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Huston We have a problem...errr..maybe?!? 2002 R1150R


Cinko

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So I picked up this 2002 R1150R last week and was going through my checklist of maintenance before taking it out for an extended ride.

I was going through my standard things, oils, filters, brakes etc... Then I swapped the sparkplugs, got new gaskets, and decided to the valves... once I finished the valves I noticed the spark plug housing cylinder in the head looked very strange to me... can some one confirm if this is factory or if something is wrong... it appears to be exactly the same on both sides like this.

 

 

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Believe me. There are more serious things to worry about than the looks of the valve head. Like how much longer before you have to replace the brake linings, fuel lines inside the gas tank, clutch, transmission, HES, big bearing in final drive, and on and on.

Edited by Roger C
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Looks the same on mine. Dont know if it makes a difference but just in case I try to make sure that the gaskets that sit there match up to those "cracks". As they do leave an imprint.

 

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Lone_RT_rider

What that open area reflects is a casting design that couldn't accommodate that corner. Once machined they probably found it in the first pours off that mold. Once they found it, they evaluated if there was enough sealing surface left (along with some analysis for strength needed from the casting) for the very low oil pressure on the return circuit it seals off. Their calculations probably found that there was more than enough left, and then they ran durability testing to confirm it. Mine has the same open area. After 42K of some pretty thorough "durability testing" of my own, I can testify that my sample size of 1 vehicle does not leak, nor has suffered any other issues that might have been caused by that casting flaw. :)

 

Shawn

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Looks the same on mine. Dont know if it makes a difference but just in case I try to make sure that the gaskets that sit there match up to those "cracks". As they do leave an imprint.

I'm putting on all new gaskets and they are all smooth rounded so I'm assuming that is in reference to reused gaskets correct? Either way I will keep that in mind when I pull these next time. Thank you Mcduugle

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So I picked up this 2002 R1150R last week and was going through my checklist of maintenance before taking it out for an extended ride.

I was going through my standard things, oils, filters, brakes etc... Then I swapped the sparkplugs, got new gaskets, and decided to the valves... once I finished the valves I noticed the spark plug housing cylinder in the head looked very strange to me... can some one confirm if this is factory or if something is wrong... it appears to be exactly the same on both sides like this.

 

 

 

Afternoon Cinko

 

That is actually machined in after the cyl head is cast. (you can see the machining if you remove the valve gear carrier).

 

I'm not sure of the FULL reason but it does allow oil drain back from around the spark plug well to enhance cooling but there must be more to than that as the machining is way too complex for as simple cooling drain slot. Might very well have something to do with fixturing during final machining or fixturing during assembly. Or more likely valve carrier clearance.

 

mUglxrq.jpg

 

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What that open area reflects is a casting design that couldn't accommodate that corner. Once machined they probably found it in the first pours off that mold. Once they found it, they evaluated if there was enough sealing surface left (along with some analysis for strength needed from the casting) for the very low oil pressure on the return circuit it seals off. Their calculations probably found that there was more than enough left, and then they ran durability testing to confirm it. Mine has the same open area. After 42K of some pretty thorough "durability testing" of my own, I can testify that my sample size of 1 vehicle does not leak, nor has suffered any other issues that might have been caused by that casting flaw. :)

 

Shawn

Shawn thank you for that, love the thoroughness of the reply... I studied that cutout for about 10 minutes and could not pin down any explantion of why it would look like that... again thank you for clearing that up

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Dirt Rider thank you! Image is perfect... man that cutout actually looks just as obscure fulley exsposed... it really looks like a mistake as it appears sporadically machined.

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Looks the same on mine. Dont know if it makes a difference but just in case I try to make sure that the gaskets that sit there match up to those "cracks". As they do leave an imprint.

I'm putting on all new gaskets and they are all smooth rounded so I'm assuming that is in reference to reused gaskets correct? Either way I will keep that in mind when I pull these next time. Thank you Mcduugle

 

You'll never match that impression on the gasket exactly. You can reuse the gasket by rotating it either 180 degrees or 120 degrees, giving you a nice flat gasket surface for two or three uses.

 

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Dirt Rider thank you! Image is perfect... man that cutout actually looks just as obscure fulley exsposed... it really looks like a mistake as it appears sporadically machined.

 

Evening Cinko

 

Remember it has to fully clear the cam & cam carrier that hangs down in that area.

 

Td0db9v.jpg

 

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You'll never match that impression on the gasket exactly. You can reuse the gasket by rotating it either 180 degrees or 120 degrees, giving you a nice flat gasket surface for two or three uses.

 

Thanks for the tip Michael!

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Dirt Rider thank you! Image is perfect... man that cutout actually looks just as obscure fulley exsposed... it really looks like a mistake as it appears sporadically machined.

 

Evening Cinko

 

Remember it has to fully clear the cam & cam carrier that hangs down in that area.

 

Makes sense, though still looks like a last minute over cut... as if they did some testing notice some rub points and reprogrammed the laser cuter/ die to machine those couple extra cuts after the fact and just kept that setting once they realized it solved the issue.

 

The head being a quarter inch taller and having the cam connected down that 1/4" further would have dodged that whole issue... but clearly the harder fix as multiple parts would be affected in production.

 

Thanks for clearing this up... all in all Im just glad to hear I'm good to go and ready to ride :)

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Dirt Rider thank you! Image is perfect... man that cutout actually looks just as obscure fulley exsposed... it really looks like a mistake as it appears sporadically machined.

 

Evening Cinko

 

Remember it has to fully clear the cam & cam carrier that hangs down in that area.

 

Makes sense, though still looks like a last minute over cut... as if they did some testing notice some rub points and reprogrammed the laser cuter/ die to machine those couple extra cuts after the fact and just kept that setting once they realized it solved the issue.

 

The head being a quarter inch taller and having the cam connected down that 1/4" further would have dodged that whole issue... but clearly the harder fix as multiple parts would be affected in production.

 

Thanks for clearing this up... all in all Im just glad to hear I'm good to go and ready to ride :)

 

Morning Cinko

 

Making the cylinder head taller wouldn't do much as they still want the spark plug centered in the cylinder. Moving the cam down 1/4" would move the lifter centerline farther from the valves so there would be more offset & flex in the rocker shafts assemblies.

 

Time has proven that BMW made the correct design & engineering decisions as there has been no inherent problems with cracks or casting problems in that area.

 

BMW did a much better job on the 1150 engine & valvetrain geometry than they did with the seat angle & seat comfort, or getting the rear wheel in line with the bikes weight centerline to prevent PTTR (Pull To The Right). BMW even caught on & added that second (needed) spark plug to the bottom of the cyl head near the end of the 1150 production.

 

 

 

 

 

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Yes, yes, yes...but more relevant is the clutch/bell-housing/gearbox alignment issue that you need to check.

 

These ancient-design single-plate dry clutch bikes suffered a batch fault in the factory around the vintage of your 'new' bike - a tiny misalignment of the two main parts of the motor - clutch and gearbox - that causes rapid premature failure of the drive, often leaving victims of this fault stranded at the roadside with little warning other than a horrible graunching sound.

 

There's an easy check, involving a half-hour job of removing the starter motor to peer at the edge of the clutch plate where it mates with the splined input shaft of the gearbox, and rocking the edge of the unit slightly with a long screwdriver whilst watching the relative movement of clutch edge and spline with a high-power flashlight.

 

There should be no more than a minimal movement of the radial edge of the clutch before the spline starts to move, with the lever ziptied to the LH bar and the bike in first gear.

 

Any more movement than that, and "Trouble, you got Trouble.."

( Robert Preston in the 1960's Hollywood production by Warner Bros of Meredith Wilson's "The Music Man" - five minutes of video gold here, from the long-gone era when just Pure Talent ruled show business, not just Fashionable Dumbed-Down Style. )

 

see:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_Oe-jtgdI.

 

AL in s.e. Spain

Edited by Alan Sykes
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