I purchased a 1995 R1100RSL a couple of months ago. What a fantastic bike! I love so many things about it, but there are a few questions that I either can't find the answer to, or would like a few more opinions on.
The bike has 90,000 K on it, and the previous owner said the BMW dealership where he had it services told him he needed new fork seals and shocks. I did the fork seals no problem, but now I need to find some shocks. I got the bike for 2000 dollars which I thought was a great deal, so Ohlins seem to be a bit out of range. Hagon shocks seem to be well liked and a good price. The other main option I see in the forums is Wilburs, but I don't know the pricing of them, and it seems like they need to come from Germany. Has anyone had experience otherwise?
I have a hard time leaving anything mechanical in one piece for long, so I've also been looking for some modifications to play around a bit. First, I ordered a pink cat plug and GS intake tubes from Max BMW. The tubes were easy and seem to smooth out the torque a bit and I like the sound. But in looking at the cat plug, there isn't one currently installed on the bike. From reading, I think 95 was the first year that they were used, so I'm looking at the possibility of the plug being removed by a previous owner, or that there was never one there. The wiring is in the fuse box for it, so I'm guessing it was just removed. Is this what you guys would think? I tried installing the pink one, but I soon realized what everyone meant by surging so I took it out again. Is there any harm in continuing to run without one? Most information suggests that the plugs tend to lean out the bike, so if I can handle a but less fuel economy, running a bit rich shouldn't pose a problem right?
Also, I notice that under full throttle around 4 or 5000 rpm, I get some pinging. Could this be related to the cat plug in any way? I run only premium fuel so I would doubt it's an octane problem. I haven't done plugs or valve lash yet since the bike was recently serviced to do at least the lash shortly before I bought it. (I was handed a stack of BMW service invoices going back 7 years - love that) Is this normal (which I would doubt) or is there something else I should look at?
My biggest concern right now is the clutch. It seems fine in normal driving, but a few nights ago on the highway, I was accelerating from about 100KM/H in 4th gear with a passenger on the back and I think I noticed a little bit of slip. It would seem to me that with the extra weight and the engine being in an rpm range with lots of power that this would make sense as to where a clutch would start to slip. I'll obviously find out eventually, but do these tend to go quick once they start? Is the clutch a big job or can I do it myself? Or both? I usually do everything I can in my garage unless it requires some ultra-expensive special tool. I live in Canada, so if I can get through the riding season and do it in the winter, that would be my ideal scenario.
I've also heard of some foot peg extensions being used (I'm 6'3"), but the only ones I can find online are over $400. How is this possible? Does it do something else? Surely there's an option. Can you guys point me in a good direction?
And finally, there's the whole exhaust question. I haven't had a vehicle with the stock exhaust for over a decade and I'm hoping to keep that stretch intact. I can find some information on exhausts, but a lot of it seems old. Do you guys have any recommendations?
I know that I've asked a lot of questions, so let me finish by just saying that I very much appreciate anyone who spends the time to a) read this and b) offer an opinion. Thanks very much everyone.
The bike has 90,000 K on it, and the previous owner said the BMW dealership where he had it services told him he needed new fork seals and shocks. I did the fork seals no problem, but now I need to find some shocks. I got the bike for 2000 dollars which I thought was a great deal, so Ohlins seem to be a bit out of range. Hagon shocks seem to be well liked and a good price. The other main option I see in the forums is Wilburs, but I don't know the pricing of them, and it seems like they need to come from Germany. Has anyone had experience otherwise?
I have a hard time leaving anything mechanical in one piece for long, so I've also been looking for some modifications to play around a bit. First, I ordered a pink cat plug and GS intake tubes from Max BMW. The tubes were easy and seem to smooth out the torque a bit and I like the sound. But in looking at the cat plug, there isn't one currently installed on the bike. From reading, I think 95 was the first year that they were used, so I'm looking at the possibility of the plug being removed by a previous owner, or that there was never one there. The wiring is in the fuse box for it, so I'm guessing it was just removed. Is this what you guys would think? I tried installing the pink one, but I soon realized what everyone meant by surging so I took it out again. Is there any harm in continuing to run without one? Most information suggests that the plugs tend to lean out the bike, so if I can handle a but less fuel economy, running a bit rich shouldn't pose a problem right?
Also, I notice that under full throttle around 4 or 5000 rpm, I get some pinging. Could this be related to the cat plug in any way? I run only premium fuel so I would doubt it's an octane problem. I haven't done plugs or valve lash yet since the bike was recently serviced to do at least the lash shortly before I bought it. (I was handed a stack of BMW service invoices going back 7 years - love that) Is this normal (which I would doubt) or is there something else I should look at?
My biggest concern right now is the clutch. It seems fine in normal driving, but a few nights ago on the highway, I was accelerating from about 100KM/H in 4th gear with a passenger on the back and I think I noticed a little bit of slip. It would seem to me that with the extra weight and the engine being in an rpm range with lots of power that this would make sense as to where a clutch would start to slip. I'll obviously find out eventually, but do these tend to go quick once they start? Is the clutch a big job or can I do it myself? Or both? I usually do everything I can in my garage unless it requires some ultra-expensive special tool. I live in Canada, so if I can get through the riding season and do it in the winter, that would be my ideal scenario.
I've also heard of some foot peg extensions being used (I'm 6'3"), but the only ones I can find online are over $400. How is this possible? Does it do something else? Surely there's an option. Can you guys point me in a good direction?
And finally, there's the whole exhaust question. I haven't had a vehicle with the stock exhaust for over a decade and I'm hoping to keep that stretch intact. I can find some information on exhausts, but a lot of it seems old. Do you guys have any recommendations?
I know that I've asked a lot of questions, so let me finish by just saying that I very much appreciate anyone who spends the time to a) read this and b) offer an opinion. Thanks very much everyone.