Re: R1100SA 2-plug top speed disappointment - A FIX

[Jack Bunce <jackbunce@xxxxxxx>]

OK.... I am sorry to be having this dialog with myself but I appear to 
have made some progress in solving my low top speed problem and the 
answer appears to be interesting enough to share.

To make the story short, I changed all four plugs today. When I did I 
found that the connector for the top passenger side plug was not seated 
in the coil: it was out by about 1/4". I don't think that plug was 
firing at all. The electrode on that plug was grey and so was the 
insulator.

Pictures here:

http://homepage.mac.com/jackbunce/PhotoAlbum2.html

Also, the electrode on that plug was not worn at all.

My guess is that I was only running on the bottom plug on that side, 
and since the bottom plugs have no advance the cylinder power would 
fall off as the revs increased.

Now, the hesitation is gone as well as the peakiness and flat spotting 
and the bike pulls strongly through all the gears to at least 8,000 
rpm. I did a high speed test run and ran out of balls before I ran out 
of revs and shut the throttle at 125 on the gps, about 133 indicated. 
The bike kept pulling and got to 126.6 before I got the throttle fully 
closed. There was more speed there but way too much traffic.

Also the random backfiring when backing off the throttle slowly seems 
to have stopped along with the intermittent stalling.

What I haven't done yet is to pull the new plugs and look at them nor 
have I intentionally disconnected a top plug to see if the problem 
comes back.

The last people to work on the bike in that area were the mechanics at 
BMW of Daytona during bike week when they did the 12,000 mile service. 
Those were the same folks who screwed shut my idle air bleed valves.

Sigh, now I need to check my valves and the rear tire balance.


cheers.... jack, '04 R1100SA, Waterford, Connecticut, U.S.A.

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