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thinking on upgrades


jelake

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Has anyone out there tried or heard of anyone that put on the piston upgrade- changing an 1150rt effectively up to a 1200 (1130cc to 1170cc)? It has a $1000 price tag so curious if it is worth it or if it is more of a gimmick and money would be better spent on a new fly rod. Have been off and on thinking about this for a while, if I do it then the rt will stay around for a while, if I don't then most likely will pursue jumping up to either a newer 1200 rt, the k1300gt, or the k1600 gt.

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Has anyone out there tried or heard of anyone that put on the piston upgrade- changing an 1150rt effectively up to a 1200 (1130cc to 1170cc)? It has a $1000 price tag so curious if it is worth it or if it is more of a gimmick and money would be better spent on a new fly rod. Have been off and on thinking about this for a while, if I do it then the rt will stay around for a while, if I don't then most likely will pursue jumping up to either a newer 1200 rt, the k1300gt, or the k1600 gt.

 

 

Afternoon J. Lake

 

That is a LOT of money & a lot of work (plus a sort of unproven upgrade). But that is just the beginning as then you would need to change the fueling & air flow in & out of the engine to gain much.

 

What not put the $1000.00 as a down payment on a real 1200RT. Better transmission, better engine, better running, better brakes, & no diddling around to get it all sorted out.

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whenever i was asked about adding more horsepower to an 1100 or an 1150 such as a chip or cams or whatever, i would ask the owner how many times during a spirited ride they would bounce off the rev-limiter.

 

9 out of 10 times i got the deer in the headlights look then we would talk about riding schools and maybe suspension to get more out of the bike they had.

 

it worked for me.

 

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Yea, already have the bike in pieces in the garage as I am knocking out the rail guides for the timing chains. To be honest, seems like every time I turn around as of late there is something else that has broken or needs to be fixed, granted it does have 103K on it. Leaning more to the fly rod myself although would rather build it than buy it.

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I wouldn't spend it on an 1150.

I broke 4 of them, The suggestion from DR is right. The hexheads are all around better machine and you would be hard pressed to get the hp that's on tap from a stock 1200.

Lighter weight and better shifting and they are available cheap if you shop around. I've got one for sale for 3k and 4k,

Besides that the engine housing will not accept bigger cylinders without machining holes. I know you can't put 1150 cylinder in an 1100 without boring.

Mark

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kinda reminds me of a couple guys at work. They both have crew cab F350s, turbo diesels, 4wd, big mud tires, for commuter cars. Then they obsess over chips and exhaust to squeeze another 2 mpg. I've never seen either of them dirty.... Why not just get a little car?

Edited by elkroeger
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jelake,

 

Well, if you like fiddling around and wrenching, you could finish your exisiting project or, perhaps, look around for a low mileage R1150RT and use your current bike for a parts bike.

Otherwise, I agree with the wisdom here to get a 1200. You could then put it on the For sale or wanted forum or head to EBay to sell your existing RT as a parts bike or part it out.

 

 

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There's an old saying I learned as a kid; after a failed hop-up of my 1972 Suzuki TS90 enduro bike. A once stock, reliable runner turned into a ticking time bomb.

 

"If you want a faster motorcycle, buy one"

 

 

RPG

 

 

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Son Tim, i/c UK cop-patrol-bikes maintenance, supervising 15 mechanics, says yes, the redesigned boxer with the 'new' 1200 motor identified by having its shaft-drive on the left, is a more powerful and lightweight machine with a better Chinese-outsourced wet clutch pack, but he has doubts about longevity, based on the regular maintenance and replacement parts requirements, 'cos it's made much more cheaply than trad Beemer boxers, even though its end-user price is up there in the clouds.

 

Chinese display, Chinese lighting, Chinese loom, Chinese clutch, Chinese starter, Chinese alternator, Chinese blah-blah. Not for me - I prefer an all-Tokyo Honda if I'm spending new-bike showroom prices. Drive it away and drop four grand as you cross into the street traffic.....

Edited by Alan Sykes
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Personally, I look at bikes the same as boats in that although new would be a lot of fun, I would rather give it a few years, let someone else weather the storm of depreciation on value and then pick it up after the 50% drop off. On bikes that is typically between the 5-8 year mark (picked up my 04 in 12). In this manner most things that will go wrong have been found and identified through TSBs and through forums like this. Going through the years of info on this forum has been a godsend anytime I have an issue and is the reason why I don't post too much- don't need to as almost every issue known to man (or woman) has already been covered- just takes the time and a little bit of reading to find it.

As for the bike, playing with upgrades is fun, just like with our trucks and cars, sometimes they prove fruitful and other times we look like clowns for having spent the money. The pistons I had referred to before are built by a german company specifically for the 1150 and the price has gone up on it too-http://www.xrsonly.com/wossner-piston-kit-bmw-1100-1150-rs-gs-rt-r-longer-connecting-rod-all-years-1170cc-100-96mm-12-5-compression-ratio.

But the money spent on that could easily go into a new flyrod like I said before, as well as a new rifle I want to build (also becoming a gunsmith). Long story short, there are very few bikes out there that are truly stock as the moment you change out from any BMW OEM item, from spark plugs to a more comfortable seat to a larger case on the back, you then have modified your bike from stock- the difference is just how useful the component actually is.

That said- mine is still in pieces in the garage any way as the saga of my cam chain guides continues, mentioned in a different thread. Until all that is fixed, anything remotely close to an upgrade is simply window shopping.

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Son Tim, i/c UK cop-patrol-bikes maintenance, supervising 15 mechanics, says yes, the redesigned boxer with the 'new' 1200 motor identified by having its shaft-drive on the left, is a more powerful and lightweight machine with a better Chinese-outsourced wet clutch pack, but he has doubts about longevity, based on the regular maintenance and replacement parts requirements, 'cos it's made much more cheaply than trad Beemer boxers, even though its end-user price is up there in the clouds.

 

Chinese display, Chinese lighting, Chinese loom, Chinese clutch, Chinese starter, Chinese alternator, Chinese blah-blah. Not for me - I prefer an all-Tokyo Honda if I'm spending new-bike showroom prices. Drive it away and drop four grand as you cross into the street traffic.....

 

Morning Alan

 

Same things were said about the BMW 1100 oil head bikes & engines, exact same things were said about the BMW 1150 bikes & engines. Some came true with wire looms deteriorating, trans splines stripping, clutch plates rattling, shifting issues, fuel hoses failing, brake controllers failing, exhaust mounts braking, final drive failures, etc. Some teething issues & some problems came later in production, but overall most riders were quite happy with both the BMW 1100 & BMW 1150 bikes.

 

Then came the BMW 1200 heaxhead, same early complaints & wonderment about long term reliability after some BMW changes & updates they were/are a pretty decent motorcycle.

 

Sameo/ sameo on the camhead bikes with less problems but still a few & for the most part riders are very happy with them.

 

Time will tell on the new BMW 1200 WC motorcycles, early adopters seem happy with them & what problems do show up then BMW will more than likely address those as running changes, redesigned parts, & service suggestions.

 

It just stands to reason that the more complicated the machine & the more up level content that the motorcycle contains the higher the possibility of problems.

 

 

 

 

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Haha, Same was said when BMW came out the /5 in 1970 when they moved the cam to below the crank from the previous version. Before that I was a stupid kid, or not even a twinkle in daddy's eye, but I'm sure this was said about every major redesign along the way.

 

My tag line does show my bias against the old adage that they don't build them like they used to.

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