Alright, let’s talk about the BMW R1150S. I finally got around to wrenching on one, and lemme tell ya, it was a trip.
First things first: This bike came to me lookin’ a little rough. Been sitting for a spell, ya know? So, step one was getting it to fire up. Started with the basics – fresh battery. The old one was deader than a doornail. Slapped in a new one, and still nothing. Cranks, but no fire.
Next up, fuel. Drained the old gas. Smelled like turpentine. Yuck. Cleaned out the fuel tank as best I could, put in some fresh premium stuff. Pulled the fuel pump. This thing was nasty. Gunked up like crazy. Cleaned it up real good, made sure the lines weren’t cracked or anything, reinstalled it.
Still no dice. Okay, time to dig deeper. Checked the spark plugs. They were fouled something fierce. Replaced ’em with new ones. While I was at it, I figured, why not check the ignition coils? Looked okay, but I cleaned the contacts anyway. Gave everything a shot of electrical contact cleaner.
Getting closer. Now, it was trying to fire, but sputtering and coughing. Sounded like a clogged fuel injector. Bit of a pain to get to on this bike, but hey, that’s part of the fun, right? Pulled ’em, cleaned ’em with some injector cleaner, and blew ’em out with compressed air. Reinstalled, and bingo!
She fired up! Ran rough as hell at first, but after a few minutes, smoothed out. Let it idle for a while to warm up. Checked for leaks. All good.
But the story doesn’t end there. Once I got it running, I noticed the brakes were shot. Pads were worn down to the metal. Replaced the pads, bled the brakes. Now she stops like she should.
Then, the tires. Dry-rotted and cracked. No way I was gonna ride on those. New set of tires mounted and balanced. Feels much better now.
Couple of other things I did:
- Changed the oil and filter.
- Checked the air filter. It was surprisingly clean.
- Lubed all the cables.
- Adjusted the throttle cables.
- Gave it a good wash and wax.
Finally, took it for a spin. Man, this bike is a blast! Handles great, plenty of power. Worth all the effort. It’s not perfect, still got a few little things to sort out, but it’s back on the road and running strong. Always feels good to bring a bike back from the dead. Next up, maybe I’ll tackle that valve adjustment.
