BMW Boxers

[eddyace595]

Just read Johns post on the forthcoming Gs/Rt motor upgrades coming next year..
Boxer twins, ditch pumps, flat twins.. call them what you will ,are they the ultimate engine layout..or
a bunch of mechanical compromises?
Casting my mind back from days of old, they evolved from airhead with capacity increases
and improvements over the years to oilhead and more capacity increases,then four valve
heads,and more power,through to water cooling ,and now another capacity increase with
shift cam technology ??????????????? You have got to hand it to the Krauts..they have proved
that it is actually possible to polish a turd ..

 

[andyBeaker]

Just read Johns post on the forthcoming Gs/Rt motor upgrades coming next year..
Boxer twins, ditch pumps, flat twins.. call them what you will ,are they the ultimate engine layout..or
a bunch of mechanical compromises?
Casting my mind back from days of old, they evolved from airhead with capacity increases
and improvements over the years to oilhead and more capacity increases,then four valve
heads,and more power,through to water cooling ,and now another capacity increase with
shift cam technology ??????????????? You have got to hand it to the Krauts..they have proved
that it is actually possible to polish a turd ..

The boxer layout seems to work pretty well in Porsche and Subaru.......

Yet in stock form was a totally underpowered asthmatic shambles for about a million years in the Beetle and other things VW.

Suggests that a lot of development and improvement is required to get the things working right?

 

[slim63]

I have always liked the K (brick) engines over the boxer engines but if we are talking boxers I think they got it about right with the 1100 gs engines & should have stopped there, after that they started to get all technical & stuck electronics on everything that you don't need & never work for very long without issues

Take that monstrosity I'm trying to flog .... new ring antenna at 17k then another at 32, new loom at 34 on a bike less than 6 years old that's stupid & the poor first owner was paying through the nose for all these repairs & more on a 10 grand + bike (in 04 I have the original reciept

Consider that against my mates 850 gs boxer that done 146,000 with nothing more than basic servicing, normal consumables, the odd repair & a clutch I know which I would rather have

 

[Jaws]

Just read Johns post on the forthcoming Gs/Rt motor upgrades coming next year..
Boxer twins, ditch pumps, flat twins.. call them what you will ,are they the ultimate engine layout..or
a bunch of mechanical compromises?
Casting my mind back from days of old, they evolved from airhead with capacity increases
and improvements over the years to oilhead and more capacity increases,then four valve
heads,and more power,through to water cooling ,and now another capacity increase with
shift cam technology ??????????????? You have got to hand it to the Krauts..they have proved
that it is actually possible to polish a turd ..

Not next year Edd, they are out now !

 

[ianrobbo1]

This what you could use I suppose !!

 

[Centaur]

The only bike I regret having bought was a Douglas Dragonfly. The boxer engine was a piece of crap which rarely made a trip without breaking down. I spent more time at the side of the road than I did riding the feckin thing. I paid too much for it and took months before I found a sucker like me to buy it; at a loss to me. Many, many years later when I bought my first Firestorm a mate in the group persuaded me to swop bikes for his BMW boxer for the first 5 miles of the Sunday rideout. When we reached the agreed change back point he fecked off at the front and I was left to ride his piece of shit all the way to Llangollen where we had planned to stop for a brew. I had a short ride on an 1100/1150? GS Arthur bought from Jaws and was not impressed'. Like someone said of Porche........."A triumph of engineering over original bad design" and I don't think they just meant having the engine stuck on the back.

 

[derek kelly]

BMW boxers? I had some Yamaha Y fronts

 

[Pow-Lo]

Well, I have two, one liquid cooled and one air cooled. Everyone knows I'm a fuckwit when it comes to this sort of thing but I actually like them. Make a nice change from inline fours and I like the grunt of the air-cooled motor, which seems to have more torque than the other one. Maybe that's just me though, I'm not a good enough rider to know or exploit the difference. One thing I did find out the hard way when I test rode the dealership demo before buying the air-cooled was that the back wheel locked up when I changed down a bit too enthusiastically without blipping the throttle when approaching a 30 limit. Bike stayed upright though, no fuss, no drama and just took it in her stride. That was what sealed the deal for me.

 

[Jaws]

I changed down a bit too enthusiastically without blipping the throttle

Oh yes.. It is like switching from a two stoke to a big four stroke ... same thing ! The torque of a big twin is muchly different to an in line four

 

[Pow-Lo]

Oh yes.. It is like switching from a two stoke to a big four stroke ... same thing ! The torque of a big twin is muchly different to an in line four

Never ridden a two-stroke so I wouldn't know. I almost wrote it reminds me of my diesel Panzer for sheer grunt but thought it sounded silly.

 

[slim63]

I find that all the boxer engine bikes I have ridden have weird gearing between 1st & 2nd which makes them a pain around town, absolutely spot on everywhere else though

 

[eddyace595]

Rode a mates R850R years ago.Swapping from my Bandit 12 it
felt properly sedate.Wacking open the throttle just seemed to thrum
my arse more and then a gradual sort of acceleration...I wasnt impressed
tbh...But I am told that they grow on you with the miles..

 

[eddyace595]

No doubt the big 1200s are much quicker..

 

[Jaws]

No doubt the big 1200s are much quicker..

They are a bit quicker but compared to modern sports bike they are just average.
Mind you, I showed a Thunder Ace a clean pair of heals on the first 1200 I had, that was a 2004.. And the LC is noticeably quicker that that one

 

[sr71caspar]

BMW boxers? I had some Yamaha Y fronts

I wear hondapants.

 

[Minkey]

when I saw the title thought y fronts are better

 

[Squag1]

when I saw the title thought y fronts are better

Depends on colour