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Recovering Jap bike rider...saw the light!

wineguyd

WineGuyD
Recovering Jap bike rider(NY)...saw the light!



Greetings! I've been riding Honda's since my childhood CR-50 in 1972 to my V45 Sabre that I sold when my daughter was born in '91. Been off bikes for over 20 years, I can't explain it but when I recently got the bug to get back on two wheels the only thing I could think of was a boxer. I won this 1996 R1100R with 17k miles on ebay for a song and hope to get many enjoyable miles out of it. Since I've never ridden anything but Honda 4's my entire adult life I have no reference point as to how this bike should feel. I like the seating position...very different from my Sabre, and the teutonic shifting is starting to appeal to me. I still can't get used to the turn signal switch setup. The one issue the bike has is that the front wheel has a mild dent in it that is not a problem as far as bead seal but is causing some vibration that gets progressively worse at high speed. I've been looking into either having it straightened and balanced or to replacing it, appears problematic with either choice. I don't have a garage of my own so no place to work on the bike and leave it without the front wheel while it's sent out for repair, conversely I'm having no luck finding a good condition used wheel(buying new is out of the question). I was thinking of bringing it to Manhattan BMW for it's over due 16K service and while its there have them ship the tire for repair...but this only works if they are willing to store the bike without the wheel for 10 days to two weeks. On that note I live equidistant to both Manhattan BMW and Bergen BMW in Rochelle Park, can anyone give me some feedback as to how they compare in both service fees and customer service? I'd like to add hand guards and an iPhone 5 mount...any suggestions?

Lastly, is it just an R1100R thing, or are there other Beemers that don't have a fuel level gauge? BMW is the last bike on earth that I would have thought would cut a corner like that. Can one be added?

I've got lots of questions and I'd welcome any and all comments, feedback and advice!
 
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+1!

Welcome to the ride and the forum.

Joel

Thanks! And FYI to all, my rain gear is on order from Revzilla and should arrive on Thursday. Ironically, when I picked up the bike from the Hampton's last week I ended up riding it home in 110 miles of pouring rain. I was terrified because I hadn't ridden in over 20 years, never rode a Beemer before and the Conti road Attacks have no lateral sipping so I was sure I'd be hydroplaning the whole ride home. Instead, the bike tracked as if it was on dry pavement...very impressed with the bike and the tires.
 
Fell off the wagon

Welcome, that is one good looking bike. I'm recovering myself. Last fall though, I fell off the wagon, thought I was tired of not having a fuel gauge on my 2010 RT, and bought a 2012 Kawasaki Concours. Spent 4 or 5 months and several thousand dollars trying to make a RT out of it. Didn't work. The absolutely superb acceleration the Concours has and a functional gas gauge just doesn't outweigh all the other things that the RT does better (IMHO). So, now the RT is back in the middle of the garage, and the Concours is sitting over to the side and is for sale.
You'll get used to parking your bike and having people come over just to look at it.
 
Welcome.

Suggest you remove the front wheel yourself, and then take it to a reputable wheel shop and have them straighten it. Make an appointment and they can probably do it the same day. Leave the bike where you usually park it, but throw a cover over it.

As for the fuel guage, just use the odometer. Refill the bike when you get to 175 miles or so, see how much you put in, and adjust your refill mileage accordingly. Your tank should be good for 200 miles to empty. My BMW has a fuel guage, but I still rely on the odometer.

Finally, once you get used to the turn signal switches, you'll never want to go back to a slider. I especially like them for passing or lane changing, when you can stab at the direction you're going, before you go.
 
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You ride a Beemer now. Rain is no longer an acceptable excuse for not riding unless your roads have been washed out.

And not even then if you have a GS :thumb

Welcome back the the motorcycle fraternity and especially to BMW ownership and the MOA. I too am a former V45 sabre owner/rider. I had an 85 that I bought new and rode for 12 years until I got my first BMW. The lack of a fuel guage is a characteristic of that model in those years. My 94 R1100RS did come with a guage as did other models. Still even today with newer bikes and more accurate guages, I still use the odometer to track my fuel. Old habits die hard I guess.
 
Welcome.

Suggest you remove the front wheel yourself, and then take it to a reputable wheel shop and have them straighten it. Make an appointment and they can probably do it the same day. Leave the bike where you usually park it, but throw a cover over it.

Thanks Rinty, good point on the turn signals. I have not been able to find a shop that would fix the dented wheel in the metro NY area, every shop I found is out of state and would tie up the wheel for up to two weeks. I'm going to give it another week of trolling BMW forums to see if I can turn up a local wheel repair shop and if not I'll bite the bullet and ship it out.
 
And not even then if you have a GS :thumb

Welcome back the the motorcycle fraternity and especially to BMW ownership and the MOA. I too am a former V45 sabre owner/rider. I had an 85 that I bought new and rode for 12 years until I got my first BMW. The lack of a fuel guage is a characteristic of that model in those years. My 94 R1100RS did come with a guage as did other models. Still even today with newer bikes and more accurate guages, I still use the odometer to track my fuel. Old habits die hard I guess.

Thanks for the welcome! Looks like I'll just have to accept the turn signal/fuel gauge issues. Loved my V45 Sabre, was the best bike I've ever ridden...the only kink was the fragile instrument cluster mounting points that broke three times on me. The first two were repaired under warranty but the third I had to jerry rig because Honda wanted $800 for the cluster back in the '80's. I'm certainly enjoying the solid engineering of the BMW...hopefully the low mileage will give me a few years of trouble free riding.
 
My 2007 R1200S does not have a fuel gauge. It has a 50 miles to empty indicator that counts down.

But it holds 4 something gallons of gas, gets 45-50 mpg in town, and more hwy riding, so it is easy to count.

Also my Zumo 660 has a fuel gauge. I use it.
 
No, do you have the bike's owner's manual?

Don't have an original owners manual, the bike came with a factory "service" manual only. Every time I google search for an owners manual i get Haynes or Clymers. Guess I'll have to eat it and buy one from BMW for list price.
 
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