HI guys
For those that have not read it, I was let down by my trusty GS on the Cancer Charity Ride Recce. The last shot fired in anger was a few Km's south of Fernvale late March. Since then she had an undignified ride from Fernvale to Kilcoy on the back of the RACQ Tilt Tray and from there to HQ in the back of my mate Garry's Hilux! Since then she has been a work in progress.
I waited a few days to let things dry out and see if she was going to run. After a week I pulled the sheet off and hit the starter. Away she went and settled into a typical F.I. BMW idle, as if nothing had happened!!
"Typical" I said to her in disgust!!
"Why couldn't you have just done that on the day instead of putting us both through all that embarrassment?"
Well at least the computer and associated black magic boxes were OK. I took it for a quick blat around the training area and there was no sign of problems. Just like the last time but I had to fork out for a new computer then, this time I was lucky (or luckier). Back into the workshop to cool off a little before I started the pull-down. I had researched second hand wiring harness from the states on eBay. The guys are called "Pinwall Motorcycles" and seemed OK. The price was good, US$125.00 for the harness. While I was on their eBay store I browsed the collection of used BMW spares and found they had a huge range of 1100 parts particularly GS parts. As mentioned before I had handed over way too much money to an Australian dealer for a used ECU, I won't say how much but it was closer to $1000.00 than free!! I found one on Pinwalls site for US$90.00!!
As usual we Auzzie bikers get royally ripped of here in the "Lucky Country" Anyway, while I was there I spotted a front hub. Now I have been toying with the idea of putting a 21" front hoop on the old girl for years but the cost of the Wunderlich kits are insane, as are the prices for front hubs here. However the hub was US$50.00!! Well naturally I got one and it is off getting laced up as I write this. Also I needed a new screen so I paid the princely sum of US25.00 for a scuffed one and the lot arrived within a week from the US for about US$50.00 freight. All up I think I paid AU$300.00 for a full harness, front hub and screen from the US landed at my door. No wonder the Australian bike industry is going broke.
Anyway I digress. I grabbed a nice "Shed Red" and spent a few hours tearing the old girl down. It was not long before I had all the cosmetics off and was down to business.
The front half of the harness, whilst absolutely huge, was easy to remove. It became obvious that there had been some serious quantities of Degreaser or some other solvent used on the old girl before I got here. The outer sheath of the loom was crumbling in my hands. Every time I snipped a zip ties with the side cutters a shower of powder fell to the floor. You can see a typical example of what all but the cotton bound sections of the loom looked like.
This as I suspected was the problem The harness was filling up with water in any vertical sections that did not have holes below them. When I looked at the issue at first I found that the injector and throttle position couplings all had a pool of water in the recess of the plug. This had to be a problem right?I soon got to the the halfway mark and discovered that the Injector trigger wires and the Throttle Position Sensor connector were not going to pull through between the frame and the air-box. This meant that I was going to have to undo the rear sub-frame and hinge her open enough to get them through. A strategically positioned Step Ladder and some rope were employed after a few bolts were removed to hold her agape while I operated. Most undignified I'm sure she was thinking.
Once that was done the whole process was quite simple. All done without the use of a wiring diagram. Different connector shapes and sizes combined with consistent colour coded wires (even on the US harness) made it a breeze. Routing the cables back through the same path and tying them back to the frame in the same places was a bit harder bit she was so dirty that I could easily see where there was a zip tie or cable 'cos it was clean. All in all just an exercise in patience.
One of the other tasks was to straighten out a few bent bits, most importantly the bars. They were a little more difficult to remove than I hoped courtesy of the heated grips. I had to pull the terminals out of the connector block to get the wires to pull back through the bars, this is only necessary of you want to completely remove the bars which I did as some serious persuasion was gong to be required to get them straight. More than I think the pinch caps on the triple clamp would stand without stripping the knurling anyway.
Once re assembled it was time for the moment of truth.
I connected the battery and the dash (loosely resting on the beak) and sat for a minute or so just watching. Waiting for a tell tail smell or a wisp of smoke. Nothing 
I turned on the key and sat and watched some more..........Nothing
I went around to all the Indicator, stop/tail etc connections and tested them with a meter........all OK
I was getting brave so I sat the tank on a stool and connected the plug for the pump/gauge and the fuel lines and turned the key........Not a sound!! 
Ooohh no, what's wrong?. I spent 10 minutes checking and double checking to find out why I did not hear the fuel pump. I finally remembered that as I was pulling it down I could not be bothered with the side stand switch lead and just cut it off. I intended to short the plug out on re-assembly so I no longer had to stop and start the motor at gates. I wanted her to Idle on the side stand. I had forgotten to do that, (the shed red may have something to do with that) so I retrieved the male (side stand end) of the wire and soldered the two wires together and plugged it in.
I gingerly turned the key on again and.............Bingo, fuel pump!!
I waited for the obligatory minute or so and since there was no smoke or frying I hit the starter..........Cranking 
I tested the cranking for a while and was happy it was OK and then let it crank for a while to see if she would fire...............Nope
I sat and I thought and I though and I sat... I got out the timing light and checked the plug leads for life?.....Nothing 
Then I remembered that I didn't recall connecting the Coil pack. Connected that and bingo, first hit she popped and farted and tried to start.
I then set about reconnecting all the choke/throttle cables to the throttle bodies and did a rough setup of cable adjustment. Tried again and she coughed into life and was pretty close to balanced for a rough job. That was enough for me, I made sure that all the idiot lights were working and that they went off/on at the desired stage of ignition/running. All OK so I then spent the next half a day putting it all back in place. Took quite a long time as everything had to be repositioned, tested for comfort/function, re-adjusted where necessary and then tightened up.
Eventually it was all done and ready for the test ride around the obstacle course.............Passed with flying colours!!
Well here she is, finished and with sexy new mini indicators and a clear (if I washed it ) screen.
Not a bad screen for $30.00?......
......and for the sub-frame twist. That should buff right out, don't you think? Probably not worth worrying about. (I am such a slack bastard )
Other than the little twist in the rear sub-frame she is all good to go! Hopefully if all stays as it is she will be going to Wanaaring for the OCR and then to Birdsville and the Corners in August!!
Adventure on Guys!!
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
