enjoy it.

 

[GSian]

It's not pinking, just sounds like it. Makes no difference what fuel is used. My 1250 GSA does it, and my last 1250GS did the same. All the loan and test bikes (1250S and 1300s) i've ever ridden did it. The 2 1300s that I've ridden made the same noise, but through the rev range rather than just 2500 - 3500 RPM. The dealers say it's normal. I just put it down to one of the idiosyncrasies of the 1250 engine.

 

[littleade]

Get some earplugs if you don't already wear them on your bike?

I've got some Alpine Motosafe ones, which have a nice little applicator tube which makes putting the in a lot easier that similar ones I've bought in the past

 

[Caterham07]

It's not pinking, just sounds like it. Makes no difference what fuel is used. My 1250 GSA does it, and my last 1250GS did the same. All the loan and test bikes (1250S and 1300s) i've ever ridden did it. The 2 1300s that I've ridden made the same noise, but through the rev range rather than just 2500 - 3500 RPM. The dealers say it's normal. I just put it down to one of the idiosyncrasies of the 1250 engine.

Very helpful. Thank you.

 

[Morety]

Boxers are AFAIK fitted with anti knock sensors which are supposed to detect pre-ignition. I mentioned the same pinking like noise to bmw mechanics as both my 1200GSA and 1200 RS exhibited the same noise under load; it's a very common report from many owners and happened particularly from low revs under load. It was explained that anti knock sensors should be preventing pre-ignition but to me it always sounded like pinking under load despite the explanations, irrespective of fuel used. It was explained that the same symptoms could be down to injector (noise), compression releases and other associated engine characteristics but to date, I've never received a definitive reason from BMW. I just ignored it and rode through the rev range it happened at (which is where the fuelling could be weaker to comply with EU emissions regs). My current 1250 RT doesn't have this noise, it's one of the quietest boxer engines I've owned. It helps to select gears when in the move that keep the engine north of 3K revs for responsiveness and it seems to reduce the apparent pinking noise too. The noise on my 1200's also seemed more noticeable on a hot engine too.

The rev area where fuelling is leaner can, with the operation for the flapper valve, restrict exhaust gas flow, and apparently it's not just for noise regulations, it's also supposed to keep exhaust gasses for slightly longer within the combustion chamber for emissions (for more complete burn) as was explained to me anyway, and it happens that when I checked flapper position with revs, it sort of overlapped with where the pinging noise was within the revs range. There are some reports that fitting an eliminator to the flapper servo (using it fully open at all revs) can reduce or eliminated the plinking noise so there may be something in that.

 

[Caterham07]

Boxers are AFAIK fitted with anti knock sensors which are supposed to detect pre-ignition. I mentioned the same pinking like noise to bmw mechanics as both my 1200GSA and 1200 RS exhibited the same noise under load; it's a very common report from many owners and happened particularly from low revs under load. It was explained that anti knock sensors should be preventing pre-ignition but to me it always sounded like pinking under load despite the explanations, irrespective of fuel used. It was explained that the same symptoms could be down to injector (noise), compression releases and other associated engine characteristics but to date, I've never received a definitive reason from BMW. I just ignored it and rode through the rev range it happened at (which is where the fuelling could be weaker to comply with EU emissions regs). My current 1250 RT doesn't have this noise, it's one of the quietest boxer engines I've owned. It helps to select gears when in the move that keep the engine north of 3K revs for responsiveness and it seems to reduce the apparent pinking noise too. The noise on my 1200's also seemed more noticeable on a hot engine too.

The rev area where fuelling is leaner can, with the operation for the flapper valve, restrict exhaust gas flow, and apparently it's not just for noise regulations, it's also supposed to keep exhaust gasses for slightly longer within the combustion chamber for emissions (for more complete burn) as was explained to me anyway, and it happens that when I checked flapper position with revs, it sort of overlapped with where the pinging noise was within the revs range. There are some reports that fitting an eliminator to the flapper servo (using it fully open at all revs) can reduce or eliminated the plinking noise so there may be something in that.

Thx Morety,

From all I am learning from the site I should ride and enjoy as there is no evidence of any issues with the bike and it is a delight to ride. I have a little collection of classic bikes from 50's, 60's and 70's and spend probably too much time tuning carbs, hence I have leapt to the "pinking" from lean fuelling as an explanation. I have Suzuki GT750 2 stroke triple where exhaust back pressure / expansion chambers can made a difference to performance by regulating the gas flow within and leaving the cylinder through the port. The complexity of Euro 5, the ECU and how they it responds to a knock sensor is beyond me ... better Brains than mine will have worked it all out. Thank you for taking the time to reply.