'04 Boxer Cup Replika...aftermarket exhaust: w/chip or no chip?

[agypsy]

hello,

i'm picking up a '04 Boxer Cup Rep this weekend.
my mechanic, who's been working on my R1100 GS since i bought it new in '95, is not recommending a chip. he said after talking to a few of his fellow bmw tech's that there's problems in the long run with the fuel management.

i'm researching exhausts and people like laser and boss have the chip system.

what's everyone's experience with exhausts and chips and does anyone recommend or not?

and what exhausts are you running? i'm more interested in getting a little more sound than stock and knowing there's really not much HP to be made.

thanks in advance

[Jeff Williams]

agypsy,
if you have an aftermarker exhaust of any performance quality you'll run lean and may/will have problems.
You have two choices, both involve Robert Foster,(fosterRad).
http://www.fosterrad.com/
1. he can burn you a chip if he doesn't have one that will fit your combination.
2. get a fuel management system,(powercommander or the one robert has).
IMO if your mechanic has stated that the 04 BCR won't need a some sort of fuel management system for an aftermarket exhaust,(laser etc),
let him work on your 95 GS and get a mechanic that has advanced into the computer age.
BTW welcome to the forium
cya
jeff

[agypsy]

Originally posted by Jeff Williams
agypsy,
if you have an aftermarker exhaust of any performance quality you'll run lean and may/will have problems.
You have two choices, both involve Robert Foster,(fosterRad).
http://www.fosterrad.com/
1. he can burn you a chip if he doesn't have one that will fit your combination.
2. get a fuel management system,(powercommander or the one robert has).
IMO if your mechanic has stated that the 04 BCR won't need a some sort of fuel management system for an aftermarket exhaust,(laser etc),
let him work on your 95 GS and get a mechanic that has advanced into the computer age.
BTW welcome to the forium
cya
jeff

hello jeff,

thanks for the welcome! it's good to be here.
my mechanic is basically a purist when it comes to bimmers, and he convinced me to keep my '95 GS stock. but he does a great thorough job. but you're right, i think i'll have to school him on that. lol

i'm just starting research on this bike and having owned bmw's all my life i'm always careful not to sacrifice reliability when i'm doing an upgrade. i also drive a '97 328is that i've been modding, so i have the addiction at the moment.

so robert can make me a custom chip?
newbie question: can you explain more about the power commander?

what's everyone's opinion on the laser w/chip system?
i've searched the forum, but they all seem to be old posts from 2 or 3 years.

[Jeff Williams]

Russ,
Having a Beemer is always a learning experience.
Now on to your questions/education/who are those guys.
The reason the laser threads are of that age is because that was the time we,(this forum)were looking at this and other exhaust systems.Since the R1200 have come out their seem to be less of the over the counter item discussion and more of the exotic mod for upgrading the 1100 to perform with,(and sometimes out perfrom), the 1200.
IMO the 1100 motor is over built for high mileage with little or no problems,(compaired to jap bikes, and harleys). You can put and exhaust,chip and air system, their by cleaning up the idle, mid range, top end, without sacrificing a mile of reliability.
Even adding a cam shouldn't hurt the bike other than the valve springs.
BUT IMO,(again), just modify the exhaust/chip/intake and leave the engine alone. Put the rest of your $ into suspension mods and a gear change after that.
These bikes will hang with any road bike in the corners .

Robert is in the NYC area.
He can get you a chip but he may have one in stock.
If you go to a fuel management system,(FMS), you can leave the stock chip in and the new FMS will adjust the air/fuel mixture at every rpm, or more, to perfection,(hopefully). Their are problems with the power commander when starting the bike but they should have solved it by now.
Robert has one the is supposed to work better and quicker.
I've also seen a FMS on a GS made by wunderlish that seems to work.
Hope this helps
Don't be afraid of getting the 04BCR. Its a great platform and a better over all value over the new 1200 because the 1200 doesn't have the expodental leap in the suspension area that the bike should have had.
The 1200 engine is better, no contest, than the 1100 engine. BMW could have given the 1200 much more power but didn't choosing instead to give us small baby steps in hp while the japs, italian, english, and go old KTM have made bike engines more and more relaible,(their by closing the gap), lighter, and more hp. Heck even MotoGuzzis and stepping up their game,( sorry I'm showing my frustration at BMW which is why I have my R1200S HP2 on order).
hope this helps.
cya
jeff
ps before I go let me show the hottest experimental exhaust from downunder).jw

[agypsy]

Originally posted by Jeff Williams

cya
jeff
ps before I go let me show the hottest experimental exhaust from downunder).jw

too funny man. thanks for that info! yeah i would suppose a new intake would be nice too.

[Jeff Williams]

don't ask for it to much or you may get more than you bargined for.
Look at this guy,, he asked for a better intake............