94 R1100RS problems??

[Falcon]

I would like to know about any known issues with the 94 RS. Factory recalls, or any other known defects. I have found a sweet one that seems to be well taken care but I am concerned because it was the first year of the 1100. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
:)

[JimVonBaden]

I would like to know about any known issues with the 94 RS. Factory recalls, or any other known defects. I have found a sweet one that seems to be well taken care but I am concerned because it was the first year of the 1100. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
:)
Overall it is the best of the RS early models. If you have one of the early 94's you get bigger valves and higher compression, hardwired motronic and an overall great bike. Extra points if it is Pearl colored.:Bow:

The main concern is the trans which had weak bearings in it. By now, though, they are likely to have been replaced with the upgrade. Unless your bike has very few miles on it.

If you got a good enough deal, go for it and don't sweat the little stuff. They are generally very reliable bikes.

Jim:cool:

[Falcon]

Overall it is the best of the RS early models. If you have one of the early 94's you get bigger valves and higher compression, hardwired motronic and an overall great bike. Extra points if it is Pearl colored.:Bow:

The main concern is the trans which had weak bearings in it. By now, though, they are likely to have been replaced with the upgrade. Unless your bike has very few miles on it.

If you got a good enough deal, go for it and don't sweat the little stuff. They are generally very reliable bikes.

Jim:cool:

Jim,
Thanks for your help.
Tell me about the weak bearings and the upgrade. This bike has 29k on it.
Thanks,
Rob

[Jdiamond]

Bought my 94 R11RS in April of 1994 and the transmissions had already been fixed by that time. I've got about 60K trouble free miles on mine.

Buy it and ride it like you stole it. :)

Johnny Diamond
94 R11RS
95 R11GS
Baton Rouge, LA

[JimVonBaden]

I'm not as knowledgable as many on the weak bearings. But it looks like they installed the wrong type of bearings as a design flaw and the majority of bikes had them replaced before the warranty ran out. If you have access to the records of the bike, or know where it was during its early years you can find out by contacting the dealer.

Personally i wouldn't worry too much about it as I am sure they have been replaced by now. Virtually none of the bikes lasted more than 20 K miles before replacement.

That said, however, do not be put off by slightly clunky shifting or a chain like rattle at idle in neutral with the clutch lever not pulled. This is normal.

Jim:cool:

[Ed Miller]

Don't listen to those Pearl White cheerleaders, the Turquoise Blue (AKA green) is the colour to own :D


I guess I'm as qualified to speak about the bearing issue as anyone. I also own a 94, and had the bearings fail in my tranny. Not just once mind you, three times - NO warranty. Mine is probably the worst case scenario though. My bike was out of warranty when I bought it, and had only 6000 Kms on it. As was stated before, the bike you are looking at has very likely had them done by now. It is something to ask about though. The tranny repair or replacement, which is what I ended up doing after the last failure, is not cheap.

The bearings in question are the input shaft bearings. The original design used a pair of tapered roller bearings, which for whatever reason tended to fail early. The later transmissions (post 96) used a sealed roller bearing, and these are (one of) the upgraded parts for the early trannys also. BMW refers to them as a "clean bearings", implying that the failures were caused by foreign bits getting into the bearings, hence a sealed bearing keeping the junk out. Thats a fine story, but then why is it that millions of transmissions in service in other bikes, cars, trucks, etc. have survived for hundreds of thousands of Kms with tapered roller bearings. My theory is that there is insufficient lubrication to the bearings, hence a sealed bearing with a permanant lubrication is the solutiuon.

The good news is, with the newer style bearings, the gearbox seems to be very reliable, I have nearly 100,000kms now on my RS and the new transmission is fine having done well more than half of them. There really are no other serious issues with these bikes. The engines are almost bulletproof. Aside from basic maintenance, I have had to do nothing in the way of repairs on mine. There are lots of things you can upgrade if you choose, and I have, but these are by choice not neccessity. In spite of the problems I had with the transmission, I still would have a hard time choosing another bike that I'd rather own. My 94 is a strong running machine, always has been. I seem to get better fuel milage than most on the board do, and I have never experiences the surging that has been an issue with the later models with the Cat/Con and O2 sensor. If the RS your looking at has any miles at all on it, all of the teething problems of the early models should have been addressed by now, and once those are taken care of, I think they are the best of the lot. Of course I may be a little biased on that ;)

[Spider]

Don't listen to those Pearl White cheerleaders, the Turquoise Blue (AKA green) is the colour to own

Actually, the '94 Pearl White bikes are somewhat superior!

http://www.bikersoracle.com/rs/forum/showthread.php?t=78

:Beer:

[ncneal]

I bought my '95 RS new. The transmission was replaced with a factory 'reconditioned' unit at about 30K miles. My problem began with the bike exibiting a strange symptom. Under hard acceleration, it felt as if the engine momentarily cut out. Very short time periods, like a blip or skipping a heartbeat. I checked with the local dealer mechanic and he knodded his head during my discription of the symptoms. 'Needs a new transmission', was his reply. There is a coil spring on the output shaft that softens pulses between the trans and rear wheel. BMW has been using these at least since the /5's (my '73 R7s/s has it). On the '94 and early '95 R1100's, the spring wasn't right for some reason (too small, not tempered correctly?) and would allow the output shaft to jump. If you have a shop manual for any BMW, check the transmission rebuild section for photos of the output shaft. I was also told about the redesigned bearings - open to closed type. The mechanic recommended trans replace rather than rebuild since the new bearings are larger than the old and the old size wasn't available in the closed style. The replacement cost me about $1850 US, installed. Perhaps your local dealer can help with determining if the trans has been replaced (best solution) or at least repaired (next best solution). If neither is the case, I'd recommend planning on having it replaced soon and not worry about anything else. BTW - I could not find anyone interested in the old trans. I recycled it to the scrap metal bin.

[cagiva50]

You're both wrong - Red is best :D
Only other 'issue' w/ the early bike is a tendency for the head gaskets to leak oil (this is easy to see as oil will accumulate between the top of the cylinder and the head :goofy: ). It took a couple of tries for BMW to get the correct replacement head gasket design, but I can cheerfully say the replacement gaskets work, cost ~$30 ? and it's a fairly easy job (no special Factory tools required).
Of course there is an unlimited amount of upgrades you can do once it's yours
(check http://www.ibmwr.org/ for starters).
It's a great bike --- any color. Good luck

[Joisey]

Chris is correct, red is best - especially if it's an "RSL" model - but please don't let that discourage you from buying another color (it can always be painted! ;) )

Seriously, I bought my '94 in '00 with 7500 miles on it. At the 12,000 mile service I had to have the head gaskets replaced, at 20k it needed a new clutch, and now at 30k I am experiencing the tranny problems that Ed describes. While that may seem initimidating to some, there is still no other motorcycle I'd rather be riding. I knew of the history of clutch and tranny issues going in, but I got such a nice deal on this bike that I figured if I had to spend more on repairs/maintenance I'd still be somewhat ahead of the game. You may wish to factor these things into the price during your negotiations. If I had it to do all over again knowing what I know now I would do so in a heartbeat.

YMMV...

[breyfogle]

When I bought my '94 a year or so ago, I knew about the "tranny rattle" issue but not about the bearing failure issues. The limited maintenance records that came with the bike do not indicate either a bearing replacement or a tranny rebuild/replacement. At 35K miles the transmission rattles "like it should" but otherwise seems to work just fine. Is there any easy way to identify the later replaced trannies, either visually or by how the sound ? Presumably, if an early RS had a bearing failure before BMW began to replace the whole tranny and just the bearing was upgraded, it would not be possible to know that 10 years later, correct ?

If Ed is correct about the root cause of bearing failures being lubrication, maybe a full synthetic gear lube might prolong bearing life. Just a thought.

[Jdiamond]

Starting with Serial Number 311168 BMW updated the R1100RS Motronic, transmission and final drive. So, check your VIN and you'll see whether yours is one of the few that came to the US with the "suspect" transmission.

Johnny Diamond
Baton Rouge, LA

[bjaanning]

Figures...my bike's number is only a couple hundered below the VIN cut-off. Althought I have not yet had any transmission problems...

[cagiva50]

Mine is below cut off # too and I have 65,000 miles on it. Clutch & seals were replaced by the PO @ 35K. Seems to work OK - rattles and now the neutral light sw is acting up but I can live w/ it. I'll keep riding it as long as possible. I have been using REDLINE FULL synthetic oils since I bought it 2 yrs ago.

[Growler]

Starting with Serial Number 311168 BMW updated the R1100RS Motronic, transmission and final drive. So, check your VIN and you'll see whether yours is one of the few that came to the US with the "suspect" transmission.

Johnny Diamond
Baton Rouge, LA

Johnny,
Can you elaborate more on the updated Motronic, transmission and final drive? How were they updated? Mine is 312198. I guess mine is "updated", but what separates mine from the early models? Thanks.

[Jdiamond]

Changes to Beta Bikes:

Motronic - no idea what the specific changes were now. That was too long ago and about 3-4 computers (I always loose data when I change computers). I seem to recall that the beta bikes had the motronic hardwired in and had no cat code plug. It was hardwired too.

Transmission - I don't recall that the beta bikes had more transmission failures than later bikes, but that one of the main gripes was the excessive amount of "rattle". They added o-rings between gears to quieten it down some. I remember quite a few folks felt the beta bikes shifted much smoother than later bikes.

Rear Drive - The beta bikes had a very tall rear drive ratio. BMW lowered it and made the engine and transmission spin faster. 2.818 ratio rear end on the beta bikes.

[JimVonBaden]

Changes to Beta Bikes:

Motronic - no idea what the specific changes were now. That was too long ago and about 3-4 computers (I always loose data when I change computers). I seem to recall that the beta bikes had the motronic hardwired in and had no cat code plug. It was hardwired too.Sort of, the beta bikes did have the "cat" plug hard wired as there was no plug at all. The Motronic was not hard wired, and as far as I know is the same as later models.

Transmission - I don't recall that the beta bikes had more transmission failures than later bikes, but that one of the main gripes was the excessive amount of "rattle". They added o-rings between gears to quieten it down some. I remember quite a few folks felt the beta bikes shifted much smoother than later bikes.
The bearings on the transmissions from 93-mid 96 were open bearings that were prone to failure. I would be surprised if there were any "beta" bikes over 50K miles with the original transmission. My mid model, 96-99, trans shifts as well as most japanese bikes.

Interesting note, the 2004 K1200GT trans shifts the same as my bike, and has the same rattle in neutral.

Rear Drive - The beta bikes had a very tall rear drive ratio. BMW lowered it and made the engine and transmission spin faster. 2.818 ratio rear end on the beta bikes.True.

Jim:cool:

[MikeH]

Interesting note, the 2004 K1200GT trans shifts the same as my bike, and has the same rattle in neutral.Jim:cool:Funnily enough, when I had a recent test ride on the new R1200GS, it had a terrible gearbox rattle in neutral, but I have to admit that it changed gear so much better than the old transmission. It appears that some things are just an inherant part of BMW design!

I must say though, that the gearbox on my '97 RS shifts a lot better now than it did when the bike was new, and for that matter, the engine runs sweeter too. :)

[cagiva50]

I think my beta (made in '93) still has the original tranny (I'm 3rd owner, and as I said the PO had clutch/seals redone @ ~35K). Maybe the original owner had it reworked. Is there any way to tell if tranny has been 'upgraded'?
It still shifts fine and doesn't do anything out of the ordinary (like slip out of gear etc.).

[thencamebronson]

I have a beta manufactured in April 93. My vin is over 1000 below the changeover. No transmission failures and I have over 105K miles. I have used synthetic gear oil almost exclusively. I have found that if you "preload" the shifter and concentrate on your shifting, it shifts very smoothly. I know you shouldn't have to do this but it is a small price to pay.

IMHO, the pre 1150 RS is the pinnacle of BMW development and everything else is a poor attempt to reach the bar set in 1993.

[breyfogle]

Changes to Beta Bikes:

Rear Drive - The beta bikes had a very tall rear drive ratio. BMW lowered it and made the engine and transmission spin faster. 2.818 ratio rear end on the beta bikes.

My Beta (VIN 310598) was built in May '93 and currently has a 34/11 rear end (3.09). Everything else about the bike is box-stock, makes me doubt if the rear end was ever changed. Mayber Eurobikes and US bikes were different ?

[MHornbrook]

My wife purchased a 1994 brand new in 1995 which is teal in color. With our schedules we don't have a chance to ride much but when we do, we take off on fairly long trips.

She now has over 33,000 miles on her motorcycle and with only regular oil, fluid changes, and tire changes. Her motorycle has just developed a slight gas drip from the overflow tube, but have been told that it may be just old hoses and need to be replaced.

Based upon our experiences I would highly recommend this motorcycle to anyone.

Mike

:)

[jimstinnett]

I have an early '94 in Pearl White, and at 5000 or so the original owner had the transmission updated under warranty.
I got it with 25,000 or so 14 months ago and have ridden it all over the dam western part of the states. And...
it runs fine. The gearbox sounds like a bucket of clutch bolts but works great.
I got no complaints.
I think most early RS owners has their transmissions updated under a recall or warranty campaign.