new member intro and question...
 

hi all, i just found this forum and have spent the last few days lurking through past posts. i've been looking for a forum dedicated to the R11S and i'm very glad to have finally found what i was looking for. after looking through the old posts, it seems like a pretty friendly crew here.

i have been getting better acquainted with my recently acquired '99 R11S (nonABS) while exploring some of the bay area's backroads with a few of my buddies who have been riding a lot longer than me. i'm in the (far) east bay (near brentwood) and enjoy riding the ridges and canyons of the bay's surrounding hills. we were supposed to ride mines rd, behind mt. hamilton, on our way to the IMS in san jose last sunday, but got rained out; so we had to drive down in a cage instead. a good opportunity to see a lot of merchandise at one time, but have to agree with previous posts, no freebies or deals to be had.

i have to say, i'm very happy with my R11S though. after a couple months, i still find myself standing in my garage just staring at her, thinking how nice it looks. i was all set to get a mandarin yellow, had my heart set on it in fact, but after one look at the dignified mystique of my black R11S, i was in love. i'm still trying to get used to the amount of admiring stares, nods of approval, and unsolicited praise this bike gets from total strangers.

so, i have found one little quirk that perhaps someone here can explain to me. about half the time, when i start my bike, i'll tap pull in the clutch, grab the brake and then tap the shifter down to put her in first and the neutral light goes out, but first gear won't engage, no matter how much i downshift. the only solution i've found is to upshift a gear or two, ease the clutch out to where i feel it start to engage, then downshift back to first again. my buddy has an '04 boxer cup replika and says it happens to him sometimes too.

my question is, is this normal? is it some kind of safety feature (not explained in the manual), am i doing something wrong?, or is it something i should have my local bmw shop look into? any advice is appreciated.

thanks,
danO

Welcome danO,

Sounds completely normal. It has to do with the design of the gearbox.

BTW, you shouldn't need go to through the upshift rigamrole. Just keep steady boot pressure down on the shift lever as you slowly let out the clutch and it should drop down into 1st. Just one of the quirks of this quirky, but wonderful, machine.

I didn't get your experience level, but if this is your first big streetbike or your first sportbike, or your first foray into the wonderful roads surrounding the bay area, take it easy and work up to speed. Hamilton, for example, is one of the most technical roads on the planet, and if you're chasing more experience buds, it is extremely easy to get drawn into doing things you're not ready for.

Sorry for the lecture, ride safe,

- Mark

Hi danO. Welcome to the bestest forum on the web.

What markjenn said. It's completely normal. For lack of a better explanation, when the clutch is held in sometime the dogs on the gears don't lineup with the slots they'e supposed to engage.
Just letting the clutch lever out a little gets things in the transmission moving and the dogs will engage their slots.

By the way, I'm on my second R1100S and after six years of ownership and approx. 75,000 miles, I still find myself in the garage just looking at the bike and smiling.

Best of luck with yours, and Merry Christmas.

Welcome, and ditto all markjenn's input.

Good choice too: Black 99 nonABS
:)

I had a BMW dealer (Pete at Pete's Cycle in Marlboro, NH) tell me 20 years ago that you have to pull the clutch in and simultaneously dab it into first, especially when the bike is cold and the 90-wt still very thick. I've always found BMWs to act that way. . . if you pause at all when you pull the clutch in, forget it.

Welcome. Enjoy your bike. Its amaizing how many people stop me to complement me on it. Just this morning I road in and a guy with a dirt bike in the back of his pickup kept asking questions about the bike at every light we stopped at.

The transmission thing is standard operating procedure on most BMWs. Its one of the little quirks that we all learn to love. Trust me there are many more. Overall, I would do it all over again if I had to. Wait.... I did!

Hi DanO, welcome aboard!
SmileWavy

Welcome, DanO!

Tell us more about your bike, what upgrades you might be thinking of, etc..

Book'em...er, welcome DanO...some great oads in your area, I had the pleasure of taking in some of them with my tour guide Steve Carlton (above, spinning frog dude) this fall...you should hook up with him...well, maybe not...

what a whore I am...
 

Anything I can do to help...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1135354662.jpg

...hint hint...

Maybe not for a little while. Planning a ride right now to NH. Just kidding, but we've got a new lady in the house. So, suck in your guts and let's welcome ducatigirl!

Welcome DanO et Ducatigirl,
as has been previously mentioned, the 1st gear biznitch is perfectly normal; they all do that... DanOyou've got some great roads out there and an excellent bike to ride them on! be sure to visit our show your scoot thread and post a few pics!
cheers,
Lance

Lady? Would that be me? Hah! Okay, I'll try to post a pic this evening from this summer's trip up to Cape Breton. . . of me and my *partner*, of course.

Eeek! She's one of *those*. . .

In the meantime, there's a pic of me in the classifieds- Mr. Dog's Xmas barback deal thread- of me with my Ducati M620D a few years back. If ya just can't wait. . .

'Eeek! She's one of *those*. . .'

WE don't care, do we fellow boarders, as long as you're a rider.
There are only two types of people in this world; riders and non-riders. Non-riders are 'them'.....and then there's 'us'. :)

I don't care. In fact, it's kinda hot. One more interest we have in common...

umm... what exactly are *those* anyway? anything like one of "them"?
anyhoo, ducatigirl, you seem like our kind of peeps. that's all that matters on this end.
Cheers,
Lance

...awright dudes...leave it alone ya buncha periwinkles...

What's a periwinkle? I'm not one of *them*, am I?...

'sokay, we're cool.

thanks for the warm welcome and peace of mind regarding the reluctant first gear on cold starts. surprisingly, i keep intending to take pix of my bike, but somehow end up going for rides instead. :D I've never looked forward to commuting to work as much as i do now.twisting along marsh creek road from byron to concord and back is much more fun on a bike. I'll try and post some pix soon though.

happy holidays all,
danO

i'm pretty happy with my R11S as is. the previous (original) owner did a lot of top-shellf mod's i'd probably never pay for myself which is what made the bike such a great deal for me. i think it will take a long time for my riding skills to outgrow this bike's capabilities...

i bought the bike equipped with a staintune performance exhaust, brembo billet racing front brake calipers, penske racing front and shocks, 5.5" rear wheel, stainless steel brake lines, billet aluminum lower rear control arm, rear fender eliminator, bmw clear turn signal lenses, new dunlops, hard bags and mounts, and a few more goodies. since then, i've added the SM peg-lowering kit :D , cylinder head guards, and a new gel battery with tender.

so, my current wish list is pretty modest. i'm told heated grips are very nice, a corbin smuggler seat would be great, or a black cowling since mine was acquired sans-cowling, maybe a radar detector+mount, and most of all, the carbon fiber rear hugger, to keep road grime off my great sounding staintune exhaust. i tried to save a few bucks and bought one of those CF Huggers off of Ebay, but it's the one that mounts to the stock shock, so it's useless on my bike. If anyone is looking to buy one cheap, please let me know.

pix to follow soon,
danO

My friend, chant the mantra 'valentine 1', 'valentine 1', valentine 1' then bop over to the val1 site and step up for an admittedly-spendy state-of-the-art radar detector. you WILL pay for it several times over in the first year by NOT contributing to the cali-four-ni-ya general fund via traffic citations. Never, ever be in a self-piloted internal-combustion-powered device without it:)

You got a very strong start, danO. You won't regret the heated grips, I use mine all the time. They're decadent, like opium as I recall one magazine saying. The smuggler looks great, you might have to fiddle to get it to fit right; more importantly, try to sit on one and make sure you like the way it feels. Another cowling would be easy to get. The V1 or 8500 radar is another must, IMO. Consider the H.A.R.D. System for it. Also, consider the Pyramid hugger. I'm sure David Cork would give you the same prices we got on this group buy.

.....maybe.....
 

:rolleyes: :eek:http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1135366083.jpg:eek: :rolleyes:

That's a crown that fits on my head, once I turn back into a prince...

...nu-uh...

I'm going to valiantly resist steve-o's attampted slide into the ream of prurient interest (it's hard, but I can do it)....normally, that's my middle name.
DON'T buy anything else other tna a valentine 1. I also use a hard system with my trusty Val1 and it's paid for itself, at last count, 5X over.

ditto the V1 and HARD....I'd like to see these Brembo Billet racing calipers, wouldn't you guys?...
come-on danO, let's see um...

My bike is a whole lot more pedestrian than DanO's, mostly on purpose (although I'd love to see those brake calipers, too). My ST4S had wide-open SilMotor titanium cans; coming in to work (at the Medical Center) it was a bit much. I decided to keep this bike mostly stock, so as to be able to keep on affording two bikes (and track time, track tires, etc.). It's also nice on tour to have a quiet bike when warming it up in the early morn outside the motel room or in the campground. I did put on the Pyramid carbon hugger, and a Fenda Extenda- we live a long way up a dirt road. The hugger needed a little modification around the mounting holes to keep it clear of the swingarm, nothing major. BMW bags. Corbin saddle- I'm still a little wary of the leather saddle, but it's far comfier than the vinyl. I've only had it for a few thousand miles; the original owner had it made with the Pac Blue matching piping, and then totalled his bike at NHIS with the stock saddle on it. . . he blamed it on his tires, and I laughed and bought his saddle. The bar backs are coming. The bike came with the heated grips (which I've been putting on every bike I've owned for years anyway, can't live without them- even on my track bike) and ABS, which doesn't bother me, but it's weird. The #1 mod I'd love to do is to put a decent suspension on it, but it's probably not happening this year. I may put a Lip on the windshield, or maybe a taller shield, as the rain/ windblast hammers the 'Stich right below my neck, and I'd like to send it higher. Thoughts on that?

Da Lip
 

Assuming you have the OEM comfort screen (tall) the Lip works well with it especially if the wind is at your neckline now.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1135377752.jpg

If you have the low (sport) screen you'll have to go with an aftermarket.

Suspension, expensive but well, you know...do a search.
I had Fox Raing Shox and thet made a dramatic diff...but segwayed into the world ofgolden Ohllies... SmileWavy

Did you buy your bike new? If so, you have the comfort screen. You might want to see how the wind hits you after installing the barbacks. You might like it with the windblast hitting lower; your helmet will completely be in clear air.

I've been told warm-up time should be short, like as long as it takes to put on your helmet and gloves, then go. And release the fast idle lever as soon as you go, too.

For $80 you can put on the shorter paralever arm from the GS. It's the same one that comes on the Prep and Replika. It'll quicken the steering some, but hurt the solidity of the centerstand. Try doing a search on it...

DanO - if you replace the tranny oil with Redline ( support your local brew - er, refinery ) Shockproof Heavy ( it's RED, so it's faster ) - you'll ameliorate your recalcitrant transmission.

jeff

...good point Steve-o...