BMW Rider's Manual - Is It Me?

[sharpestjim]

I'm generally too impatient to spend an inordinate amount of time warming up. But I just can't believe that it's good to put a load on a cold engine. I used to fly a 1968 Beech A23-24 which was injected (IO-360). We'd never taxi without allowing it to warm up for at least a few minutes. I guess I'm old.

 

[lee]

I'm generally too impatient to spend an inordinate amount of time warming up. But I just can't believe that it's good to put a load on a cold engine. I used to fly a 1968 Beech A23-24 which was injected (IO-360). We'd never taxi without allowing it to warm up for at least a few minutes. I guess I'm old.

I don't let the bike idle to warm up, but I take it easy for a few miles.
You'll notice the redline increases as the bike warms up.

 

[pauls1150]

The oilhead RTs also suffered lower fairing damage if left idling too long. Those headers get hot!

I've read (and believe) that the "real" reason BMW originally came out with that statement was because of the then-recent laws in Germany about emissions and noise.

 

[sharpestjim]

The oilhead RTs also suffered lower fairing damage if left idling too long. Those headers get hot!

I've read (and believe) that the "real" reason BMW originally came out with that statement was because of the then-recent laws in Germany about emissions and noise.

Well, I really wanted a plug-in BMW; an E1250RS, I guess. But I had to settle for gas. So you could say that I'm a highfalutin pollutin'.

 

[dlowry]

I get it. It's not good to allow any engine - air or water - to idle for an extended period of time. I have a 1999 Toyota 4-Runner that I purchased new. It's injected. I've always allowed it to drop its idle speed - about 30-45 seconds - before taking off. And I like the variable redline feature of the BMW. But no additional precaution about loading the engine immediately after starting?

Here's a story: When I was 15, I had a Yamaha DT125. It was a '74 model. That was the underpowered, heavy vintage with electric start. The bike was geared so low (and no transmission/starter mechanism to prevent it) that I could start it IN gear with the clutch disengaged. In other words, the electric starter would move the bike (with me on it) until the engine coughed to life. I guess BMW would frown upon that practice, huh?

I had to this exact thing with my '05 RT when the clutch slave failed on me. I have been shifting without a clutch forever and I was able to upshift and downshift just fine but the traffic lights were a real problem. Ultimately I would kill the bike, put it in first, wait for the lights to go green and start and go. We were probably 800km from home when it happened. Thankfully it was mostly slab to get home.

 

[pglaves]

Paul,
Didn’t some of the bikes suffer damage from being left idling too long?

OM

Yes. DeVern pretty well covered it in Post #18. The case of the bike - garage - house burned down fire pretty well sealed the doom of the R1100RSL.