Is my bike at peak engine performance

[bmwr1150rbmw]

Maybe I just suffer from low self esteem but everytime I perform any maintenance or upgrade, I worry that I messed something up and the bike is not operating at peak levels. And, I've just begun to do my own maintenance. So.....

Question: What can I do to determine I am getting every horse out of the engine? Is it as fast as it can be?

This would be easier if I could go out and ride other 2004 r1150r to see if mine is the same or better.

I would appreciate any advice in determining that the engine is tweaked perfectly and is as fast and responsive as it could be?
Can a dealer hook it up to their dyno machine and help me?

[boxermania]

bmwr1150rbmw

Not an easy question based on your acknowledgement of recently starting maintenance of the bike. The surest way is to take it to a chassis dyno where they can record HP, torque and A/F ratio. If the opeartor is familiar with BMW's they should be able to tell you if something is out of spec. On the other hand you also gain a baseline for your bike.....cost....anywhere from $60 to $150 depending on the pulls and the amount of wrenching.

The easiest and least expensive way is for you to find a strech of flat road and on fourth gear take the engine to redline, until the cutoff kicks in. If the bike redlines, pulls hard, doesn't spit or miss you are assured that the state of tune is satisfactory. I don't condone this testing as it will probably take you close to 90+ mph....

Good luck......

[Biff's R]

bmwr1150rbmw
The easiest and least expensive way is for you to find a strech of flat road and on fourth gear take the engine to redline, until the cutoff kicks in. If the bike redlines, pulls hard, doesn't spit or miss you are assured that the state of tune is satisfactory. I don't condone this testing as it will probably take you close to 90+ mph....

Good luck......

Yeah Right, Al. I remember a white streak flying by me in Ozark last year.

[Boxer]

Al's second suggestion is by far the most satisfying.

His first suggestion will take your money, have your bike touched in so many "sensitive" places by strangers, make you sit and wait in the green room on pins and needles, and when you're done you will still wonder until you follow his second suggestion.

Go ride.

[Arbee]

bmwr1150rbmw

The easiest and least expensive way is for you to find a strech of flat road and on fourth gear take the engine to redline, until the cutoff kicks in.

My question is why fourth gear, a hard first then a hard second will do the same...

[CRazyCam]

bmwr1150rbmw

The easiest and least expensive way is for you to find a strech of flat road and on fourth gear take the engine to redline, until the cutoff kicks in.

My question is why fourth gear, a hard first then a hard second will do the same...

In first or second you'll get to max revs sufficiently quickly, then hit the rev limiter, for it to be a fairly harsh ride, and prove fairly little.

You'd need to start taking, and comparing, times.

If you run the test in 4th (out of 5) the mere fact that the bike gets to max revs is a good indication of the motor being fairly healthy.

If it does it smoothly without any hiccups, even better.

regards,CrazyCam

[bmwr1150rbmw]

Well I tried but found it hard to get to the rev limiter in 4th as the speed is 90+. It seemed a bit risky to continue as I was riding on Labor Day weekend and spotted the police monitoring traffic, so I backed off. But, all seemed well up to 7,000 rpms. It's a simple test and I will continue to try.

[CRazyCam]

It's more fun that taking the bike to a dyno, too!

regards,CrazyCam