R1100RS Tune Problems

[JimVonBaden1]

My head gaskets were replaced 600 miles ago to fix a leak. I retorqued them as per the Clymer Manual, my screwup for not reading the entire manual before I did it.

I adjusted them to the initial torque of 15' pounds and only 90 degrees of turn, instead of 180 degrees. Then I had to loosen and retorque each one to 15' pounds and 180 degrees, while keeping the others tight and I will just have to wait and see if they hold up.

This has been a pain many times over. I readjusted the valves, changed to autolite spark plugs, sinced [sp] the throttle bodies and adjusted the throttle cable.

The bike has much better off idle performance and is generally smoother. However, LOL, it now has a miss. At idle it will idle normally for 5-15 seconds, then drop 300rpm, then go back to normal. At 3000 rpm in 3rd gear it feels like it's doing it there too.

I suspect I have an intake valve wrong, maybe too tight. Sincing the throttle bodies was hard and it didn't ever feel completely right, plus the adjustment is almost 1.5 turns more on the right than the left.

I am looking for just a little help, any comments or suggestions would be helpful. Be kind, I am pretty good a auto engines, but this is my first attempt at this.

Thanks,

Jim

[kbasa]

When you did the sync, did you take all the tension out of the crossover cable for the right throttle body before you set the idle speed and flow? You need to loosen the 10mm locknut and back the adjuster off so that the throttle body is operating completely independently of the left side TB.

From there, you adjust the brass screws for even flow and for the right idle speed. Both brass screws should be pretty close to each other in terms of how many turns.

After idle speed sync is done, you add throttle to bring the motor up to about 3 or 4K and adjust the cross over cable so that the flow in both TBs is the same. In essence, you're adjusting the right side TB to match the left one. When you find that point, tighten the locknut and call it a day.

There are, in effect, two synchronizations happening here.

Have you read OVAD and the TBSFD over on the AdvRider site? The valve adjustment procedure is incredibly detailed, but it's very, very thorough. The TBS procedure looks like it works around a TwinMax, but I think the basic procedure is applicable.

Valve adjustment comes first (you'll need two sets of feeler gauges!) and then the TB synch.

Autolites were a great idea. They're great and are in our 94 pearlsilber RSL.

[JimVonBaden1]

Originally posted by KBasa
When you did the sync, did you take all the tension out of the crossover cable for the right throttle body before you set the idle speed and flow? You need to loosen the 10mm locknut and back the adjuster off so that the throttle body is operating completely independently of the left side TB.

From there, you adjust the brass screws for even flow and for the right idle speed. Both brass screws should be pretty close to each other in terms of how many turns.

After idle speed sync is done, you add throttle to bring the motor up to about 3 or 4K and adjust the cross over cable so that the flow in both TBs is the same. In essence, you're adjusting the right side TB to match the left one. When you find that point, tighten the locknut and call it a day.

There are, in effect, two synchronizations happening here.

Have you read OVAD and the TBSFD over on the AdvRider site? The valve adjustment procedure is incredibly detailed, but it's very, very thorough. The TBS procedure looks like it works around a TwinMax, but I think the basic procedure is applicable.

Valve adjustment comes first (you'll need two sets of feeler gauges!) and then the TB synch.

Autolites were a great idea. They're great and are in our 94 pearlsilber RSL.

Hi Dave,

The valves have been done, twice, and are within .001 of what the book and the IBMWR tech called for. With 2 sets of feeler gages.

I did the TB Sinc according to the literature on the IBMWR web site, which follows what you said. Both parts of the sinc.

I'm still leaning towards the plug wires. Both of them had to top part split by someone using, I am guessing, pliers to take them off. Ripped, and then they fall back into plage. This could cause the issue. It's kind of like a car with the timing too retarded or advanced.

Thanks for the input, it's helping me to get a feel for this.

Jim:brow

[kbasa]

Do you have the little black plastic gizmo you need to pull the plug wires off? Here's a tip for putting the plug wire covers back on - hook the little black things into the dents on the rear section and then press the clip over where the cover fits on the front.

That probably doesn't make much sense unless you have the cover in front of you, does it?

:D

I think you may be right, though. It might be a bad plug wire sort of losing it's "grip".

[JimVonBaden1]

Originally posted by KBasa
Do you have the little black plastic gizmo you need to pull the plug wires off? Here's a tip for putting the plug wire covers back on - hook the little black things into the dents on the rear section and then press the clip over where the cover fits on the front.

That probably doesn't make much sense unless you have the cover in front of you, does it?

:D

I think you may be right, though. It might be a bad plug wire sort of losing it's "grip".

Unfortunately I do not have it. I gently put pressure on one side with a screw driver and pulled on the other. I didn't put enough pressure on it to damage it, so I hopefully didn't make it worse. Both spark plug caps were torn before I took them off, but it's possible that my moving them caused them to become electrically uninsulated.

Jim :brow

[jdiaz]

Both of our RS models had that idle blip. I attributed it to aggressive cam profiles and nothing more.

[JimVonBaden1]

Originally posted by jdiaz
Both of our RS models had that idle blip. I attributed it to aggressive cam profiles and nothing more.

Really? Idling at 1200RPM, momentary drop to 900 RPM and then back up? That's another "They all do that?"

Cool, if that's the case I can live with it. I just want it to be in top form!

Jim :brow

[Emoto]

My RS never did that. Are we sure that the fast idle ("choke") cable is adjusted properly?

[JimVonBaden1]

Originally posted by Emoto
My RS never did that. Are we sure that the fast idle ("choke") cable is adjusted properly?

Not really sure if it is. When I use it the idle goes to about 2800 RPM. When it is off, I don't see how it could cause that. Please enlighten me.

Thanks,

Jim:brow