Noisy valves and preignition

[randlyn]

I have an '02 GS. I am having "valve clatter" in 4th and 5th gear @ 3800-4000 rpm. I also am having some "preignition" problems. The valves are in spec as is throttle body sync. I know the "normal" causes of preignition. I have ruled those out. I have been told to check "end play" and the throttle positioning sensor, but have yet to do that. Thoughts please. And who would you recommend in Ohio as a good tech. to use?

[osceola]

I had a 2002 GS Adventure for about 5 years and 70K miles. Did the valves myself most of the time and had little noise from them. My bike "pinged" or had pre-ignition the whole time I owned it. Nothing I ever did would make it stop. I pretty much just avoided using the throttle in any way that would cause it to ping. The dealer said for years that I either was imagining it or that some pinging was normal. Then 2 years later BMW dual-plugged the 1150's. Not much pinging after that. I guess I wasn't imagining it...

[randlyn]

Is there anyone out there that can really diagnose problems and FIX them? What's with dealer service? I live in north-central Ohio and the only place that seems to really know what they are doing is in the Dover/New Philly area. That's quite a drive everytime I need assistance. Guess that's what I'll have to do.
Is it possible to "dual-plug" my bike? What about a different chip? I really don't want to ride in such a way as to just "diminish" pinging. HELP!

[henzilla]

You can dual plug your bike...expensive option but yes. There is a dealer that re-works heads and supplies new coil set up. Somehwere in the ON or in a thread here it has been discussed. Rhinewest made the only available chips...maybe still available, they quit working on bikes and only do cars now in San Antonio. Those were marketed for higher HP gains and less surging...not necessarily pinging issues

What octane rating you using?
We have three non dual plug 1100's and 1150's...not had a pinging problem unless on low grade regular when only fuel available for miles. On our 02 R1150R we never use 5th unless really romping on the highway at a higher RPM..it was geared like an OD on those models it seems compared to the 5 speed 1100's. Really lugs in 5th unless over 60-70MPH in our experience...others may differ.

[Cruzin]

I ride an R1200CL with 40K on it and have had a "pinging" type of noise which wasn't due to pre-ignition. The problem I was having was a "pinging" when pulling away cold and also when decelerating under 3500 rpm. To make a long story short, I proved the possibility of valve issues and exhaust leaks out. I ended up changing both cam chain tensioners which has eliminated 80-90% of the noise. I found the new tensioner springs are longer than the ones I removed by about one to two coils. Next time I would try just changing the springs first without purchasing the whole tensioner. I still have some noise while riding, including the occasional "slap" when I start the bike. I believe it could be that the cam chains might be stretched... plan on replacing them in the near future.
The tensioners seam to work on both spring and hydraulic pressure. The original excessive noise I had must have been from the spring being too compressed. I was getting the noise mainly under lower oil pressure situations where I believe the spring was supposed to make up for the lower oil pressure. With the new springs in, and still getting a bit of noise, I'm assuming that it could only be due to the new tensioners having trouble taking up all the chain slack due to the chains being stretched. I know the mileage is low, but I do ride the bike fairly hard.

Olaf

[flars]

End play will normally cause valve noise at all rpm, so that probably is not your problem.
Camchains don't usually cause noise except on startup when the left side tensioner bleeds down.
Have you had another BMW rider (not a dealership employee) take the bike for a ride yet ? They may say the noise is normal. What you are hearing may not be valves at all, - you may be hearing preignition and not being able to recognize it because all of the other noises going around.
What fuel are you running? Both my oilheads run well on midgrade.
It would probably behoove you to check the TPS voltage just to eliminate that possibility, but that usually causes surging, not noise.

[PETDOC]

I routinely experienced hot weather "pinging" in 5th and 6th gears in my dual plugged '04 1150 GS since the day it was new, especially when accelerating from lower rpms. Tried a variety of things to fix it, but once I upgraded the left sided cam chain tensioner the pinging completely went away. After replacing the left CCT, while riding on a 96 degree day in 6th gear I purposefully dropped the rpms to 3500, then 3000 and finally 2500, and cracked back the throttle each time---never pinged.