back again

Guess what? I'm back

How's it going? What kind of trouble did you get into?

Going pretty well thanks. Finally got my R1100RSL sorted after 9 years last week so all good. Been thinking about Great Falls but not sure I'm really up to it at the tender age of 77. lol..lol.. But should be a good event. I've always liked GF.

Welcome back from Newfoundland.

Over 1,000 posts. The man is a grizzled veteran.

Welcome Back from your eXtended awayness, Señor Jammess!

Good to meet-cha! We'll be headed to WA, OR, CA after the Gr8 Falls MOA Rendezvous.
It's a big part of our pandemic-delayed, Iron Butt National Parks Tour, circa 2021-22.

Stay Well, and Stay Vertical.
Sláinte!
Phil & Karen
'14 K-GT -- '09 650GS-twin
'75 R90S -- '82 R100CS
- - - - - - + '16 R1200RS

Welcome back jammess! Nine years? Sounds like you have a story. Care to tell? Feel free to share pics if you are so inclined.

Welcome back Jammess, good to see you here again. Great falls is about a week out, and you’re relatively close there in Oregon. If you can make, it would be good to see you there sir.

langoptc said:

Welcome back jammess! Nine years? Sounds like you have a story. Care to tell? Feel free to share pics if you are so inclined.

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OK, here goes.... My R1100RSL I obtained in 2012 from the original owner who never even started the bike from the day he bought it in '93. The guy had a collection of BMWs that had never been started since they left the factory in Berlin. Right off I had to replace the fuel filter as well as the fuel pump before I could fire it up. From the beginning she surged big time which wasn't unusual for the early R1100 bikes. I solved the issue by installing an Innovate Motor Sports LC-2 with Wideband O2 sensor. This system worked extremely well with the AFR in closed loop operation set to 13.4:1 but It seemed to me that carbon build up was occurring which I always kind of worried about. The plugs were a bit darker than I would have liked and the oil ring on the plugs indicated carbon build up. Also, I could look through the spark plug hole and see carbon on the top of the pistons. Then a couple weeks ago I ran across an old thread on another forum that got me wondering about the very early Motronic ECU and some believed that the early ECU had a default running program that would become activated if no code plug were present. On the R1100 bikes operation with no code plug is a valid configuration if the motorcycle has no catalytic converter which it wouldn't have if exported to some countries other than the US. This is not the case with the later 1150 bikes so operation without a code plug is NOT an option and should never be attempted. My bike is too early to have the actual code plug and instead uses a jumper on the ECU power connector which results in an equivalent yellow code plug configuration.

Now for the good part: I became curious so I located the jumper and cut it. I fired up the bike and ran it in the shop until the temp gauge indicated 5 bars at which time the ECU would normally go closed loop and the AFR would then go from cold start AFR of 12.4:1 to the closed loop running AFR of 13.4:1 like it should. Only with the jumper cut the AFR stayed close to the very rich 12.4:1 which I obviously didn't like. Anyway, I decided to strap my laptop on the passenger seat and use the real time AFR data recording feature of the LC-2 and find out what is happening in the real ride world and I was pleasantly surprised to find the AFR ramped up to 14.0:1 and the ECU cannot ever operate in closed loop mode with the jumper cut. This proves the existence of the default fueling program present in the early 2.2 ECU. After my test run of about 30 miles I removed the just installed new spark plugs and was very pleased to find absolutely no sign of carbon build up at all just a slight discoloration of the oil ring caused by engine heat exposure. Also, before I had noticed tiny bits of carbon accumulation on the rear of the muffler which has always bothered me. Now the back of the muffler stays bright and clean.

So long and short is it took me 9 years to finally have my pristine very low miles (12,300) R1100RSL running perfectly. The idle is still rich at about 12.6:1 when fully warmed up but very smooth. All jerky on/off throttle response is gone. Power delivery is very steady and smooth at all RPM in all gears. So finally after 9 years I'm totally satisfied with my bike. Oh, I also removed the O2 sensor and screwed in an O2 bung plug since the bike will never again look for a signal from an O2 sensor since it can't ever operate in closed loop mode. I would compare my R1100RSL to the smooth performance characteristics of a very well tuned carberated R75/100 airhead.

Also, I am running the more recent Bosch EV14 fuel injectors which replaced the original single port EV1 injectors and this mod has also improved running characteristics. I think the EV14 injectors along with cutting the code plug jumper have together made the difference.

This is my story and I'm sticking to it! Oh, I can't wait to find out what the fuel economy is now. Actually it wasn't bad before at 47 mpg and I'll find out tomorrow.

Awesome!

rangerreece said:

Welcome back Jammess, good to see you here again. Great falls is about a week out, and you’re relatively close there in Oregon. If you can make, it would be good to see you there sir.

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Wellll....I've been thinking about that. It's about 900 miles give or take and I'm not sure I'm up to it. I mean I'm only 2.5 years away from being 80 and I just don't know if I have the energy and my wife no longer likes to ride with me and I can't blame her. I mean who wants to ride on a motorcycle with an old guy as a pilot? There will probably be hot weather and most likely wind and bugs and more bugs also there is a severe and historic drought going on in the west so mile after mile of parched landscape. Just not pretty. Camp grounds and motel availability is also kind of iffy and did I mention traffic and crazy drivers? I really get tired thinking about it but I'm still thinking. Also, I'll admit it, living where I live on the central Oregon coast kind of spoils one what with cool nights and days with highs typically mid 60s to low 70s with humidity a non issue. I used to live in Montana and been to Great Falls a few times and it's an OK place. There used to be a BMW dealer in GF in the 70s and I bought an R65 from him, nice folks.

give it a shot

OK, I'm going to give it a shot. Headed for GF Tuesday AM. Plan to make it on Friday maybe Thursday but most likely Friday morning and stay for a day and camp Friday night then head out for home most likely over Lolo pass on US12. Used to be one of my favorite rides. At least this is the plan we shall see how I feel Tuesday morning. If the weather is still hot then I'll probably cancel of course I could always just do what I used to do which is find a hose and soak myself down, ahhhh...yes, those were the days. Going to take the FJR because I need all the help I can get lol..lol..

Trip CANCELED!! We got fire and inland temps are going through the roof later this week into next week. Lightening storms forecast for Southern Oregon this afternoon people being advised to prepare their evacuation kits. NOT WORTH IT!