Exhausts and Engine » Rough running

I've been meaning to post this for a long time but never got round to it.

When I start out on a ride, the engine runs either slightly rough, or perfectly smooth.
The rough running is not at all worrying, but noticeable and stays that way all through the ride.
Summer or winter, damp or dry, engine hot or cold, there is no situation that I can connect to either state, it seems purely by chance.
The boxer engine is not the smoothest, so maybe the smooth running is the exception!

My 1150RS did the same.

Anybody else noticed this?

Hi Kev, cant say that I have, my 2016 RS is very consistent, I’m not sure I can describe it as totally smooth but pretty much so for a boxer, cant say I have ever noticed it running roughly.

Zitat von KevKP im Beitrag #1

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I've been meaning to post this for a long time but never got round to it.

When I start out on a ride, the engine runs either slightly rough, or perfectly smooth.
The rough running is not at all worrying, but noticeable and stays that way all through the ride.
Summer or winter, damp or dry, engine hot or cold, there is no situation that I can connect to either state, it seems purely by chance.
The boxer engine is not the smoothest, so maybe the smooth running is the exception!

My 1150RS did the same.

Anybody else noticed this?

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I know, it's strange that I had this on both bikes, just bad luck probably but it is really not bad enough to be uncomfortable.
On the other hand I feel a smile coming on when the roughness is absent, unlike Bravo maybe .

As for the squeak from the exhaust, that stopped a long time ago, I had completely forgotten about it!

Probably not, but maybe try a different fuel station and or grade of fuel

Fit a booster plug, it will improve its fueling and make it smoother, the boxers are running on the very edge of weakness to meet emission regulations etc, the booster plug raises fuel by 5% and actually improved MPG in mine.

Ged

I've experienced nothing as you describe and the observation that it also happened on your 1150 is baffling. Engine operation and smoothness are the two major improvements for the R12RS vs the Oilhead RS, in my opinion. But, following my experience with the mysterious appearance of engine fault codes this Spring, I've developed the uninformed theory of "Bad Data Bits" which contaminate the, apparently, adaptive ECU software. It's the only explanation I can find formulate to explain how a software upgrade can cure a sudden on-set of engine fault codes. In your case, perhaps, the "bad data bits" have trained the ECU software to operate the engine poorly. A software upgrade may cure that.

As I said, an uninformed theory.

Thanks for all your comments and advice.

I was away for a couple of days out from Geneva to the Appenzel area of Switzerland.
I know most of the passes but I did the Klausen pass for the first time - pure pleasure.

As usual, some smooth rides and some less smooth over the 800 Km in 2 days, stop for a coffee and it will swap states!
It's really not bad enough to be annoying, just curious.
I'll give it a go running 98 octane to see what happens, then consider a booster if it ever gets worse.
Thanks again

My R1200R ran so smooth it was amazing... I now have a new R1250RS, that engine is best described as smooth as a buttered fart.... I have had four BMW boxer engines, none anything but smooth.... jp

I may be nit-picking and maybe the original title was a bit exaggerated.
Let me put it another way:
The bike runs smoothly, but often when I start out I think, hey, it's running smoother than usual!

You are starting to make me think I am imagining it!