Those bikes shake more than others... Nature of the boxer possibly.

But I'd guess that's tires. Maybe it's been sitting in one place for a long time and flatspotted the tires?

 

I mean it shakes like a paintmixer at idle. I know boxers are a bit more skakey than others, but this seemed extreme.

I don't know what's been done to it in the way of maintenance, but guessing by the mileage I'd say not much of anything.

 

Have you ridden it? I mean they definitely shake pretty good at idle, but they smooth out at higher rpms.

I would get out on it and blow the cobwebs out and see what happens.

I didn't realize you were talking about engine shakes, I thought you were talking about the entire bike shaking from tires and such.

 

I took it for a spin. At cold idle the bars literally shake back and forth a good inch or more. It smooths out when you run it but it still seems off.

I'm going to put some new tires on and flush the brake fluid and oil before I go, but if there's something wrong I want to know what so I can get it done the day before. The bike is in FL I'm in CA.

 

'01 R11S owner here...

The boxer engine will cause the frame to shake at idle though your description seems more extreme than what I experience. It will feel "alive" at idle - like a living thing between your legs.

Check the oil and then find a dealer!

Final thought: 1600 miles on a 2000? I did 1600 miles in the first month! Great bike - enjoy your trip.

 

If you're really concerned about the shaking, head down to the local BMW dealer and see if they might have one you can take for a spin. The boxer motors are very different from inline 4 motors.

It's a great bike - hopefully it hasn't suffered much from sitting around. Enjoy.

 

Enigma said:
Final thought: 1600 miles on a 2000? I did 1600 miles in the first month! Great bike - enjoy your trip.

I agree. Those bikes were meant to be ridden, and ridden A LOT. If it were me, I'd change ALL the fluids before I took a road trip.

 

thats no good... period. should be smoother by a long shot. get that bitch checked out!

 

N2O Junkie said:
thats no good... period. should be smoother by a long shot. get that bitch checked out!

I can't, I'm across the country. Hence my post :citadel

 

where is the bike?

 

Third post:

The bike is in FL I'm in CA

Obviously, you went out to Cali and test rode it? Sounds like it might be a pass...if you're looking to buy. :shrug

 

Let me rephrase that. Though I'm no expert on BMW Boxers, if any bike was used that infrequently, I'd be more concerned than if it had been ridden a lot. If you get my gist?

 

Two cylinders, two carburetors. One per cylinder.

Been sitting a LONG time without being run. One carburetor's idle circuit is gummed up, and at idle the engine is only running on one cylinder, hence the roughness. At speed, the main circuit takes over, the second cylinder starts firing, and it smooths out.

Run a couple cans of Seafoam through it.

 

Drinky-Crow said:
Two cylinders, two carburetors. One per cylinder.

It's fuel injected, i had a 2000 R1100R it would shake at idle but smooth out at about 1500rpm. My BMW wasn't broken in until it had about 10k mi. on it. Drain the tank & refill with fresh gas.

 

Drinky-Crow said:
Two cylinders, two carburetors. One per cylinder.

Been sitting a LONG time without being run. One carburetor's idle circuit is gummed up, and at idle the engine is only running on one cylinder, hence the roughness. At speed, the main circuit takes over, the second cylinder starts firing, and it smooths out.

Run a couple cans of Seafoam through it.

I'm pretty sure its FI...but still, could it be a gummed up injector?

The bike is in Florida, I'm in CA and I want to ride it to bike week. For the second time :laughing

 

It's fuel injected, i had a 2000 R1100R it would shake at idle but smooth out at about 1500rpm. My BMW wasn't broken in until it had about 10k mi. on it. Drain the tank & refill with fresh gas.

ummm...IMO, from working at a BMW shop, the whole '10k break-in' thing is a line that service managers like to give customers to passify them and see if their minor problems will either go away, or run out of warrenty.

I think Drinky-Crow has it almost right through, I'll bet that the throttle body sync is right out the window, and that will definatly cause a rough idle.

 

considering they are warrantied for 3 years or 36k.....the 10k thing would prob only work on very few people. Throttle bodies do go out of sync from sitting IMO. Bad fuel, clogged injector, fuel filter, cracked vacuum line, mouse nest in the air filter would all be things I'd investigate. Def change the engine oil.

 

Could also be something as simple as a engine mount bolt...... My buddies fell out on his gixxer 1000 and it shook crazy.

 

considering they are warrantied for 3 years or 36k.....the 10k thing would prob only work on very few people.

The number of BMW riders that ride less than 10k in 3 years (see above) is fairly large...

 

Wow.. not so much here.

 

Hawker said:
ummm...IMO, from working at a BMW shop, the whole '10k break-in' thing is a line that service managers like to give customers to passify them and see if their minor problems will either go away, or run out of warrenty.

Thats about how many miles were on it when i rode it from Phx. to Tucson 200mi round trip. It stopped consuming oil after that ride (1 qt every 1000 mi.) maybe cruising 90 to 100 mph all the way helped seat the rings.

 

Mad Kaw said:
Drain the tank & refill with fresh gas.

Bingo...I think you're sucking bad gas and the bike isn't going to be happy with that. I once owned a bike that got garaged for two years after I blew my knee skiing and when I finally tried to get it back in service it wouldn't start at all. After a lot of wasted time spent pulling and cleaning carbs it still wouldn't start. Turned out I could have dumped the gas and gotten it started in no time with fresh petrol.