[stevieraygovan]

Just bought a 2012 R1200R yesterday. It's in mint condition with 3200 miles on the clock. It was originally purchased and serviced at this same dealer.

A long time ago I had a '97 R1100R, and I've had sixteen other bikes besides that one. This new one is the first bike I've ever had with nearly useless mirrors. With any degree of decent acceleration they buzz up and blur like crazy and at 75 mph they're completely hopeless. Everything just becomes a kaleidescope of fuzzy white lights. There is no way to make out whether that's a cop car or a bread truck behind me.

I took it back today to have them check it. They said that maybe the mirrors were just loose or something, and they'd probably try some sort of Teflon wrap in addition to tightening them up.

After the mechanic rode the bike, he said, "That's normal. That's just how BMW boxers are. They buzz."

Really? The mirrors are supposed to be useless at normal cruising speeds, or even at lower speeds while accelerating?

My '97 R1100R didn't do this, nor did my buddy's R1200GS. When I asked the mechanic whether the excessive buzzing might be related to out-of-sync throttle bodies or something engine related, he just repeated that that's how these boxers are.

Is this your experience as well, or is something wrong either with my mirrors or my bike? The motor does perhaps seem a little buzzier upon accelerating or 75-80 mph steady-state cruising than I would have expected, but not to where I would consider it abnormal. The buzzy mirrors, though, yes, that issue seems highly unusual to me.

Other than this one issue with the mirrors the rest of the bike is fantastic. The handling and braking are excellent, the ride is as comfortable as one would expect, the motor's plenty powerful enough, and everything works just fine. It seems like a truly great bike with only one blatantly obvious flaw.

 

[Ninja Dave]

My mirriors did and still do this. A while back someone hit my baby in the parking lot at my apartment while I was asleep ($1800 in total damage!). Among other things one of the mirrors broke off and had to be replaced (along with a small host of other things). The new mirror they gave me as replacement had loose glass and the shaking was audible at 20+ mph (till you got too fast to hear it, it was useless). MY POINT: the replacement of THAT mirror is rock solid and isn't nearly as bad. But the vibrations still get to it at higher speeds. I'd say try the teflon to try and dampen some of the vibes or check to to see if the glass is a little loose. If anyone has any better solutions I'd love to hear them!

 

[drDave]

Odd. . .I have the 12 Classic, with the big chrome stalks, and while they are prone to swing around if you don't lock-washer and loctite them down, I've never had that kind of major buzziness. I can use the mirrors at any speed. Of course, this being Chicago - The City of Big Speed Traps - 75mph is basically asking for a court date.

Maybe some heavier bar ends to damp the vibration? I don't think this is normal for the bike.

 

[atractaspis]

Check out this thread from another forum with a very simple o ring solution

BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T Message Board • View topic - CURED! The Curse of the Buzzing Mirrors ....

 

[las]

I have a 2012 r12r Classic. My mirrors are not crystal clear at speed- over 80-but, even then,they are quite useable. I can tell what's behind me. I suggest you have this bike checked by another dealer. The complaint should not be th mirrors; complain about engine running rough- lot of vibration through the bars. I had an f800r before my Classic. One of the reasons for my change-although not a major reason- was that, over 60 mph, the bike vibrates a bit and themirrors were fuzzy. This is a common characteristic of the f800. Even with that bike, the mirrors weren't as bad as you describe. Compared to the F88r, my Classic's mirrors are rock solid.

 

[sup909]

Look into a bar snake if you have handlebar vibration problems.
Barsnake

Although, I have not noticed my mirrors vibrating any more or less than other bikes I owned. They do vibrate.

 

[drDave]

Sup 909, Did you put a barsnake in? Which one? Does it work?

 

[Hoshiko]

1st, Congrats on the new bike.
I have ridden several bikes, and the R it's the worse on mirror vibration on my experience for far too much.
I have my bike since 2011 so at this point I got used to it, yes you can always just get used to it.
That snake bar looks cool, I'll be waiting for SUP909 to answer DrDave's question, and then pull the trigger on that, not only the mirrors will get fixed, but also the vibrations off the handlebar will be awesome.

Now, this will help only the mirror vibration, I stole it from another forum (not as cool as ours here) Recommended by atractaspis.

remove each mirror, insert an O-ring at the base of the stalk, above the threads, and another at the top of the nut that screws on to the threaded portion of the stalk. Voila! Now, go take a ride, and notice that the dreaded buzzing - particularly in the infamous 4-5,000 rpm range - is gone! Now my mirrors act like every other bike I've owned (the numbers are legion), and I can actually see what's behind me. Calm and clear (is that a copper behind me?) up to the most ridiculous rpm levels. I'm talking above 6 grand, where I visit only rarely when revving the beast through the gears. Oh, just a hint of vibes sneak in as the revs rise, especially on the right side for some reason, but WOW what an improvement. Try it, you'll like it!

Now if you've never removed your mirrors, be advised of one little problem I had. As I stated above, the mirrors have a threaded section at the base of the stalk. They are held onto the bar by a specialized nut that screws on to the threaded section from below. Which means you've got to get under the handlebar, and using an allen wrench (there should be one in your toolkit that fits), turn that nut until it comes off (careful not to drop that nut and lose it!). The left mirror went fine, but on the right side, that nut is partially obscured by the switchgear housing, so I had to fiddle with it quite a bit before I could get the wrench on it. When trying to re-mount the mirror, access was so cramped that I got the nut on kinda sideways, and ... promptly proceeded to strip the threads on the mirror stalk. Major Bummer! After checking Ebay for some replacement mirrors, I decided to try filing the knackered threads, and sure enough, that did the trick. Didn't take much, just ran a file along the threads and cleaned up the gnarled threads a bit, and when I tested the nut on the threads off the bike, it went on just fine. So I attacked it again ON the bike, this time using my fingers to get the nut started straight, and in a moment I knew I had it. Couldn't wait to go for a ride and try out my solution, which I now know works like a charm!

I was also thinking about just filling the bar with metal BBs they are extremely cheap.

 

[las]

It seems that some have had a different experience than I have with mirror vibration. I wonder if the Classic's chrome mirrors suffer less from vibration than the the standard black mirrors do. I haven't done an up close comparison, but it appears from pictures that the Classic's mirrors are different in more than just color.

 

[sup909]

Sup 909, Did you put a barsnake in? Which one? Does it work?

I put one in my Kawasaki, but have not needed one for my BMW. My Kawasaki is an inline 4 with only 5 gears, so it vibrated to the extent that my hands became numb. The harmonic vibration occurred at 5000 RPM on that bike right at 70 mph.

Basically you just take off your bar ends, heat the bar snake in hot water, lube it and put it in. You likely have to remove the controls on your bike since on most bikes they penetrate the bar. It helped significantly on my Kawasaki along with adding 20w50 fuel to it.

Now the bar on the R1200r seems to have a bit more of a turn in it, so I am not sure which bar snake you may need to get. I ordered the "standard" one for my Kawai.

 

[avocet]

I also own a 2012 R1200R and the vibration doesn't seem to be anywhere near as bad as you describe. At the worst RPM, the mirrors get slightly fuzzy, but always remain useful.

I have also owned three other bikes with Boxer engines, and learned that if the throttle butterflies are not properly sync'd the vibration will get much worse. If I was you, I would go to your dealer and insist that they carefully sync the throttles, or learn how to do it yourself. I haven't done it myself, but hear it isn't difficult.

Syncing the throttles assures that both cylinders receive the same quantity of air, so they can both produce equal power. This results in the torque impulse from both cylinders being equal. making the engine vibrate less.

 

[TinyTrains]

After about 10,000 miles, your engine will loosen up and the vibration at cruise will be a lot less. Most of the vibration on the R1200 comes from combustion, not balance. As a result, a looser engine takes less power, and thus shakes less. Twisting the throttle will still make the mirrors dance.

 

[smithy boy]

Interesting;
I have a Classic, but i do not recognise an issue with exsessive vibration. Yes, it does vibrate to a degree, and you need to get used to the vibration being 'different' to a vertical twin like my Hinkley Bonneville, but the mirrors do not blur up to any significant degree.

I like the sound of the 'O'Ring solution, but i would strongly reccomend taking your pride and joy to an alternative Bee Emm garage. I suspect there's something else going on.

 

[las]

+1 Smithy Boy

 

[yonderbob]

It seems that some have had a different experience than I have with mirror vibration. I wonder if the Classic's chrome mirrors suffer less from vibration than the the standard black mirrors do. I haven't done an up close comparison, but it appears from pictures that the Classic's mirrors are different in more than just color.

No problems at all with my mirrors and mine's not a classic... odd.

Bob

 

[metalclaus]

Mirrors

After a long ride that included some roads full of potholes and a couple of gravel roads I noticed to much vibration in the mirrors at cruising speeds when got back to asphalt, next morning I heard a rattling and finally discovered it was due to the mirrors being loose, not the stem but the mirrors themselves, I think they must have some sort of adhesive in the back that had failed due to road vibrations or temperature changes. The dealer accepted to change both rearview mirrors under warranty, the whole parts. They said some GS had suffered from that too.

So this is another thing to check if you are experiencing too much vibration in the rearview mirrors. You can check touching the mirrors surface with your fingers and pushing them not so hard, if they move or rattle they are defective.