Just bought an '04 R1150R

[TBzz]

Just purchased a slate blue 2004 R1150R on Ebay. It had 41 miles on it. No typo. 41 miles. The fellow bought it on a whim right out of MSF course. Dropped it on each side, freaked out, then put it in the garage for two years (He'd bought it in December of '05) Anyway, the scratches are very slight, and only on the plastic head guards, so that's nothing. I paid 8,000.

I took a bit of a risk since the bike was not running. But I figured that with 41 miles, it was worth it. THe battery would not take a charge from the trickle charger. The red light flashed continuously. So I hooked up my car charger for an hour and jolted it. I know that's verboten with a gel battery, but after an hour it was able to take the trickle charge. Anyway, I changed the gasoline, pulled the plugs and squirted some oil into the cylinder and it fired right up and runs like a dream.

I love the way it rides, but the position might take some getting used to. My current bike is a R1200C, and the new bike forces my legs back a bit. Also, I seem to be sitting directly on my nuts. But, this bike is the one I wanted when I first started riding, so it's a thrill to have arrived.

Tom

[boxermania]

TBzz

Congrats on your new mount and welcome......regarding the testes......you can address them as the twins or the family jewels.....if you continue to have problems, may I suggest wearing a cup.....just kidding of course.....

[scottybooj]

re: your nutz

the stock seat definitely does that. get a sargent seat or other aftermarket seat. they're better. still will get some jewel compression but much better

[sweatmark]

Tom-

Congratulations on your new bike. I thought I found the deal of a lifetime with my Rockster: a year old and 576 miles by original owner, but seems you've beat my "low miles, excellent condition" record.

We had a Cruiser in the family for a while - great bike, but not as well-rounded as the R1150R. As suggested, check around to audition some aftermarket seat options, then transform your sitting comfort.

[bluelight]

I'm 6'1" tall and the sargent seat was returned since when I came to a stop
it felt like there was a giant wedge between my legs with my feet on the ground.

The BMW comfort seat gives you nearly 3" up and a flat surface so your nuts
are not pressed into the tank. Ive been there and it makes you want to sell
the r and buy a Ninja where your nuts need to be glued to the tank. For 185
the BMW high seat is a bargain but you need to be tall enough to get your feet flat
when you stop.

[sjbmw]

41 miles. Incredible. Congrats.
Don't baby that motor or it will eat oil longer than it should. The entire power band is acceptable.
Don't slam and bang it across the rpm range, but visit all of it, even keel.

Please expand on that battery trick.
Is the battery alive again?
I have had 2 batteries give me solid red tender lights in the past 3 years, and my dealer had to replace both.

[TBzz]

Regarding the battery... When I hooked up the tender the red light flashed, which means that there's some kind of a problem, and the battery is not charging. I thought perhaps a squirrel had built a nest in the wires, or soemthing. Anyway, when I took the battery out, I got the same response, namely flashing red. So, I hooked up a car battery charger and hit it with ten amps for an hour or so. When I re-attached the tender, it was showing steady red, and soon flashing green, and then solid green. I'm not sure if that helps you at all, but that's my experience. I figured that since the battery was shot anyway, the car charger couldn't make it any worse. Fortunately, it solved the problem, at least for the time being. I'm not super confident that the battery will last very long.

Yours,
Tom Bennett

[LotusJones]

Congratulations.
I concur regarding the seat, but don't be hasty, give it a while and see if you don't break-in to the new position. After a few 100 (maybe 1000) miles I started to dig the seat. What initially was a ball breaking slip-n-slide is now; well, let's just say I don't notice it anymore and that is all I want from a seat, or underwear for that matter - to not notice it. I do have to stretch my knees every once in a while but that's ok. And, for the record, I'm done having kids anyway.
-LJ

[towerworker]

Congratulations on the deal---that indeed is a rare find. You need to post pics as soon as you can.

Regarding the battery-----I used to do pretty much the same thing to ni-cads that had gone bad. Nicads would develope tiny "whiskers" internally between the so-called plates within the battery. This would happen when the battery was either discharged too much or simply left in a circuit to the point the battery voltage dropped to 0 and then it could actually reverse polarity. Hitting a cell with for a short time with many times it's rated amperage would "burn out" the whiskers and allow the cell to take a charge (at least for a while). Experience showed me that the cure was temporary. The damage had already been done and eventually the battery would fail permanently. Possibly something similar has happened to your battery.
Don't ride it further than you want to push it or ask for a jump! (until you have a new battery that is)

Also there is substantial risk in hitting one with way too much current----you can cause the battery to explode. Probably not in your case using 10 amps but if someone were to hit one with 50 or so I wouldn't want to be standing near.

Good luck!

Wayne

[johnnyjs1]

After about 100 miles with the stock seat on my Rockster, I was done. The next day I had a routine checkup at the doctor. He confirmed...I will never have kids . It took me a few months to fond an aftermarket seat, but i finally did. Now I have 2, a sargent and a bill meyer. I've been riding with both of them and still cant decide which i like better. But one thing for sure...they are both 1000% better than stock

[FloridaBeakster]

To get by with the stock seat, put some washers under the mounts for the round rubber seat locator pieces. You'll need longer bolts, too. Just play with the number of washers until it feels better. I think I used about 3/8" worth to level out the stock seat. I don't find it terribly annoying anymore (did 1000 miles one weekend with two 400+ mile days), still deciding if I want to go to a tall seat or not.

[wncbmw]

Beware - the tall seat is narrower. I tried a tall seat from a buddy just before he sold the bike to see if it could help my knees. It did but after 100 miles, I felt like the seat was wedged in there! Back to stock for me. YMMV, depending on your build.

I know a Sargent or Mayers would do the trick - just need the resources to buy one!

[iowabeakster]

I thought I saw that bike on Ebay. I thought it was the "Dark Ferro" scheme though (with the black motor). I couldn't believe it. The seller said that the bike "scared the crap out of him".

I often reach down my pants, to get things situated just right. Just make sure you don't have too many people staring at you and your excellent ride at the time.

Congrats!

[TBzz]

Iowa:

Yes, that's the one. The guy was really a nice fellow, just couldn't ride yet. Anyway, here's the link to the ebay sale. Thanks to all for the tips.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... =p3907.m32