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Looking at a 2002 1150 RT


Goodoni

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Hello,

Just sold my wing and I'm looking at a 2002 1150 RT, It looks to be well taken care of, the owner has a very detailed record of the maintenance.

I'm just looking for some tips of what to look out for. I expect the normal stuff from a 15 year old bike, I'm pretty handy with a wrench, I'm looking for the red flag items.

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

 

Thank You,

Goodoni

 

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Hello,

Just sold my wing and I'm looking at a 2002 1150 RT, It looks to be well taken care of, the owner has a very detailed record of the maintenance.

I'm just looking for some tips of what to look out for. I expect the normal stuff from a 15 year old bike, I'm pretty handy with a wrench, I'm looking for the red flag items.

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

 

 

Morning Goodoni

 

Biggest red flag is worn (about to strip) transmission input shaft splines. Not all had issues but a number did & of the ones that did the 2002 1150RT was the worst. Very difficult to tell a spline failure bike without some disassembly. This is a very expensive & time consuming repair if it happens.

 

ABS brake problems are another expensive area on the 2002 1150RT-- Again not all 2002 1150 bikes but there is enough past history to be cautiously concerned in this area.

 

Light throttle engine surging is another prevalent problem on the single spark 1150 bikes. (this is just annoying & can be mostly removed with aftermarket fuel controllers)-- I wouldn't let this stop me from buying a nice 1150RT but it could be used as bargaining point to get a better price on the bike.

 

Some final drive crown bearing failures on the BMW 1150 bikes but usually not serious or real expensive to repair.

 

A few transmission problems (bearings & shifting related) but a good long hot test ride usually reveals shifting or noise related problems.

 

A few drive shaft failures (usually a U joint or the rubber bond failure between the shaft sections)

 

If the bike is in good condition & looks well taken care of then (personally) the transmission input splines would be my biggest concern as THAT costs enough to have allowed upgrading to a much later model & still have some beer money left. If the owner talks about a previous spline repair then be especially concerned as they usually fail again at about the same mileage.

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How many miles? It could be past the spline-fail mileage. That is, if it's never failed before. My 02 retired at 214k w great splines.

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What's the average spline-fail mileage? I'm running an 02 with 18K...

 

Afternoon Toast

 

There must be an average but I doubt anyone has enough data acquired to figure an average.

 

On the 2002 1150Rt's that did fail splines a lot failed them in the 25,000 to 35,000 mile. range. (I've seen one fail as low as 20,000 miles).

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Stan Walker

What's the average spline-fail mileage? I'm running an 02 with 18K...

 

Good question.

 

Sadly no good answer as most bikes don't fail.

 

For example, I'm running an '02 with 144K miles on the original tranny splines. I did replace the clutch disc about 10K miles ago, it's splines showed a slight amount of wear. I'll inspect them again when I hit 200,000 miles, if ever.

 

 

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Hey Charles, you are right, mine failed twice before it got 50k. The ones that go , don't make it to the upper range. If they do make it, they keep going. I am leaning to suspect the new lightweight flywheels had something to do with wobble, showed up the same time these problems began. Mark

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Did the 1100 experience the same problem?

 

 

Morning Goodoni

 

Very few 1100 spline failures, I have seen a couple but at higher miles & have no idea if they were previously worked on or taken apart. (there were a number of trans failures in the 1100 bikes so possible the trans was horsed out & damaged the clutch disk or bent the cover)

 

There was also a number of 1100 clutch disks replaced with a tighter spline fit clutch disk due to clutch rattle complaints.

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Did the 1100 experience the same problem?

 

Goodoni

No.

 

THe 1150 clutch & xmission input spline problem is related to the redesigned new transmission (6 speed) and engine (1150) for 2002. Combine that problem with the new-for-2002 whizzy servo brakes, and is why can find the 2002 RTs for good price, like I did, .... and it stripped out on me in the 5th day of riding it.

 

Seems that I can be away from BMWST for several weeks, and then when ever I log back on is someone with no previous BMW experience (like me) asking about an 02 or 03 RT.

 

.

 

 

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