Restarting a warm engine

[jaylow]

Hey folks, I wanted to bounce something off the collective knowledge of the forum.

I have an '01 R11SLA, and when I start it up from cold, it starts right up, goes to high idle when the "choke" is pulled, etc. Quiet as a...well, quiet for a BMW Oilhead. However, if I let the bike warm up or ride it for a ways, turn it off then restart, I get a knock-knock-knock during the first seconds after it starts--before it quiets down into a regular idle. The bike has 38k on it, but I have records of "as scheduled" dealer maintaince back to new from the previous owner. Oil level is correct, I check it religiously.

Having owned some older Ford products, knock-knock-knock on startup meant you had a rod bearing that wasn't long for this world.

Am I being oversensitive?

[ExarKunONe]

Mine does that sometimes.

[Geoff Anstey]

Sounds like the chain tensioner. With the oil hot it takes a second or two for the pressure to build back up and tension the cam chain. There is a mod somewhere in the forum where the R1100S chain tensioner can be replaced with the R1200. I wouldn't be concerned, just another idiosyncrasy of the R1100s, if your really concerned try a oil change, perhaps a slightly different grade.

[jaylow]

Thanks guys, just found the tensioner thread. I'll give it a go.