As usual the OEM pads are a stupid price so we opted for the vastly cheaper and according to others much better Brembo SA pads. The ones for the SX are part No. 07SU27SA. The pads were very easy to change and look very good quality. Hopefully it will be dry on Saturday so that she can try them out and get them bedded in.
Helen and I had booked in with Matt at Bike Tyre Services on Saturday morning for a new set of Michelin Pilot Road 4’s, for our upcoming tour. While we were waiting we had decided to take out a Ducati each for a test ride as Ducati Manchester is opposite.
However Matt phoned up during the week and said that he had been offered a VIP package to attend the TT Superbike Race on Saturday. He said it was too good to miss for him and so as to not let us down, he would come and collect both bikes one at a time and take them back to his workshop in his van. We couldn’t really argue with that and just goes to show why we use him and will continue to do so. So as of Thursday evening we now both have a new set of tyres to scrub in. Michelin also have an offer on at the moment for £25 back on a set of tyres as well.
Well after having to cancel the service last October when my back went and then the chronic weather we have had since. I have finally been able to take my bike over to Bowker Motorrad in Preston to have the 600 mile service done and a centre stand fitted. Although after the snow on Friday morning that plan looked like it might get scuppered again. Anyway although damp when we left for Preston on Saturday morning the conditions throughout the day were mainly dry and the majority of roads dry as well. We arrived at Bowker Motorrad on time and handed the keys over to the service department. We then hit a problem as we had reserved two bikes to take out on a test ride to kill time, but had forgotten our licences. Fortunately we managed to get our licence numbers and national insurance numbers so they could do the licence check and let us out.
We took out the same K1300s Motorpsort bike as mine and the S1000R. Initially I rode the K1300s and Helen went on the S1000R. We managed to get out of Preston but it took ages even with all the filtering and headed on the A59 towards Clitheroe. We then took our usual route to Settle via Sawley and Wigglesworth. We then joined the B6479 and headed for Ribblehead Viaduct but stopped on the far side of Horton in Ribblesdale at our usual tea room for a late lunch.
Well a nice dry day with little wind came around so I decided to pull the BMW out of the garage and have a go at swapping out the throttle bodies, to see if that would cure the sticking throttle issue.
I stripped the side fairing panels and tank panels off and then removed the fuel tank from the bike. I then had to remove the battery and battery 
holding bracket that is attached to the frame. I then removed the two air inlet pipes that also hold an air filter each. I could then have a go at removing the airbox. I first pulled off the small pipes to the airbox, I then had the pleasure of removing the spring clips to 3 other slightly larger pipes and then the 4 spring clips to the throttle body outlets. I got a set of pliers off Ebay that did the job of making getting them undone slightly easier. I then removed the wiring plugs to the sensors on the airbox. After all that I was finally able to remove the airbox assembly from the bike. At this point I could now see into the throttle bodies and upon activation of the throttle I could see that yes they weren’t closing fully and sticking. They did look dirty and a bit gunked up so I tried cleaning them first but that made no difference. So I was resigned to having to remove them from the bike.
I first vacuumed and cleaned up any crap around the engine to make sure nothing could fall down one of the inlets. I then disconnected the throttle cables at the twist grip and then fed them back inside the frame so they could come out with the throttle bodies. I then removed the sensor cables 
to two of the sensors, the other ones I would have to pull the throttle bodies up to get at. I then released the 4 large spring clips at the engine inlets and then pulled them up slightly. While doing this a glided some kitchen towel into each of the 4 inlets to prevent any debris falling down them. With the inlets protected I was able to manoeuvre the throttle bodies about to disconnect the 4 fuel injector plugs and the other sensor underneath. Once they where removed I disconnect the throttle cables and checked there operation. You could see they where sticking but it was obviously internal and not fixable.
Fortunately the pair I got off Ebay worked perfectly so I decided to install them. I changed over the sensors on the bodies as I knew non of mine where faulty and I didn’t want to remove them again for a faulty sensor. I reinstalled the throttle bodies and cables and activated the throttle. There was no notchy feeling anymore and the throttle valves opened and shut perfectly. I then put the bike back together again and then the moment of truth came. The bike eventually started after the fuel got through, I suppose I should of primed the system some how first. Everything worked perfectly and the throttle now seemed more responsive and when shutting it off the bike stood on it nose more. I will have to change my riding style now as I have obviously been riding to the sticking issue. Now that they are fixed I can look at trading in the bike for a newer one.
Yesterday Helen and I went over to bike tyre services in Sale to get a new set of tyres each for our upcoming tour. As usual we opted for Michelin Pilot Road 4 tyres as we are happy with their wear, also their grip in the dry and especially the wet. While we waited for the tyres to go on 
we nipped over to Ducati Manchester to have a look at the new Multistrada. To Helen’s surprise the new bike has a more contoured seat and on its lowest setting Helen can get her feet down almost flat. So the Multistrada has now become a potential next bike for her.
After we had the tyres fitted we headed over to Williams BMW in Trafford as I wanted a mechanic to have a look at a photo of my throttle cable. After a discussion I am pretty much resigned to the fact that I will need a new set of throttle bodies to fix my low revs issue. Apparently it is a different issue to the K1200 and is actually caused by the butterflies moving and sticking on the inside of the throttle inlets. Also while we where there Helen had a look at the S1000XR and the R1200RS. She actually preferred the look and feel of the R1200RS. We have decided once we get back off tour to take both of them out so she can have a test of each of them. Also BMW being BMW tried to sell me a new K1300S Motorsport rather than me having mine fixed. It is a great looking 
bike and I am certainly interested but will wait till we get back off tour. The question then will be to get the valve check done on my bike our to get a new one.
After a quick coffee and biscuits at Williams BMW we headed to the Dale to scrub in our new rubber. We just went for a quick run to Hawes and back via our usual route of Sabden, Sawley, Wigglesworth, Settle and Ribblehead Viaduct. To say it was a bit windy would be an understatement, I can just imagine how bad it would have been on the mountain course and think it was a very wise idea to cancel any TT action on Saturday. The new tyres were as sure footed as ever and we even managed to get them to near the edges on our first real heat cycle.
After getting home I went on Ebay and have managed to source a used set of throttle bodies for under £100 off a 2010 10,000 mile K1300S, much better than the £700 for a new set. I am not going to fit them before we go in case I encounter any issues while fitting them. Especially as I will have to undo near on 15 of those locking hose clips that BMW like to use.
I took the BMW for its well overdue MOT the other day to Bikes and Beyond in Shaw. The throttle misbehaved a bit as usual but he was happy to pass it regardless as it seemed pretty obvious it is not connected to the actual throttle and cable. I still think it is electrical and either the stepper motor or the idle control valve. I am intending to trade it in after our upcoming tour for a newer one as the expensive valve check will also be due soon as well. I got an advisory for the rear tyre and the headlight beam failed initially as it was too low. But they sorted that with the adjuster and passed it with flying colours otherwise. Other than that the bike ran very well considering it has really moved since last year.
Read more...Well after a miserable wet winter and no biking or maintenance of any note. The weather on Saturday was really nice, it sort of sneaked up on us and so we had other plans over the weekend.
I was determined to do something with the bikes so on Saturday afternoon I decided to bring the ZX-9R out into the daylight to carry out some post winter maintenance. I had noticed last year that the brakes seemed a bit off. Which is why I changed the piston seals on the front calipers. This seemed to make the pistons move easier but didn’t really improve the braking much. Anyway I decided today that I would take the pads out and the front wheel off and rub them down with some 200 grit emery cloth incase they had glazing on them. After taking the grit cloth to them they all came up pretty well and I hope that will sort out the brakes, there was certainly some glazing on them. Although it might just be the case that the BMW’s are just so good that the brakes on the ZX-9R don’t feel any good in comparison.
While I was at it I also gave all the moving bits a lube and also slackened the drive chain off, as at the MOT they said it was a bit tight. After all that I gave the bike a run up and tested the brakes on the driveway to check they still worked. It was my intention to give both bikes a quick run over the moors today but the weather had turned overnight and rained. Although the sun did come out again the roads never dried off fully before it was too late.
I took my K1300s over to Williams BMW in Trafford for a service yesterday morning. I had the pleasure of filtering round the whole of the M60 from Heywood to Eccles. Not sure why it was so busy as I didn’t see any issues on my way round. Anyway I still arrived on time as I had anticipated it might be busy. It was quite a basic service although the valve check is due in about 2700 miles. I don’t intend to have it done as next year after summer I am thinking of trading it in against another K1300s. Williams BMW where doing a 25% discount for services through October so it only cost me £138 all in, which isn’t to bad for BMW.
Read more...After a couple of months of a biking hiatus I took the ZX-9R for its long overdue MOT. Again like the K1300s I took the bike over to Bikes and Beyond in Shaw. They gave the bike a thorough MOT and as expected it passed with flying colours. He did mention that the chain was like a bow string though (a bit tight), not sure how it has got tight as I set it up correctly last time I checked it.
After the MOT I took the bike for a run and it ran really well considering how long it has been sat unused in the garage for. It also didn’t show any signs of bogging down at mid revs like it did last time I used it, the carbs probably still need stripping down and cleaning though I would guess.
Helen and I had new tyres fitted over the weekend. We had booked it far in advance to make sure we could get the tyres we wanted in time. We had ordered Michelin Pilot Road 3 tyres but he was unable to get a rear for my BMW as it has an odd size 190/55/17. So in the end we both opted to have the new Michelin Pilot Road 4 tyre fitted instead. They are slightly harder in the middle but the softer compound is much nearer the middle than on previous tyres. They have also reduced the amount of tread pattern near the edge of the tyre to give a larger rubber contact area for more grip. They have assumed that most people will not be using big lean angles in the wet.
Unfortunately on Saturday the weather was awful with heavy downpours and thunder and lighting. We didn't really have much choice other than to go for the tyres. We only had to go round on the motorway so didn't expect too many problems. We had to filter for a bit around the Trafford Centre but otherwise it was ok and by the time we got to the tyre place the rain had stopped. While the tyres were being fitted we had a quick look in Ducati Manchester and had a coffee at a local cafe. The visit to Ducati confirmed to Helen that the Multistrada is to tall for her to feel comfortable with.
We had a little bonus when we came to pay as we found out Michelin are currently offering £25 cashback on a set of tyres. The offer runs through to the end of July, so if your after a set of tyres you might want to get them soon. As we left Sale and headed for our next stop in Atherton it started to rain heavily again. We were heading over to Kais Performance to have Helen’s suspension setup as she felt it wasn’t setup correctly for her. Again we had to filter past the Trafford Centre but we weren’t held up too badly. We arrived at Kais Performance and they promptly set about sorting it out, he said that it was setup too soft and was possibly hitting the bump stop. He also said the damping at the shock was pretty much set at its limit as the factory shock isn’t great, this I was already aware of. He also advised that with the luggage on the rear would probably drop about 10mm which would equate to 2 turns on the preload at the rear shock (We bought a nice Ohlins C-Spanner for the job). After that we headed back home in the rain again and had to filter for a while at the end of the M61 as more people were trying to get to the Trafford Centre.
The weather had picked up by Sunday so we decided to give the bikes a quick round around the Moors to give the tyres a scrubbing in cycle for our upcoming tour. The tyres felt pretty similar to the previous Road 3s we have had. They performed excellently in the wet yesterday and they seemed fine in the dry as well. Nice turn in and seemed to have plenty of grip only time will tell but first impressions are positive. They are also supposed to last longer as well, my bike was on 11,600 miles and Helen’s was on 1600 miles when they were fitted. The general problem with have with tyres though is that we usually have to change a set of part worn tyres as we are never sure if they will last for our upcoming tour. Which is exactly what happened last year to Helen’s rear tyre on the abrasive asphalt in the Vosges.
I took the K1300s for its MOT yesterday to Bikes and Beyond in Shaw. I chose this place as it is run by bikers and also enabled me to give the bike a bit of a run on the way there. The throttle behaved perfectly on our drive and also just before I arrived for the MOT. However the problem did rear its ugly head during the MOT test but he passed the bike anyway and just said keep an eye on it (it was only catching slightly and not sticking for long). Then once I had got home I again was unable to replicate the problem.
Once home I decided to connect the SatNav up to the Bluetooth module of my Autocom unit. The SatNav found the Bluetooth module and connected. However I then found a massive issue with the SatNav. The volume was far too low and there is no way of adjusting it on the SatNav, it says to adjust the sound on your headset. Erm well you can’t do that on the Autocom system, TomTom allow you to change the volume. This is a massive glaring oversight on Garmin’s part, if I had known this I probably would have gone with the TomTom Rider instead. Fortunately the Garmin does have an audio jack at the bottom of the unit so I will be able to hardwire the sound into the Autocom.
Well on Sunday after my rideout on the ZX-9R I decided in the nice sunny weather to pull the K1300s apart and have a look at the throttle bodies.
I removed the fairings and the fuel tank, not too difficult of a job in the end. I then actuated the throttle twist grip while looking at the throttle body end. The return spring and cable fully return to the home 
position every time and it doesn’t appear to stick at all. Now if this is returning then I would guess that the butterflies are returning also. The plastic part that is know to fail on K1200s seemed to be in good condition. So I really don’t think that the throttle bodies are the issue and the twist grip doesn’t seem to stick either. Unfortunately due to it being SORN at the moment I can’t take the bike out for a spin to check whether it does it when the bike is moving and warm. I guess I will just have to take it for the MOT and hope it doesn’t occur during the test and then leave it until it becomes more apparent.
While it has been dry today I have had all 3 bikes out and ran them up to temperature and let the fans kick in. The ZX-9R took a few goes to get it to start and hold enough revs to keep running, the other 2 started first time without any issues. I did however manage to replicate the sticking (more slower return to idle) revs on the K1300s. It appears that if you only turn the throttle grip slightly it doesn’t snap back firmly, hence it only does it at low revs. If you close the throttle by hand then it drops the revs normally. Generally when riding with load on the engine the throttle snaps back or I am returning by hand, hence why I haven’t noticed it when I’m riding. Whether this is the throttle bodies or something else, remains to be seen. Obviously I am going to be busy over winter as apart from the valve check on the ZX-9R I am now going to have to strip down the K1300s and check all the components of the throttle return. Especially the crap plastic part that is know to fail.
Read more...Today my K1300s went in to Williams BMW for its annual service. It was the 12,000 mile service and cost around £230. I decided I wouldn’t sit around and wit for the bike so borrowed a F700GS to ride home on. Not my type of bike at all, the wind protection on the motorway was very poor and the riding position far to upright for me, felt like I was falling off the back of it. I collected the bike later on that afternoon when they informed me that my throttle bodies were sticking at low revs. They also explained that these weren’t covered under warranty and would require replacements fitting at a cost of £704. As you can imagine I am not best pleased about this, especially as it is a know problem that has affected K1200’s from 2005. I have yet to get them to explain how they diagnosed this problem as it isn’t evident to me. I do remember it sticking once when the bike was cold sat in the garage. So for now I will be leaving it as it is and monitoring the situation.
Read more...I have managed to get all the air out the brake system on the ZX-9R by having the lever pulled back overnight. The brakes are now fine, but now as I am used to the superb brakes on the K1300S it is difficult to tell if they are any better than before I overhauled them.
We are soon going on a short trip to Fort William for my delayed 40th birthday trip. I have chosen to use the ZX-9R due to it having not done many miles recently. I noticed that the inside brake pads on both sides of the front wheel had worn more than the outsides. I presume this is because the fluid goes into this side of the caliper first. Due to the pads being quite worn on the insides I decided that they would need replaced before the trip. I also decided w
hile I was changing the pads to overhaul the brake calipers as well. I doubt they have ever been done before and I have previously noticed that some of the dust seal were trying to escape. So I order a new full set of seals for the brake calipers. Due to them being 6 pot calipers that is a lot of seals, 24 pistons seals and 4 caliper joining seals. I got all the seals from Wemoto as I have used them before when I did the VFR’s seals. and had no issues with them.
I loosened all the bolts on the calipers and ejected the pistons out a bit before I drained out all the brake fluid and removed the calipers. Once removed I separated the calipers and then fully ejected the pistons with the aid of a compressor. I also mark the individual pistons and only do one caliper half at a time to avoid putting the wrong piston back into a caliper bore. Once stripped down I cleaned up the calipers and removed the old seals. Due to their age the calipers were in very good condition and showed no signs of corrosion. The only issue was 
crud that had collected under the dust seals which had caused some of them to be slightly ejected out by the pistons. They were easy to clean out with brake cleaner and a small right angled pick. Once they were clean I blew them dry with compressed air and then put in the new seals. I refitted the calipers with a new set of EBC pads and then put in new brake fluid. I dragged the fluid through with a brake fluid hand pump and then bleed the air out with a one way valve attached at the bleed nipples. Everything seems fine and no leaks were detect from the caliper, but I will need to take the bike on a short run before we go up to Fort William. While I was ordering the brake parts I also ordered some oil and an oil filter. So I replaced the oil and fitted the new filter while I had the bike up on the stands.
This morning I took the K1300s over to Williams BMW to have the final drive seal replaced. I arrived just before my 08:30 slot and while I was waiting I had a cappuccino and some chocolate chip cookies. The repair took around 30 mins to complete, they replaced the seal and the oil as there is no way of measuring how much oil is actually in there. All the work was completed under warranty. They do know how to look after you though, but really I shouldn’t have had the problem in the first place.
Later on this morning we had booked the bikes in for there MOTs. The ZX-9R’s MOT had expire quite a few months ago, Helen’s MOT was still valid. We decided to take them to Summit Service Centre because of a recommendation. It is a car garage but he also does bike MOTs as well. We arrived at 11:30 and the MOTs were completed fairly quickly and both bikes passed. Once we arrived home I had a look at the certificate and noticed that the ZX-9R had only done 500 miles since last year. I couldn’t believe it had only done that little. But due to the weather, Helen’s ankle and the Goats we haven’t been out that much really. When we have been out I have used the BMW to get used to it before our recent tour.
After ordering a set of brake pads for the K1300s last Friday they turned up on Tuesday morning. I was hoping that they would arrive for the weekend but such a quick turn around was very warm welcome. I ordered the pads from BMW specialists Motorworks and the service was excellent, will certainly use them again for parts.
I fitted the pads yesterday, very straight forward job on the BMW. The only slight problem I had was on the right hand side caliper, the pistons were so good that when I pushed one in another came back out. It wasn’t easy pushing in four pistons all at the same time but I eventually managed to get them all back in. As previously stated I chose to fit a set of EBC HH sintered pads instead of the BMW OEM ones. This was mainly down to cost, I can’t see how BMW can charge double the price for the pads. If they had only been a little cheaper I would have fitted OEM ones. The only difference in the pads is that the BMW ones have grooves in the pad material, presumably to help with cooling.
After the rideout last weekend I had completely worn out the front tyre. Although BMW fitted a new rear before I bought the bike I decided to replace them both as I didn’t really want the Metzler M3 Sportec’s on the bike. I opted for the tried and tested Michelin Pilot Road 3’s and got them fitted by Bike Tyre Services as usual. However he has now stopped the mobile tyre service so I had to go to his new shop in Sale to have them fitted. Fitting the tyres looked pretty fiddly as you have to move the exhaust to get the rear off. Luckily I had a centre stand so that helped a lot with getting the front lifted of the deck. He also had to use a manual balancing machine as they wouldn’t fit on the automatic balancing machine. I have only been on the motorway since having them fitted but initial reaction is that the bike seem to turn in better. We are going out tomorrow so I will be able to scrub them in and get more of a feel for how they feel on the big K.
I did find out though when the tyres were off that the front brake pads probably wouldn’t last till the end of our trip. So I decided it would be best to fit some new ones. So I ordered a full set of EBC HH pads for £54 delivered because the BMW OEM ones would have cost £116. Hopefully they should arrive by next weekend so I can get them fitted before we go.
Took the BMW down to Williams BMW in Manchester yesterday to have its MOT done. I was also informed when I arrived that it also needed a recall doing on it. This turned out to be the fitment of a cam chain jump guard. After reading several forum posts about the subject this recall is to protect against the cam chain jumping a tooth on the cam 
chain sprockets and the pistons slamming into the valves and destroying the motor. This can happen on higher mileage bikes were the chain might of stretched a bit. When the engine is started cold the cam chain tensioner doesn’t put enough tension on the chain hence it can jump in certain circumstances.
The bike obviously past the MOT as it is still virtually brand new, so today I went down to the post office to tax it. Looks like Gary off NUKB is putting on a ride tomorrow so I might go out for a bit of a blast with them.
