Pinging, pivot bearings, seat problems...<sigh>

DavidSoine · 10-11-2003, 08:44 PM

Well my 99 is about to turn 40.000 miles...why does it seem to be falling apart?

Pinging still going strong (only slightly better after a trip to the Ozarks) after 2 bottles of Techron. I can only get 92 here in MO (91 in the country) so what can I do about this problem??? Fuel economy is not what it used to be, either. I was stunned as my bike stalled out of fuel a quarter mile from the fuel station (185 miles).

Pivot bearings (replaced after last season) are brinneled - looks like I'm doing that job again soon.

To top it all off, the crappy stock seat has degraded and it now has tiny cracks in the vinyl...no longer water tight!

After four great years is it time for a new bike??? When it rains, it pours, I guess.

best,

Dave
99 R11S

Iceblue02 · 10-11-2003, 10:44 PM

I would say time to upgrade. my.02.

Where is Liberty?? Ever go down to Eureka Springs area AR. I do some riding around there, great fun.

The new BMW ON mag has a good artical about the 2 spark head. I has some good info on the carbon build up on the pistons, why it does this etc. Isnt the pinging contributed to this on mid to high mileage bikes?

Shouldnt be to hard to get the seat recoverd.

So how big a job are those pivot bearings?

DavidSoine · 10-12-2003, 05:01 PM

Liberty is just NW of Kansas City. We rode through Eureka Springs Thursday afternoon - looked interesting, a little touristy for me, though. And the roads were wet almost all day Thursday and Friday...

The only thing that really has me bothered is the pinging. Pivot bearings (annoying but easy) and seat ($$) are just a nuisance.

best,

Dave
99 R11S <= basically stock.

Dan Greene · 10-13-2003, 05:16 AM

Wait a minute. We are seriously talking about a 15,000 BMW motorcycle being worn out at 40,000 miles...at least to the point that the fun is gone. This does not compute. If one buys a new bike at the current incentives, say 0 down, 0.9 interest for 60 months, then the bike will be worn out before it is paid for. Something is rotten in Denmark.

roger albert · 10-13-2003, 06:12 AM

Hi David,

You have my sympathy. That stinks. How many miles did those pivot bearings have anyway? Are you sure they were properly installed and seated?

How consistent has the pinging been? Any chance it's gas? A problem with bikes is that modern gas pumps have one station for all 3 gas grades. If you fill up after a car that bought 87, you get a significant (for the small volume of gas a bike holds) amount of th at 87 that was stored in the upper pump/switch/hose assy, That can cause a lot of tank to tank variation.

The mileage is odd too. A motor at 40k usually gets much better mileage (OK, not _much_, but a couple mpg) better than a new stiff motor. That part seems hardest to explain to me.

Flatbutt1 · 10-13-2003, 08:02 AM

I can't offer any comfort David. 40K just doesn't seem right. My old airhead has almost 90K and is still quite dependable. My '99 S is a puppy at 12K comparatively and I don't like thinking I'll only get triple that figure.

DavidSoine · 10-13-2003, 05:43 PM

Pivot bearings have less than 5000 miles. I don't believe I damaged them during installation - they felt perfect after installation . There was only a small amount of play but when I went to adjust them I found they were brinneled. Next time I will use some different grease, more liberally applied. Plus I may fab up a better bearing driver.

Fuel is an issue - the bike is noticeably rougher when running 91 compared to 93. The pump could be an issue, too, I wonder how much low-grade you get before the good stuff shows up at the nozzle? The best I can do near my home is 92 octane, and only one station nearby has that.

(Funny, I could get 93 in Arkansas - and they are considered "backwards")

best,

Dave

Steve Carlton · 10-13-2003, 07:24 PM

If there's a station that serves all grades of fuel from one nozzle you can usually tell what was last pumped by looking at the price/gallon on the display for the last purchase. Much nicer when they have a nozzle for each grade... and "circumcised" nozzles.

roger albert · 10-15-2003, 09:41 AM

Youch Dave,

5000mi is a bummer. Besides improving the bearing driver, be really careful to pack the bearing well with no airgaps left, and then pack the cavity chock full. You can have excess, but not too much, so try to error on the excess side. I'd also check the bearings not too many miles down the road. I bet with one change under your belt, the next one goes smoother, and lasts a LOT longer. Good luck.

I did some rough calcs after observing 3 gaspumps the last 2 days.
They've of course very approximate, but I show there could easily be something in the 1qt to 1 liter range of old fuel in the hose and valving at a multi-grade pump head. Not a lot, but not insignificant either.

Hope you get it all sussed.
later
roger

GLDelivery · 10-15-2003, 12:47 PM

I've got 63,000+ and my pivot bearings were just loose, needed to be torqued,my seat is cracking also......motronic just fried with same symptoms as yours, it still would run OK, but acceleration was down and stalling was a problem...found a salvage motronic cheap as there was(is) none in North America as of 2 weeks ago....

Flatbutt1 · 10-15-2003, 12:56 PM

GLD raises an "interesting" point. No Motronic available in NA? How can that be when BMW has always had parts available within a reasonable time? At least thats been my experience with other parts, even the diode board for my airhead.

roger albert · 10-15-2003, 01:03 PM

As a guys who buys bmw parts several times a week, I can tell you that the item not being immediately available in NA is very common. Last time it happened to me was just this past Thurs. That was for a couple pistons, which you can be sure are a far more common replacement item than a motronic. Unfortunately not at all rare.