Winter maintanance

[Jeff from Massachusetts]

Recently finished work on my 2000 R1100RT. In addition to normal (for me), winter maintenance which is all fluids and filters and a new alternator belt, I decided to replace the throttle cables and distribution box. In all the years I have had this bike I have never laid eyes of the distribution box. There is a good reason for this...it is buried pretty deep, and must have been easy to install on bike assembly. Not so easy now. Had to remove tank, battery, air box, then loosen the tray that holds the battery, ECU and ABS unit. There were two bolts under the ABS unit that could only be reached after loosening all hold down bolts and prying the unit up to gain access with a 1/4 in drive extension with a swivel and flashlight clenched in my teeth. This allowed removal and installation of the cable box without damage. I took this opportunity to remove the throttle bodies and give them a good cleaning and inspection. It is surprising how dirty they were considering they get filtered air. All went well with a fresh valve adjustment and a twinmax resync. Now all I have to do is wait for good weather.

[Woodie]

[Unhofliche_Gesundheit]

hi Jeff - how many miles on the bike?

was your throttle not feeling good or did you just decide to do preventative maintenance?

do you think it was worth changing the bowden box ? it was my understanding that changing cables is good (to smooth the throttle action and prevent getting stranded) but the original box itself should more or less last the life of the bike...?

thx

[Jeff from Massachusetts]

Just shy of 50K miles. I figured if I was going to change the cables, I might as well change it all. The original bowden box actually seemed in good shape. I am just a little anal about maintenance. The old cables had some sign of wear but there was no sign of failure. I get bored with New England’s winter, and working on bikes makes me feel better.