'03 vs '04?

PGlaves said:

No - I would properly tune it, and then would add an enrichening device if required. Much better than stick coils which are fragile, failure prone, and expensive.

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Rock solid valve adjustments, twin-max synchs and the use of a AF-Xied helped but the surge remained. The only fix was getting an '04.

I did have to replace a stick coil on the '04... not a big fan of the design but I know that the coils were not the cause of surging on the '03. I tried known good ones on it with no effect.

If I have another one fail I'll be going with the external coil mod.

RPGR90s said:

It might be on the fiche that way but I've never seen a '03 with dual spark.

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Some of the model year changeovers were very early in those years. Case in point, the '05 R1200GS that came out in January '04 or even earlier. I know the Oilheads were very early in '03 and/or /04.

skrusich said:

Thanks for all the advice....I still can't decide but am leaning toward the '03 simply because it is pristine with 16K miles. Have not ridden either much yet but have noticed only slight surging around 3K rpm's on the '03. I will pay more attention to it!

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Still not sure what you plan on doing. Are you selling one bike and keeping the other? Keeping both bikes?

To add another dimension, there are two different twin-spark models: without 2nd Load Relay and with it (later models). The 2nd Load Relay, which powers the stick coils directly, has better ignition based on my experience. The 2nd relay can be added.

My 2004 RT without 2nd relay naturally surges a little. My 2001 GS doesn't have a trace of surging. I added an LC-1 to the RT and an AF-XIED to the GS (on setting 5). Both now have smooth, linear throttle response from idle to redline.

roger 04 rt said:

To add another dimension, there are two different twin-spark models: without 2nd Load Relay and with it (later models). The 2nd Load Relay, which powers the stick coils directly, has better ignition based on my experience. The 2nd relay can be added.

My 2004 RT without 2nd relay naturally surges a little. My 2001 GS doesn't have a trace of surging. I added an LC-1 to the RT and an AF-XIED to the GS (on setting 5). Both now have smooth, linear throttle response from idle to redline.

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Roger, can you explain more about the 2nd Load relay? Where is it located? (if fitted)

thanks,

On early twin sparks, the stick coil power came from the key switch, same as the common coil. That meant all three coils drew power through the key, creating a large voltage drop. A relay was added that was switched on with the key, providing power to the stick coils directly from the battery. It may not sound like much but it makes a big improvement.


As you face forward, it is to the left of the Coding Plug (CCP). If it is there.

AntonLargiader said:

Some of the model year changeovers were very early in those years. Case in point, the '05 R1200GS that came out in January '04 or even earlier. I know the Oilheads were very early in '03 and/or /04.

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True... my '04 Rockster has a build date of 02/03.

newb oiler onboard

new-again to BeeEmms. Had an '87 K75s from '88 to 2010 when I left the country and lived in Thailand for about four years, thus had to sell most of me toys. The K-brick went to Alberta buyer who rode it home from Norcal! Salute

Fast forward to now.. I am searching for info, and found it in one of this thread's themes: when did the dual spark head production run begin? This is because I just bought an 03 R1150RT Maidschen grosse to mix it up a bit with my Italian girls in the garage.. and am dying of curiosity! Surely its been iD'd at which VIN the dual spark engine run started. Soffy if I missed it, but have tried the search function to no avail. My bike's stats:

Production run #: E88947
Engine code: Z

According to the fiche it started in 12/2002. IIRC the '04 model year started early, like 04/2003, so there were only four months or so of the 2003 model year with the dual spark and the RT may not have even been produced during those months. I thought it was an '04 thing.

Plug your VIN into one of the websites to get the month of production (you can also get it from your VIN sticker) and then run the last few digits higher and higher to see when you get to 12/2002.

OK, then it would follow that mine's a mono spark model - per https://www.mdecoder.com, it has a build date of June 2002. IMHO simpler is better for the long haul and self-maintainer dudes. For fast, I ride Italian. For long distance, this should be a Choice ride... esp with the longer GS intakes' torque curve. we'll see what the mid-range and/or level of surging issue is, if any, when she arrives next week!!!