The BMW HP2 Megamoto thread.

I did hear some shouting in the background, I thought it was JJ saying he was working on your bike, but it you! Hah! Well can't wait to hear what the final set up is, and please can you do pictures like Joe did here so I can get Ventura BMW to copy the set up when they put mine back together.

Any news? Pictures? New add-ons? Winters here and my bikes put away. I need something to read about.

Torrential rain, and waiting for parts, the MM will likely be laid up for a while.

I went hog wild crazy and bought an old R1200S as a companion bike, and something to do project playtime on. Had been thinking about an HP2 until I talked with someone who had spent a lot of time riding both, and told me that the R1200S is a way sweeter ride, despite the goodies galore appeal of the HP2S. I'm waiting for that one to get here from FL, so right now it is super quiet.

I had a R12S before the Megamoto. It will be a good companion bike.

How does it compare, did you do any upgrades etc to it? Also I can't help but ask why did you sell it? I'm excited to get mine, and start fiddling around with it.

Ok, so I believe I'm at the final settings on the MM suspension.

As most of you know, I've been working with race tech to revalve suspension, arrive at proper spring rates and chassis geometry settings to turn the over damped head shaking delinquent into the somewhat comfortable, civil, yet exhilarating motorbike that the numbers and price suggest.

After changing fork springs and spacers, rear shock spring, several preload and ride height adjustments, 3 different revalves on the forks, 1 revalve on the rear shock, and playing with front and rear ride height as well as gold valves and lots of adjustment, I was finally able to hold wide open throttle on a local on ramp that curves gently up a secluded canyon on a 7% grade full of dips, bumps and rises and not back off one bit from redline through the gears while leaned over through 5th. Yes, that certainly means absolutely no headshake straight up either. It's still not GSA or RT soft but what I would call set up capable of riding much faster than I have any business riding on a public street. It no longer jars the bars or my head crossing expansion joints or hitting reasonably sized bumps and now truly has a chassis set up and suspension action to match the great brakes and motor.

As I'm light at only 163 lbs, I was uncertain as to whether I should go up in rear spring rate as well as increasing forks spring rate. For my weight, I ended up with race tech .95 springs in front and 11.6 kg spring on the shock, which is the equivalent of a 117 n/mm vs 110 n/mm stock. Front compression damping was softened up hugely under stock. Rear shock was only slightly softened up on compression valving. I would list where my compression and rebound settings ended up front and rear but it would mean nothing to any of you without the valving changes to the internals.
I ended up with rear shock height adjuster bottomed out and fork top caps (geometry settings was one of the first things race tech did and that made an immediate and huge improvement to stability, although I moved my forks up a few more mm to quicken turn in at the expense of a little solidity) 14 mm above the triple clamps and about 45 mm sag front and rear. Again, without proper springs for your weight, chassis geometry will not necessarily be the same as mine while riding resulting in sluggish turn in or possibly more instability.

I can only say that it's a transformed motorcycle and one I look forward to riding now.

My thanks go out to JJ at race tech for his knowledge and support in turning my MM into the bike it should have been in the first place.

Would you post some pictures of the fork clamps and rear shock height & preload setting please.

How how much did you change the rear damping too, fractionally, or massively?

Now if only this type of suspension service were available in NY!

NY? Try living in Maine! But I can get my Kubota serviced anywhere.

Interesting. I was also looking at the VIN sequence, and most here show numbers below 99550 (in US). If VINs proceed up to 99606, which accounts for the 107 or so MMs in US spec, where have they gone? And, yes, I know there are those rare people who don't know about ADVrider. Perhaps they're hidden in the warehouse at the end of Indiana Jones. . . .

Also, would it be possible the more recent builds would be ABS equipped? Has anyone here felt the bike needs ABS, or what is your opinion on that?

The rear shock damping does not seem to need much change. Ohlins did a great job with the valving to put the effective range of adjustment attainable with the compression and rebound adjustments. A visual of my rear shock will not be useful because you will need to adjust your preload when you set up your shock to achieve your desired preload and fork position will also need to be measured upon install. The ride height adjuster on the shock is simply turned all the way down to shortest position. I'll get you some pics soon.

Any motorcycle shop or dealer can order the gold valve from race tech with the desired valving for the MM, fork springs, install the parts, and set up the proper oil level for you. Most mechanics that have been around for a while have been inside enough forks to easily take the MM forks apart. You can also send your forks and shock to race tech. Or if you're handy, you can do it all yourself. I made some subsequent valving changes to my forks in my garage. You can have the fork pistons and valving in your hands in less than 15 minutes. The rear shock is a different story though unless you have a nitrogen tank at home.

Anyone have the details of what fork oil I need for a service, and how much I need to put in?

5 weight, factory calls for 10 weight and 80 mm oil level (they were so far off). I tried 140 mm the first time but have settled on 130 mm from top of tube, forks collapsed, with springs and spacers out. For your weight. I would set it to 135 or 140 mm from top. As far as volume of oil, I can't tell you as I've not completely drained and checked volume. Checking level is the most accurate and don't forget to bleed damper rod/piston well.

Thanks for the info, Sun! Could only get hold of 5w oil so I'll give it a try. Do you have any tips for the fork disassmbly? I'm new at this....

I have made a small video of both my bikes doing my local roads. Roads were slightly dusty from the gritters pestering our roads when the frosty nights have arrived. Cornering speeds were adjusted accordingly, especially on the MM ride. Just enjoy the scenery! Looking forward to spring allready

This was shot with a ContourHD. I'm not too chuffed by the quality, and the sound is useless. I'll be investing in either a POV 1.5 or the new GoPro Hero HD for next season.

http://vimeo.com/8226600

Wow, that is simply stunning countryside, thank you for sharing!!

RoteEddie,
I would like to propose that we do a MM exchange September of 2010! You can ride my MM over here in California, I will fly into Oslo...

Not a bad idea! As I have 2 bikes I would have no problem letting you have my MM for a few weeks Late May and September are usually good here.

Me too, me too, seriously, I'd love to ride in Norway, what a dream!!

I have a gopro hero HD and it works very well and takes good video.

Are you going to only change the oil or will you need to disassemble? This link http://traxxionstore.com/detail-12.aspx has a couple of tools that are very handy for working on your forks. You will not need the spring compressor to work on the MM forks but the oil level tool and the brass rod are very helpful. The spring compressor is necessary for working on most showa/KYB forks. The syringe allows you to just pour oil into the forks and you then adjust the height of the stopper on the hollow rod to the desired oil level and extract the oil until the level falls below the tip of the rod. Voila, instant correct oil level. The brass rod screws/grabs onto the top of the damper rod and allows you to pump the piston/shaft up and down so you can bleed the assembly. Without the rod, you would need to use pliers or grab the top of the damper rod with your fingers but not be able to lower it far enough into the fork to do it properly.
You can drain the oil out by taking the piston assembly out of the bottom of the tubes. It's a 21 mm nut but you will need a impact wrench to get it out due to the rod spinning inside the forks. If you do not have an impact wrench, then you will need to take the tubes off the bike so you can pour the oil out of each leg.

The easiest method of taking the forks off the bike is as follows:
place bike straight up by using rear wheel single side swingarm stand. I use the pit bull model here. http://www.pit-bull.com/Merchant2/m...A&Product_Code=F0056B-000&Category_Code=MSbmw

Use a floor jack or other jack with pad or wood and place under thick casting on bottom of engine. There is what appears to be a front lower motor mount hole that is not used on the MM. Place pad just under that. Lift until front tire is just off the ground.

-remove 2 torx bolts (only the 2 in front of the fork tube, not the rear bolt) holding front fender on left side of forks.
-slide front part of fender outward to have access to loosen 2 pinch bolts on lower left fork leg. (you will leave the fender on until the right fork leg is off the bike before removing it so it does not get scratched)
-remove large axle end nut (large allen head)
-place large rags over front brake calipers, so as to not scratch rim, and remove from lower legs. Let hang behind tire.
-remove the same 2 torx bolts on the right side of the front fender to gain access to right lower fork leg pinch bolts and loosen pinch bolts. (fender is still attached by 1 rear bolt on each side of fork leg)
-slide axle out and pull front wheel forward and set aside.
-loosen right fork pinch bolts and slide right fork leg down and remove. Be sure to have a safe place to set leg so it does not fall. I have a drawer that is next to my toolbox with rags in it. It sits in the drawer while leaning against the toolbox.
-Finish removing front fender, 2 more torx bolts, and set aside.
-Loosen left fork clamp pinch bolts and remove left fork leg.

Assembly is reverse of removal with a few notes.
Take a screwdriver and slightly spread brake pads apart in calipers before sliding onto rotor. It makes it much easier.
When you have the axle pushed all the way in the lower legs and against the left spacer on the front wheel, just barely snug up right side lower leg pinch bolts before tightening axle end nut to 50 nm. Then loosen right side lower leg pinch bolts, tighten left side lower leg pinch bolts to 8 nm, and release jack from under bike and remove. Grab front brake and compress forks several times to center lower leg on axle prior to tightening right side lower leg pinch bolts to 8nm. Torque Top triple clamp pinch bolts to 16 nm and lower triple clamp pinch bolts to 10 nm. Do not over torque the bolts!

Important notes for the forks! Once you have the top caps off the forks and spring and spacer removed, be very careful to keep a good hold of the lower and upper assemblies of the forks and to make sure you keep them together. The fork upper and lower will split apart in your hands and separate if you do not make sure to keep them together. The best thing to do is to clamp the lower fork leg into a vise by using soft aluminum blocks in the vise and clamping the forks on the outside of the brake caliper mounts.

good luck

Damn, Sun! All those words makes me want to leave it to the pro's

OT: I have a different hobby that I have too little time for, rc sailplanes. If you want to have a taste of Norway I highly recommend watching this video preview; http://www.reeseproductions.com/mpegs.html , click on "Lift ticket to Norway".