If they end the R18 line...

Adrian R said:
Was quoted $736 to adjust the valves. Fk that...
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Adrian, not sure if you've seen this YT video or not. It's not in english but it's easy enough to understand what they're doing.

Or, you could do like me and use Google Translate on your phone and hold it up to your speaker and translate in real-time. It's not perfect, but it gets the job done. Apparently "candles" are spark plugs in Russian.

6:47 is when he starts discussing valve adjustment. He begins by talking about how to rotate the crankshaft. It's easiest to put it into gear and move the rear wheel with the spark plugs removed and the flywheel inspection hole exposed.

Intake valve clearance should be between 0.13 - 0.23mm and exhaust valve clearances should be between 0.30 - 0.40mm. Only use 8Nm torque on the nuts holding the clearance screws to the valve body. The cylinder "head cover" bolts are 10Nm.

I also downloaded this video for my own use, should it ever disappear off YT. It's too dang valuable a resource IMO, absent any other service manuals or guides.


Mike
 
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Keehn said:
Adrian, not sure if you've seen this YT video or not. It's not in english but it's easy enough to understand what they're doing.

Or, you could do like me and use Google Translate on your phone and hold it up to your speaker and translate in real-time. It's not perfect, but it gets the job done. Apparently "candles" are spark plugs in Russian.

6:47 is when he starts discussing valve adjustment. He begins by talking about how to rotate the crankshaft. It's easiest to put it into gear and move the rear wheel with the spark plugs removed and the flywheel inspection hole exposed.

Intake valve clearance should be between 0.13 - 0.23mm and exhaust valve clearances should be between 0.30 - 0.40mm. Only use 8Nm torque on the nuts holding the clearance screws to the valve body. The cylinder "head cover" bolts are 10Nm.

I also downloaded this video for my own use, should it ever disappear off YT. It's too dang valuable a resource IMO, absent any other service manuals or guides.


Mike
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I used the video as well, but the specs are incorrect. Both intake and exhaust specs are the same. 0.20-0.30 I am sure, as I did my 6k recently. Message me with any questions
 
Cheshire Cat said:
I wish. They belong to a friend. He has offered me the newer model at a competitive price and strangely enough, my wife thinks I should buy it for investment purposes.
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Slippery slope, but they are a ton of fun to ride. While these have in fact turned out to have increased in value significantly recently, it's hard to predict what they'll do in the future.

I ride this one regularly, and figure I'm getting money's worth just with the fun factor. The advantage of something like a /2 is that most anybody with an interest can develop the ability to work on them. Not so much with a modern bike.

R60A.jpg
 
Hum, don't have YT premium and instead using the windows VLC player steps to do a download the mp4 file. Just make sure you give it enough time to fully load on your pc (it sort of does it in the background). Only then should you complete the remaining steps to save the video as a mp4 file when using VLC app.
Thanks for the video link Keehn.
 
tommymck said:
Slippery slope, but they are a ton of fun to ride. While these have in fact turned out to have increased in value significantly recently, it's hard to predict what they'll do in the future.

I ride this one regularly, and figure I'm getting money's worth just with the fun factor. The advantage of something like a /2 is that most anybody with an interest can develop the ability to work on them. Not so much with a modern bike.

View attachment 7135
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Old age…I am tossing in the towel and dropping my old /2 off the an old school airhead bike tech. Told him just get it back to me in a year :)
Do wonder if one can covert these from 6v to 12v though guessing not.
It is funny, well really not due to safety reasons, to see the tail light glow fade in and out based on revs when at the traffic light. Not to mention, though will, the way back headlight that almost gives off no light at night. Yes indeed, the ‘good’ old days lol.
 
motoring said:
Old age…I am tossing in the towel and dropping my old /2 off the an old school airhead bike tech. Told him just get it back to me in a year :)
Do wonder if one can covert these from 6v to 12v though guessing not.
It is funny, well really not due to safety reasons, to see the tail light glow fade in and out based on revs when at the traffic light. Not to mention, though will, the way back headlight that almost gives off no light at night. Yes indeed, the ‘good’ old days lol.
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If you have a battery installed, you shouldn't see lights dim when at low idle. In any case, you have multiple options for a 12V system. They are very easy to install... The biggest hassle is in changing out the bulbs.

 
pbosik said:
Dealers are required to take a minimum of 1or 2 of every model. Manufacturers will also ship bikes, say force ship, but they will carry the bikes for a term. So, the dealer isn't on the hook for (floor plan/interest). I am sure on heavy discount models, that the manufacturer, gives them a spiff, for moving them. My dealer also gets freight, setup, doc fees, doc stamps. All that adds up to 1k. The dealer IS gonna get theirs, one way or another.
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I’m not defending dealers here just trying to understand what’s going on and take a wider perspective. $736 is about £650 (roughly) and that’s a lot of money for a valve check. I get that. I have a Honda CB1000R in the garage, valve check on that is 24000 miles. Probably a similar amount to have a dealer do it. A lot more involved but years away so it doesn’t even cross my mind. What I would say is we all bought this expensive bike so knew or ought to have known it would be more expensive than most other bikes out there. BMW is very slick and corporate, the opposite of most ‘bike’ shops. I was looking through this very forum long before I bought mine to see what I was getting into. Would I buy a Rolls Royce and drop the oil myself to save a few quid? Err nope.

A huge multi National like BMW will probably survive because it is so big that it can take losses here but make good money there. From what I read HD was in huge trouble not that long ago but as far as I can make out with their new Milwaukee motor and new models has turned the corner. I expect the R18 to have maybe another year or two to prove its worth in the marketplace, now that the honeymoon period is over, before it gets pulled entirely or the lowest volume models certainly will. I think the R9T Racer lasted only 3 years for example but the R9T has survived. So far…..

I include myself in this BTW. We need to hold our nerve over winter and just keep/enjoy our bikes. If we bail and try to sell that will just flood the market with low mileage bikes and 2nd hand values will tumble. There’s hardly any leftover R18’s that I can see for sale over here now (Uk), that’s good.

I’m not into golf, never even tried it but I know enough to know that I could probably have a round of 9 for about £25 locally, as a guest. But to join that same club it’s £400 thanks, plus a fee to still play a round. By joining the club I get use of the clubhouse, the bar, the facilities, maybe discounts on stuff too plus the enjoyment of being a member. Now, whether or not you think that’s good VFM is another thing and overall, in simple terms I think this is a similar situation with our bikes.

You can’t justify $736, just can’t. But what we are paying for is being a BMW clubhouse member whether we see it that way or not. Someone somewhere, an accountant, high up in the BMW ivory tower has worked out a baseline $ figure they need to make to keep the ship afloat and within that worldwide picture some win, some lose. Many have written on the forum about getting brand new crated bikes for $9k !! That is amazing value, nothing like what we pay over here. That deficit has to be made up elsewhere.
 
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Fair point. Heck, just look at the cost for a k1600 service to check the valves or I figure Honda to change out the buried air filter on the new gen goldwings. Maybe bmw will surprise us all and the r18 will have a long life.
 
motoring said:
Fair point. Heck, just look at the cost for a k1600 service to check the valves or I figure Honda to change out the buried air filter on the new gen goldwings. Maybe bmw will surprise us all and the r18 will have a long life.
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Yep. The Gen6 GW is a wonderful bike but getting to the air filter is a pig of a job. Very expensive at a dealer and very time consuming especially when done at home (though said to be rewarding). Like 6-8 hours because the bike has to be completely torn apart and hopefully you don’t lose too many clips in the process!

08A379A2-113F-4174-92D1-A334094720CE.jpeg
 
Cheshire Cat said:
Sounds like for some reason, that dealer really didn't want your business. They don't even have to invest in specialist, expensive equipment for this particular job!
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Rufus said:
I’m not defending dealers here just trying to understand what’s going on and take a wider perspective. $736 is about £650 (roughly) and that’s a lot of money for a valve check. I get that. I have a Honda CB1000R in the garage, valve check on that is 24000 miles. Probably a similar amount to have a dealer do it. A lot more involved but years away so it doesn’t even cross my mind. What I would say is we all bought this expensive bike so knew or ought to have known it would be more expensive than most other bikes out there. BMW is very slick and corporate, the opposite of most ‘bike’ shops. I was looking through this very forum long before I bought mine to see what I was getting into. Would I buy a Rolls Royce and drop the oil myself to save a few quid? Err nope.

A huge multi National like BMW will probably survive because it is so big that it can take losses here but make good money there. From what I read HD was in huge trouble not that long ago but as far as I can make out with their new Milwaukee motor and new models has turned the corner. I expect the R18 to have maybe another year or two to prove its worth in the marketplace, now that the honeymoon period is over, before it gets pulled entirely or the lowest volume models certainly will. I think the R9T Racer lasted only 3 years for example but the R9T has survived. So far…..

I include myself in this BTW. We need to hold our nerve over winter and just keep/enjoy our bikes. If we bail and try to sell that will just flood the market with low mileage bikes and 2nd hand values will tumble. There’s hardly any leftover R18’s that I can see for sale over here now (Uk), that’s good.

I’m not into golf, never even tried it but I know enough to know that I could probably have a round of 9 for about £25 locally, as a guest. But to join that same club it’s £400 thanks, plus a fee to still play a round. By joining the club I get use of the clubhouse, the bar, the facilities, maybe discounts on stuff too plus the enjoyment of being a member. Now, whether or not you think that’s good VFM is another thing and overall, in simple terms I think this is a similar situation with our bikes.

You can’t justify $736, just can’t. But what we are paying for is being a BMW clubhouse member whether we see it that way or not. Someone somewhere, an accountant, high up in the BMW ivory tower has worked out a baseline $ figure they need to make to keep the ship afloat and within that worldwide picture some win, some lose. Many have written on the forum about getting brand new crated bikes for $9k !! That is amazing value, nothing like what we pay over here. That deficit has to be made up elsewhere.
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*Club* membership is completely irrelevant to me and quite frankly, lame. ICGAF about being a part of any socially appreciative *perceived* (subjective) norm of society. F that..weak. That is one reason why I never bought a Harley, aside from my observation of their dated design, and overpriced nature. I bought that R18 because I liked *it*, not because I thought I was gaining some kind of social acceptance by buying a BMW. Motorcycling, for me anyway, is about freedom. Incidentally, I actually enjoy servicing my own bike..it allows to build a better bond with it.
 
Adrian R said:
*Club* membership is completely irrelevant to me and quite frankly, lame. ICGAF about being a part of any socially appreciative *perceived* (subjective) norm of society. F that..weak. That is one reason why I never bought a Harley, aside from my observation of their dated design, and overpriced nature. I bought that R18 because I liked *it*, not because I thought I was gaining some kind of social acceptance by buying a BMW. Motorcycling, for me anyway, is about freedom. Incidentally, I actually enjoy servicing my own bike..it allows to build a better bond with it.
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I see your point of view Adrian, but whether you like it or not you are in the game though, just like HD but without the bandannas chains and tassels. Some owners enjoy the social side of things, you clearly don’t. That’s not weak it’s their choice and they probably get a great deal of pleasure from it.

I would have to challenge you when you say ‘club membership is completely irrelevant to me and quite frankly lame ICGAF‘ because you are on this forum aren’t you, this is a club, of sorts. Are we all lame? We share stuff good and bad and help one another out with problems. Liking the R18 is a perfectly valid reason for getting it, there doesn’t need to be any more to it than that. BMW prices are high, servicing prices are high, it is what it is.
 
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