Boog
Traveling Story Teller
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2013
- Messages
- 8,501
- Location
- Dumfries, Virginia
- Ride
- 2014 R3T, RAMAIR, Full Viking Dual exhaust
Brahma is home from the hospital. 3.5 weeks of not being ridden has taken an emotional toll on the stalwart though. He is happy to be on the road once more though but not yet back to full health. Here is the breakdown:
Last fall, I noticed that the idle was high even after riding for 30 minutes or more. This was not an every ride event though. I mentioned it to the folks at Motorcycles of Dulles (MOD) and they said they would check the stepper motor when I brought it in for the next check up.
When I brought it in for the 30K check, they did adjust the stepper motor with the computer and it seemed to be okay for a few days but the high idle came back. To give you an idea, in fourth gear I could cruise along at 40-45 MPH at idle. Absolutely no good when trying to slow down…
I took it back and MOD dug into the matter to found the stepper motor was simply worn out; I have 35K miles now and was a little upset that this would be the case. But why had it gone bad? It was dirty! Road grim is the culprit. After they replaced it, the idle dropped from 2600 RPM to 1300 but they still could not get it down to 800. More digging and they discover the same reason that the stepper failed, dirty road grim, is causing the throttle body mechanism that the stepper pushes to be worn out as well.
Michael, the service manager took it apart himself and gave it a deep cleaning but that is not the fix. He showed me the nylon spacer and the other components that have become worn down due to excessive road grim in the area. (Same reason my front bearings failed I hear).
Now, when first started, the stepper pushes the arm on the throttle bodies up to increase the idle speed, but when it returns to normal position, the throttle is still open in the high idle spot. I can manually reach in and pull on it quite hard and get it to come back down after holding it for a few seconds, but it will surge while stopped at stop lights and is far from good. The only fix they tell is to replace the whole throttle body unit as the worn parts are not offered separately. That is a cost of $2300!!!
I can’t afford that so I am riding it the way it is. They made me sign a statement that I declined the repair and warned me that continued riding in stop and go traffic will cause the engine to run hot and can damage the beast.
Do any of you know of a solution other than replacing the entire throttle body unit?
Last fall, I noticed that the idle was high even after riding for 30 minutes or more. This was not an every ride event though. I mentioned it to the folks at Motorcycles of Dulles (MOD) and they said they would check the stepper motor when I brought it in for the next check up.
When I brought it in for the 30K check, they did adjust the stepper motor with the computer and it seemed to be okay for a few days but the high idle came back. To give you an idea, in fourth gear I could cruise along at 40-45 MPH at idle. Absolutely no good when trying to slow down…
I took it back and MOD dug into the matter to found the stepper motor was simply worn out; I have 35K miles now and was a little upset that this would be the case. But why had it gone bad? It was dirty! Road grim is the culprit. After they replaced it, the idle dropped from 2600 RPM to 1300 but they still could not get it down to 800. More digging and they discover the same reason that the stepper failed, dirty road grim, is causing the throttle body mechanism that the stepper pushes to be worn out as well.
Michael, the service manager took it apart himself and gave it a deep cleaning but that is not the fix. He showed me the nylon spacer and the other components that have become worn down due to excessive road grim in the area. (Same reason my front bearings failed I hear).
Now, when first started, the stepper pushes the arm on the throttle bodies up to increase the idle speed, but when it returns to normal position, the throttle is still open in the high idle spot. I can manually reach in and pull on it quite hard and get it to come back down after holding it for a few seconds, but it will surge while stopped at stop lights and is far from good. The only fix they tell is to replace the whole throttle body unit as the worn parts are not offered separately. That is a cost of $2300!!!
I can’t afford that so I am riding it the way it is. They made me sign a statement that I declined the repair and warned me that continued riding in stop and go traffic will cause the engine to run hot and can damage the beast.
Do any of you know of a solution other than replacing the entire throttle body unit?
