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What did you do to your R18 today?

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oldslodog said:
It's all back together and running great. valves sound better than pre-adjustment. I changed all the fluids too. The only thing I don't like, sounds like alternator drive belt is a little squeaky sounding/dry. Anybody run into this? I may need a little silicone on it to quiet the thing up but see no way to get to it.
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There is no alternator drive belt on the R18 ... It is a stator wrapped around the rotor that is directly attached to the crank shaft like on a Harley ... I was surprised as well .. but should be 100% maintenance free ...
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After doing a Bren tune on my r9t that made a big difference, and not having got into trouble, I went and got a tune for my R18. I even splurged $25 on 8g of memory for my 2011 or so windows 7 notebook! I was hoping to be impressed at about 50% of what I was with the r9.

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Anyway it arrived yesterday so today I had the new map back and loaded it.... did an old man test (did it all this time without watching a video or reading anything) and I passed. All went ok.

Anyway first quick ride was weird. Throttle response was poo like (always rock mode) for a few streets (think 1/4 second delay from idle). This came good.... so maybe some adaptions happening.

Anyway, I feel like it might be a bit of an old mans cruiser tune more suted to the trans/bagger then my pure... sorta lost a bit of the character down low for smother pulling 3000 to 4500+ rpm.... will see after a longer ride on some of my fav hills roads. I want this bike to be fun shaking'n snorting hooning up to 75mph in the windies.... not a smooth all day cruiser.

Right now if I had to choose, original flavour it would be.
 
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oldslodog said:
Its shown hard to see but is there. It also is chain driven. Behind the cam chain gears in the center with chain drive gear. Now I wonder if there's a chain tensioner involved.
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Hmmm I was pretty sure it is behind this cover .... now you have me second guessing myself ...

Chest Plate 08.jpeg
 
I too was quite surprised at the set-up Ulrich. I now am wondering about the guide shoes and tensioner life span. I have worked on all the jap stuff they came up with. As a matter of fact my neighbor took his Honda shadow to the wrong place, they told him it needed new cam-chains and tensioners at 4000 miles. He chose not to fix and set in the corner. Fast forward 5yrs. he got a divorce and sent his ex over to tell me it was mine. I started to disassemble and when I got to the rear tensioner as soon as I touched the thing it readjusted itself. I ratcheted it a few times and still have the bike running today. This 1800 motor continues to surprise me. I changed the exhaust system and really widened the powerband, I can pull fourth gear from rolling turn now. A lot less shifting for me. I want to lose the airbox too, and am looking for oil cooler relocation ideas.
 
oldslodog said:
I too was quite surprised at the set-up Ulrich. I now am wondering about the guide shoes and tensioner life span. I have worked on all the jap stuff they came up with. As a matter of fact my neighbor took his Honda shadow to the wrong place, they told him it needed new cam-chains and tensioners at 4000 miles. He chose not to fix and set in the corner. Fast forward 5yrs. he got a divorce and sent his ex over to tell me it was mine. I started to disassemble and when I got to the rear tensioner as soon as I touched the thing it readjusted itself. I ratcheted it a few times and still have the bike running today. This 1800 motor continues to surprise me. I changed the exhaust system and really widened the powerband, I can pull fourth gear from rolling turn now. A lot less shifting for me. I want to lose the airbox too, and am looking for oil cooler relocation ideas.
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The timing chain has a tensioner ... I haven't looked into it, but all other (newer) BMWs have a hydraulic self adjusting tensioner ... although most of them are overhead cams, the system should (IMO) still stay the same ... after all, it is driving 2 cams ... just not overhead LOL.
@Gr8adv I left them on on purpose .. people 'round, here more often than not, ignore motorcycles ... even though there are many ... and I like to give them NO excuse saying "I didn't see him' ... they are not stylish ... but have a purpose and I can live with that ;)
 
yes that frt. chrome cover is just for looks, and it is much better looking than the actual cover. Just like the chrome cylinder-head covers. Have you seen any of the customs that don't have the cylinder covers? I could live with it that way.
 
Thanks Scott ... you affirmed my guess ;)
oldslodog said:
yes that frt. chrome cover is just for looks, and it is much better looking than the actual cover. Just like the chrome cylinder-head covers. Have you seen any of the customs that don't have the cylinder covers? I could live with it that way.
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You do realize that you have to 'split' the frame to even be able to remove the decorative cover ... this not a 2 minute job as it was on the R1200C ... sigh
 
Yes I do realize this. What I did not realize what was under that pretty front cover and now I know. I can see from diagrams and parts diagrams where the stator is and how it's driven.
 
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