Nero R

Dukesox

Dukesox

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Some of you may have seen my post yesterday about the beautiful Nero R I have just bought as a non runner. Not a Ducati T9 or similar, this is the BMW R1100R Aubergine so a very special bike indeed.
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I had a quick go at starting it last night, it would just about catch but not idle and even with a bit of throttle applied it would die after a few seconds. I was a little pushed for time so decided to pop the battery on charge overnight and have another go before work this morning. This morning I added a little fresh petrol as I have no idea how long what is in the tank has been there. Much to my surprise it started instantly and settled down to a steady idle so with luck, Bob`s your Uncle and it is now a runner ! I have added it to my multi bike policy, taxed it and plan to have a little ride on it this evening .Just a few short circuits around home in case Uncle Bob is lying and it is pretending to be a runner. More news and pics to follow this evening.
 
As promised here are a couple more pics. The clocks are quite bizarre with the speedo in the middle but then clock and tacho set far apart on either side. Also you can see the screen which has been painted black to hinder forward vision. Why would anyone do that ?

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Good news and bad news from my little test ride this evening.

The heated grips still work after 27 years !
The bike doesn`t.

It starts and idles fine, it even revs up to 3k or so quite nicely at standstill but as soon as I tried to accelerate down the road it got what I can best describe as fluffy and would only idle. I then let it warm up properly and then tried revving it to 5k while on the stand. It wasn`t at all happy but would quite comfortably tick over.
Then I ran out of time so I had to leave it but I suspect it is fuel related so am tempted over the weekend to siphon the tank and leave it idling till it uses up whatever is left in the system before trying again with fresh fuel.
 
Dukesox said:
As promised here are a couple more pics. The clocks are quite bizarre with the speedo in the middle but then clock and tacho set far apart on either side. Also you can see the screen which has been painted black to hinder forward vision. Why would anyone do that ?

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Previous owner sprayed it so nobody would recognise him riding the ugly beast! 👀 👀
 
Dukesox said:
As promised here are a couple more pics. The clocks are quite bizarre with the speedo in the middle but then clock and tacho set far apart on either side. Also you can see the screen which has been painted black to hinder forward vision. Why would anyone do that ?

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Mate we’ve seen enough pictures

If we have to have one more can it be of it rolling down that hill in Gloucester instead of the fookin cheese
 
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Do they have an acceptable solution for the ABS fails on these early noughties BM's? Has been a few for sale here with it, rendering them almost worthless as the repair is too expensive. I am aware there were non abs models as well...
 
Laava said:
Only saying that as I have a couple of r1200r's on my watchlist atm...
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I bought mine blind as spares & repairs just to have a tinker with to see if I could get it going but I dont think I`d buy to use regularly as they have a really odd riding position that I am sure wont be comfortable. Maybe improved for the later 1200 versions but maybe worth checking one out first. I always look on Motorcycle Ergonomics but in this case it didnt really help. The link shows the model in my size on the specific bike . Certainly if you are taller than me or have longer legs (5`10"/32" inseam) it may be best avoided.
The 1200 engines are great though, a friend had a 1200rs which was simultaneously awesome and boring which is quite a trick.
 
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Laava said:
Do they have an acceptable solution for the ABS fails on these early noughties BM's? Has been a few for sale here with it, rendering them almost worthless as the repair is too expensive. I am aware there were non abs models as well...
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I too have heard of this issue, came across it when researching an R1100GS I was interested in buying. Apparently a lot of owners simply disabled the ABS, which I was lead to believe involved removing the wheel sensor(s) and living with the fact the ABS warning light was on in the dash all the time.
 
West Cork Paul said:
I too have heard of this issue, came across it when researching an R1100GS I was interested in buying. Apparently a lot of owners simply disabled the ABS, which I was lead to believe involved removing the wheel sensor(s) and living with the fact the ABS warning light was on in the dash all the time.
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Yep, but problem here in NZ is that it has to work to get a WOF (MOT) and if you disable it you have to recertify the machine.
 
Laava said:
Yep, but problem here in NZ is that it has to work to get a WOF (MOT) and if you disable it you have to recertify the machine.
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But how would they know. The ABS warning light remains on until the bike is moving at >5mph so any bike with ABS, functioning or not, would display an ABS warning symbol on the dash.
 
West Cork Paul said:
I too have heard of this issue, came across it when researching an R1100GS I was interested in buying. Apparently a lot of owners simply disabled the ABS, which I was lead to believe involved removing the wheel sensor(s) and living with the fact the ABS warning light was on in the dash all the time.
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Insulating tape is your friend 😁

I got a Jap import MX-5 for my wife many years ago and disabled the passenger air bag for our young daughters benefit, just took the warning lamp out of the dash, job jobbed 👍
 
Hugo Magnus said:
That is pathetic! Nanny state!
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Yes and no. In some areas we are a more relaxed than the UK. For instance, Termignonis. Never heard of anyone getting failed for that. Straight pipes on your harley gang bike? No probs...
but the ABS thing, the bike comes out with it, it therefore must work.

West Cork Paul said:
But how would they know. The ABS warning light remains on until the bike is moving at >5mph so any bike with ABS, functioning or not, would display an ABS warning symbol on the dash.
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Having not done it, I am not sure how they do their process. Our local centre has a rolling brake tester so maybe that highlights the issue? Also had the guys do a rolling check along their building I guess to check for the abs light and also make sure the bike behaves normally, ie, not badly bent in the frame?
 
Having brought the full weight of my very limited mechanical ability to bear on this beautiful Nero over the weekend I'm sorry to report that in an Orwellian twist, this is another Boxer destined for the Glue Factory. Well spares n repairs on Ebay.
Despite my best efforts it still splutters and stalls too much to consider riding on the road and I doubt the expense of a trip to a workshop would be recouped. I've quite enjoyed faffing around with it though and while I have seriously considered @Dirty Leeds suggestion of pushing it down a steep hill I hope someone on ebay will buy it,be able to fix it and keep it running for many more years.
I'll post the link at some point in the next week or so when I list it.
 
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