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1994 R1100RS troubleshooting

letsride88

New member
I purchased my first oilhead knowing it needed some work . The previous owner claimed all it needed was a right cylinder head gasket. Had both changed for good measure.
Due to the needed repairs I could not test drive the bike.
Inital ride produced a sreeching noice when letting out the clutch in firt gear then disappears until I pull away in 1st again. No noises when shifting into any other gears.
The bike ran strong until about 20 minutes into the ride when it just stalled, would not restart after about ten minutes.
Retrieved the truck and trailer, just before loading I tried to start the bike and it fired up but did not want to keep running for very long.

Any input would be helpful.

HES and belt changed, screeching persists. Someone sugested it may be clutch rivets scraping. Any additional thoughts?
 
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more info for diagnosis would be helpful.

conditions when it stalled out- dry/wet, temps, etc. would help.

the screeching noise is/can be indicative of a loose alternator belt. could also produce the stall out, due to lack of adequate electricity to the FI system. i'd start by yanking the front cover and getting a look at belt tension and condition.
 
how many miles on the bike? Those belts should be replaced at 24,000. Have the throttle boddies been synced? valves set? If the bike has been sitting, a complete fuel system cleaning would be in order. Give us more info if possible.
 
more info.
68000 miles, both head gaskets were replaced last week. Some valves were hans lapped due to leakage. I have no idea about previous maintenance.
 
If it had enough left in the battery to start, I say the Alt belt isn't the culprit, although you should replace it anyway.

Bikerfish was maybe looking for wet conditions in post #2 so he could indict the HES. I think we're looking at bad HES wiring on this age bike, even though it wasn't running in rain.

The screeching noise doesn't fit in right. A loose alt belt screeches a bit when cold on revving the engine and has nothing to do with letting out the clutch.


Moving forward:
  • Charge battery
  • Replace the alt belt.
  • Test the HES.

Edit: Good attitude. I hope you got a smokin' deal on this bike, regardless, the boys here will help you fix it up.
There are no bad boxers, not BMW ones anyway.
 
And also. . .

I have this same machine, and absolutely love it -- my favorite "overall" bike, and there have been many in the garage over the years. I bought it when the PO told me that it was easy to work on, and he was correct. Good on you for doing this stuff, and you WILL be rewarded many times over.

At this mileage, and with no idea of previous maintenance, you can bet that the SPLINES need a lube -- a job that is much easier to do than it looks in the pictures! Plenty of spline lube info and threads on this site. Use either something like Guard-Dog 30% Moly, or mix Honda moly 60 50/50 with a sticky-grease of choice. Most say do NOT use Moly 60 alone, and I'd agree.

Also at this mileage, you also need to consider the CLUTCH in this diagnostic adventure, and when you do the spline lube, you can take a look.

My first guess about the "dying" was the HES wiring, but I'm no expert.

Good luck, and congratulations on buying a terrific ride.

Walking Eagle
 
can you please tell me what HES means (fairly ignorant newbie) thanks-Tony

(H)all (E)ffect (S)ensor. A fancy name for what is basically the crank position sensor that tells the Motronic computer when to fire the sparkplugs and when to squirt fuel. A faulty HES will leave you stranded and there is no "barnyard" fix to get you home. It has to work for the bike to run.
 
Let's not argue about this. Just remove the black plastic front cover and look at the belt.

My hunch is that the belt was bad - screetch!!

Then the belt started to come apart. When this happens, if part of the stranded belt gets behind the pulley it can destroy the HES and or it's wiring.

So look at the belt. If it is torn up then remove the pulley and look at the HES and wiring.
 
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