Unbalanced & drippy

[Dids]

Hi,

My R1100S came over all shaky at tick-over & I guessed that maybe the throttle cable/bodies needed syncing.
I've got the gauges but have never attempted it before. I checked YouTube for advice and went ahead.
It seemed that the left throttle cable/body was pulling less vacuum than the right, so i adjusted that one using the throttle cable adjustment. I then set the idle with both screws.
I've now returned to a smooth even tick-over and even pull at higher revs.

But........

One thing concerned me.
When I pulled off the little rubber seal/plug (to attach the gauge tube) I noticed that it was wet with what appeared to be fuel.
The little rubber seal/plug on the right was dry.
I'm wondering now whether there might be an underlying problem?
Also, the shakiness at tick-over seemed to come on quite suddenly, as if maybe something had failed, rather than it all just slowly going out of adjustment.

Any thoughts would be most welcome.

Cheers

[Pete.]

It's possible that the injector needs servicing, it might not be shutting off properly. It's not super expensive to get them serviced, someone with an ASNU machine will give you a flow and spray pattern report before and after for comparison.

[nab 301]

Ideally you want to check the valve clearances before balancing the throttle bodies and I guess while you're at it maybe do a compression check .
If you think the problem is injector related it's an easy job to swop them over and see if the "problem" transfers to the other side.
I've had my bike since 2004 and i'm sure i've seen fuel in the vacuum caps at times when removing them ...
I've no idea how much professional injector cleaning costs , but I guess tipping a bottle of injector cleaner into the tank has to be worth a try and depending how much testing injectors costs I've found these "upgrades" work better than the originals in my 123k mile example. (They use r1200
injector nozzles which produce a better spray pattern ) https://www.tills.de/product-14.html

[Dids]

Many thanks for the very useful advice Pete & Nab.
Sorry I was so long responding - been out for the count with some kind of 'flu.....

Looks like I need to check the valve clearances first, not done that for a few years!

If that's OK I think I might go for those R1200 injectors as my R1100S is getting on for 20 years old and I do know that it once did have a few years off the road - guess that could have caused problems due to the old fuel going to jelly?

Thanks again guys....

[boxerscott]

Bike leans over to left on side stand. any fuel/ condense may collect as it will act as a sump.

Just a thought.

chris

[Dids]

Bike leans over to left on side stand. any fuel/ condense may collect as it will act as a sump.

Just a thought.

chris

Cheers Chris, only just seen your reply.
Yes, that does make sense - my R1100S is always on its side stand.

Tick over has suddenly got lumpy again which is quite odd......
I thought that these engines would gradually imperceptibly go out of balance, rather than a sudden step change.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why my R1100S engine should do this?
It's happened twice in just a few hundred miles now

[Pete.]

Leaning a fuel injection bike should make no difference as the fuel is held in a pressurised system (pump - regulator - injector) - there's literally nowhere for it to run to or from.

It's most likely that your problem lies with the injector. Swap the over to see if the fault moves. Take care with the plastic caps when removing them.

[Dids]

Leaning a fuel injection bike should make no difference as the fuel is held in a pressurised system (pump - regulator - injector) - there's literally nowhere for it to run to or from.

It's most likely that your problem lies with the injector. Swap the over to see if the fault moves. Take care with the plastic caps when removing them.

Thanks for that tip.

I'm thinking that I might go ahead and buy a pair of the upgrade injectors that Nab 301 mentioned in an earlier reply:

https://www.tills.de/product-14.html

Sounds like they make the engine run better from what I've read, as well as hopefully sorting out the problem.......

[nab 301]

Bike leans over to left on side stand. any fuel/ condense may collect as it will act as a sump.

Just a thought.

chris

Cheers Chris, only just seen your reply.
Yes, that does make sense - my R1100S is always on its side stand.

Tick over has suddenly got lumpy again which is quite odd......
I thought that these engines would gradually imperceptibly go out of balance, rather than a sudden step change.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why my R1100S engine should do this?
It's happened twice in just a few hundred miles now

It may be worth checking that there's no water in the tank , ( possibly what Chris was referring to) I think it was more of a problem on Gs's. I may be wrong , I think bike was ok after sitting on side stand (water at bottom of tank was away from the pump pick up but ride down the road bike upright and the water was in reach of the fuel pump pick up .

I would check the spark plugs and more importantly the plug leads for high resistance just in case it's an electrical problem? ( requires panel / tank removal) Throttle balance shouldn't go off that quickly unless you've got a quickly worsening compression problem or sticky throttle cables. Check all the pulleys / quadrants that the cables run on in case there's dirt on them affecting their diameter and the pull on the cable no matter how small.

Edit , might be worth replacing the fuel filter too if you haven't already...

[Dids]

Bike leans over to left on side stand. any fuel/ condense may collect as it will act as a sump.

Just a thought.

chris

Cheers Chris, only just seen your reply.
Yes, that does make sense - my R1100S is always on its side stand.

Tick over has suddenly got lumpy again which is quite odd......
I thought that these engines would gradually imperceptibly go out of balance, rather than a sudden step change.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why my R1100S engine should do this?
It's happened twice in just a few hundred miles now

It may be worth checking that there's no water in the tank , ( possibly what Chris was referring to) I think it was more of a problem on Gs's. I may be wrong , I think bike was ok after sitting on side stand (water at bottom of tank was away from the pump pick up but ride down the road bike upright and the water was in reach of the fuel pump pick up .

I would check the spark plugs and more importantly the plug leads for high resistance just in case it's an electrical problem? ( requires panel / tank removal) Throttle balance shouldn't go off that quickly unless you've got a quickly worsening compression problem or sticky throttle cables. Check all the pulleys / quadrants that the cables run on in case there's dirt on them affecting their diameter and the pull on the cable no matter how small.

Edit , might be worth replacing the fuel filter too if you haven't already...

Ahhhhhhhh..........

Think you might have hit on the root of the problem there - the throttle cable.
I've had an ongoing problem with the cold start idle switch/cable think I mentioned it in this forum a couple of years ago.
When operated it often would stick open. I thought about replacing the whole cable, but as some Boxertrixers rightly said, it's not absolutely necessary, so why bother to fix it?
Being a little on the lazy side, and usually preferring the path of least resistance, I simply taped over the handlebar switch & problem solved.
Soooooooooo...........
Guess there is a chronic problem with the throttle cable.
Wonder whether it would be best to replace the whole throttle cable?

Cheers

[nab 301]

There's three cables , primary to the junction box under the tank and then one to each throttle body . If one of the secondary cables is frayed / sticking it could cause the lumpy running you describe . It's a panels and tank off job and while you're in there as already mentioned check out the plug leads , the coil is near the head stock .

[boxerscott]

Yes. Frayed throttle cables. I had that issue on my 1100gs. Lhs cable attachment to wheel at blind side of throttle body. I also had a running problem with my bcr, small piece of Redgate aggregate lodged behind body wheel.

Chris