moshe_levy Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 All- Just returned from our 30 day, 9,000 mile, 22 state cross country tour and it was GREAT! "I've been everywhere, man!" Both my RT and the GF's '04 R1150R performed absolutely flawlessly, despite the tremendous abuse they suffered along the trip. Well, there was one *minor" issue, on my RT. Towards the end of our last leg, somewhere west of Louisville, KY, I filled up at a Shell. After the fill, the bike started sporadically bogging down under throttle, especially in the lower gears. It started getting worse as the tankful wore down, so I took it in to Louisville BMW for a check. [They were EXCELLENT, by the way, rushing me right in and getting a tech on the bike within minutes of my arrival]. Tech found nothing wrong. No fault codes, either. He sent me on my way, guessing bad gas. Anyway, next tankful, the problem got much better, and by the tankful after that, all the bogging disappeared. Keep in mind, I got a new fuel filter and complete 12k service right before the trip. Despite the bad gas possibility, the bogging (from my experience with my old Harley Sportster) felt exactly like what the Sporty would feel like if the vent line in the fuel tank got clogged. Bad gas problem is easy to solve, but I was wondering what the deal is with the RT's tank venting. I once read an article about a "Canisterectomy" to remove troublesome clog-prone charcoal cansters, but I wasn't sure this was the issue here. Naturally, I can't find that article now. Anyone have any thoughts? FWIW, this trip made a lifelong customer out of me. I have never flogged a bike like this before, for so hard and so long, and had it survive unfazed. Truly an amazingly capable motorcycle. Plus, the "community treatment" from other BMW riders nationwide and the tremendous service from Louisville when I thought something might be amiss made for one happy rider... -MKL PS - I will post more on our adventure soon. There is plenty to share! Link to comment
Ken H. Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Removing the evaporative emissions control charcoal canister won't solve any bad gas issues. Nor have they been troublesome. It's just a 'rebellion' thing people like to tinker with to exercise some feeling of personal authority over the order of society. Link to comment
T__ Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 All- Just returned from our 30 day, 9,000 mile, 22 state cross country tour and it was GREAT! "I've been everywhere, man!" Both my RT and the GF's '04 R1150R performed absolutely flawlessly, despite the tremendous abuse they suffered along the trip. Well, there was one *minor" issue, on my RT. Towards the end of our last leg, somewhere west of Louisville, KY, I filled up at a Shell. After the fill, the bike started sporadically bogging down under throttle, especially in the lower gears. It started getting worse as the tankful wore down, so I took it in to Louisville BMW for a check. [They were EXCELLENT, by the way, rushing me right in and getting a tech on the bike within minutes of my arrival]. Tech found nothing wrong. No fault codes, either. He sent me on my way, guessing bad gas. Anyway, next tankful, the problem got much better, and by the tankful after that, all the bogging disappeared. Keep in mind, I got a new fuel filter and complete 12k service right before the trip. Despite the bad gas possibility, the bogging (from my experience with my old Harley Sportster) felt exactly like what the Sporty would feel like if the vent line in the fuel tank got clogged. Bad gas problem is easy to solve, but I was wondering what the deal is with the RT's tank venting. I once read an article about a "Canisterectomy" to remove troublesome clog-prone charcoal cansters, but I wasn't sure this was the issue here. Naturally, I can't find that article now. Anyone have any thoughts? FWIW, this trip made a lifelong customer out of me. I have never flogged a bike like this before, for so hard and so long, and had it survive unfazed. Truly an amazingly capable motorcycle. Plus, the "community treatment" from other BMW riders nationwide and the tremendous service from Louisville when I thought something might be amiss made for one happy rider... -MKL PS - I will post more on our adventure soon. There is plenty to share! Moshe, easy to tell if your canister is plugging up.. Just ride the bike for about ½ hour then stop & open the fuel cap while listening for a whoosh.. If you hear the rush of air entering the tank when the cap is opened after riding a while either your canister is plugged up or the purge/vent part of the evaporative system is malfunctioning.. In either case removing the canister & verifying the vent line isn’t plugged will probably fix the problem.. If you do have a plugged canister it will probably eventually crush your fuel tank gauge sender assembly… Twisty Link to comment
SAAB93driver Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 This is not symptomatic of a plugged cannister or evap system so removing it will not fix it. With a clogged cannister, at best you would have trouble opening up the gas cap, worse your fuel gage sending unit would implode causing the gage to no longer be useful. It has been documented and discussed several times here - you can do a search to research it more if needed.. If you should ever need to remove the cannister due to becoming clogged instructions in the link below. cannister removal instructions Link to comment
MichiganBob Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Now this might be in left field but last year on the way to the Springfield Mile, we filled up about 100 miles east. My buddies Kawi Concours started bogging and ultimately stalled about three miles from our destination. It seems that he got confused at the BP station and filled his bike with diesel instead or petro. Those BP pumps have both nozzles on the same pumping station. The diesel is larger and won't fit in a car tank but would certainly fit a motorcycle tank. Any chance you dieseled it up by mistake and you kept on lowering its presence with petrol every fill up? Bob Link to comment
moshe_levy Posted June 3, 2007 Author Share Posted June 3, 2007 No, no chance of that. Even the canister issue is more my curiosity than an actual cause for the issue. If the canister was plugged, chances are it would stay plugged and the problem would persist. My problem went away with each new tank of fuel, leading me to believe I just got some crappy gas... -MKL Link to comment
steve.foote Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Aw, heck, take the canister off anyway. If for nothing more than to watch Ken bounce off the wall. Link to comment
tomk99r11 Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Now this is mean! Ken, count to 10. Link to comment
Ken H. Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 Now this is mean! Ken, count to 10. 78..., 79..., 80..., 81... Link to comment
Agent_Orange Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 What is really mean is sending removed canister to Ken. Link to comment
Wei Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 Moshe, easy to tell if your canister is plugging up.. Just ride the bike for about ½ hour then stop & open the fuel cap while listening for a whoosh.. If you hear the rush of air entering the tank when the cap is opened after riding a while either your canister is plugged up or the purge/vent part of the evaporative system is malfunctioning.. In either case removing the canister & verifying the vent line isn’t plugged will probably fix the problem.. If you do have a plugged canister it will probably eventually crush your fuel tank gauge sender assembly… Twisty Great. I have definitely noticed this precise "whoosh" when lifting the cap to fill 'er up. I just figured this was par for the course, since I have not had an oilhead until now... However, I haven't experienced anything I would call bogging down at all... Having heard many cars exhibit this vacuum behavior, I thought it would be all right... but you're saying it'll definitely damage things? *sigh* Link to comment
T__ Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 Wei, look at this this thread.. Or just put SENDER in the search function of this site under OIL HEAD heading then set it to search for 2 years.. http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/sh...true#Post802779 Twisty Link to comment
Wei Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 Thanks, Twisty. The illustration figure and the pictures really do help me in getting a handle on this modification... but I am definitely one of those hesitant types when it comes to fixing something that doesn't seem broken. That said, perhaps I just have not experienced any ill effects from it yet -- the fuel gauge works fine, goes from 100% full (when I really fill it to the top) to as low as 20% (the lowest I have had it so far without refueling) -- and I have yet to see the low fuel light come on. Perhaps the in-the-meantime fix is simply to equalize air pressure in the tank by opening the fill lid occasionally? Oy. Link to comment
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