R1100RT poor performance.. Help

[Brycesdad]

Hello, I'm new here and to BMW's. Got my first one, It's a 97 R1100RT. It ran well at first but after a 25 mile ride it progressively got worse. I'm unable to accelerate hardly at all. I parked it for the day and upon leaving for the trip home it didt it as soon as I left the driveway.it falls flat on it's face unless I feather the throttle. I tried a new fuel filter. I don't think there is much of a change, I can twist the throttle slowly and get it to rev but I can't snap it open. it dies and pops from exhaust. Help!!! any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

Rick Miller

[Ken H.]

Does it idle OK? If you can get it up to some speed and hold it there does it run OK? I.e. is it just while accelerating problem? If you can 'feather' it up to speed, how fast can you get out of it?

 

My firt off the top of my head reaction is throttle position sensor problems. Or HAL.

[Brycesdad]

It does idle well, and I can get it up to speed with light throttle and easy shifts. got 55mph but would only take light throttle

[Ken H.]

Sounds like a fuel curve starvation issue all right. Do a test of the TPS. If you need info on how, do a search of this forum or post back.

[scottfarm2]

Mine does the same thing. Idles and runs fine until you bog the gas to it and then it runs on one cylinder till you ease up on the throttle and then it runs fine again. New fuel filter, New vent lines, new spark plugs. Valves and tb sync spot on. Took the tps off my 94 rs and swapped them out and it still did it. I am very interested if you fine the problem. Dennis

[eaglemike]

Have you checked the coils? I had one in the past that would not provide spark under load.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Mike

[Bob]

Stupid as it may seem, check out your “Cat Code” plug. My 97RT was exhibiting your same symptoms about four years ago. Thoroughly frustrated, I popped a new “Cat” plug in on a whim and immediately regained smoothness, acceleration, and performance on the first crank.

 

I’m not technical like the rest of the group, so my non-mechanical mind reasoned that since the RT was getting gas, spark, and air slow, that it just might have something to do with what the bike was being told when I twisted my wrist. Now who knows, simply roughing up the plug’s contacts might have accomplished the same thing, or maybe it was totally unrelated, but I got immense satisfaction from heaving the old plug as far as I could when the new one “solved” the issue on my first crank.

 

I was blessed to ride my RT for about 20 minutes early Sunday morning, with my son shadowing me in the car in case I got dizzy turning. My bike is still running flawlessly without a stumble. I’m not saying there was causation from what I did, but there certainly was correlation. Again, listen to the technical ones around here to solve your problem, but that is what “appears” to have worked for me.

[smiller]

The cat code plug is nothing but two contacts connected by a wire... very doubtful that it could ever fail. As you say, whatever positive improvement there was (if really due to its replacement) probably could be achieved simply by removing and replacing the original unit.

[Bob]

Well, there you have it from an expert. Save your Cat Plug money and simply clean the contacts. Find a rock to throw instead Thanks for the confirmation that I reall am NOT a mechanic. Oh well. The old correlation and no causation thing.