Oilhead Tech
Updated 29 April 2007
Oilheads are the BMW's 4 valve/cylinder, oil cooled, horizontally opposed twin. The term "oilhead" comes from the fact that engine oil is circulated through the heads to cool them. If you have one (R1100, R1150, and R1200 although these are also called Hexheads) and you've noticed some "anomilies", Wayne Woodruff has written a Frequently Asked Questions document that may address some of your specific concerns that normally are reported in the first 1,000 miles or so. This is by no means "the" comprehensive source for problems.
To keep this faq as up to date as possible, our site will refer to the
original document on Wayne's site. Go to this link
to see it. You can email Wayne at: 
2zars.com
There is a much more detailed list of specific remedies at the R1100
Tech Article page. The ADVRider web site (check it out if you are
an adventure rider, or like trip reports) has some nice tech articles
in pdf format. If you don't have Adobe® Reader® (to view a pdf
formatted file), you can get it free here 
.
All articles are in the Hall
of Wisdom.
Ben Barkow from Canada has contributed some interesting articles about Oilhead engineering and modification. These are in pdf format so you will need Adobe® Reader® (see above if you don't have it) to view them. Here are the topics of his articles:
- After market mufflers
- Air resistence tests
- Air to fuel ratio
- Ammeter
- Enlarging the cross-over cross section
- Fuel injector cleaning
- The throttle is a study in ergonomics
- Throttle counterforce spring
Here is the link to his site.