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Stuck Choke lever

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:14 pm
by MelC
Has anyone experienced a stuck choke lever on a BCR, I've searched a maintenance manual with no luck on the choke mechanism so before I start ripping the bodywork off and taking the tank off, can anyone offer advice??

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:23 pm
by tanneman
It is not a choke in the real sense of the word but rather an idle seed adjuster to aid with cold starting. The bike is fuel injected you know.

Basically it is a cable that operates the throttle cables at a splitter unit under the tank to pull the butterflies open on the throttle bodies. A lube and clean would probably solve the problem or a new cable. Yes, you will have to take the bike apart in order to solve the issue.

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linky: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=32&fg=73

More advice here: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/bmw-r110 ... choke.html

Remember the fast idle has three positions, off, fast idle and a faster idle which you have to hold with your finger.

Re: Stuck Choke lever

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:12 pm
by Tapio
MelC wrote:Has anyone experienced a stuck choke lever on a BCR, I've searched a maintenance manual with no luck on the choke mechanism so before I start ripping the bodywork off and taking the tank off, can anyone offer advice??
Yes.
Remedy is as follows:
1 Remove brass end weight.
2 Grip is held by two screws, pry the rubber and you’ll see them. One on top, and the other on the opposite side. Remove these and slide off the grip.
3 Now you’ll see three screws at the choke lever ass. Middle screw holds the choke lever. Remove the upper and the lower screw.
4 slide out the choke ass. a little bit. Put a few drops of your preferred lube there. I used regular motor oil. Work the choke lever back and forth a bunch of times to get the lube where it needs to be.
5 assemble in reverse order.
6 done!

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:06 pm
by nab 301
The middle countersunk screw as detailed by Tapio above can loosen and jam the lever. An easy fix if it has..

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Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:20 pm
by R-man
My friendly factory-trained Beemer wrench told me that the innards of the throttle cable splitter box should be cleaned and run dry (when he found that I'd cleaned and used Moly grease inside the box) - OK it goes against our history with bicycles, but the cables are teflon lined, and if you oil them it gets v expensive mighty quickly...

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 8:29 am
by Corvus
R-man wrote:My friendly factory-trained Beemer wrench told me that the innards of the throttle cable splitter box should be cleaned and run dry (when he found that I'd cleaned and used Moly grease inside the box) - OK it goes against our history with bicycles, but the cables are teflon lined, and if you oil them it gets v expensive mighty quickly...
What does the oil do to the Teflon?

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 2:52 pm
by nab 301
Lube on a Teflon cable can afaik penetrate between the liner and the cable , causing the liner to swell , and the cable operation to become heavy.

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:02 pm
by Corvus
nab 301 wrote:Lube on a Teflon cable can afaik penetrate between the liner and the cable , causing the liner to swell , and the cable operation to become heavy.
Thanks.

That was my understanding too.

Would water also cause swelling?

I've always lubed my cables on a frequent basis. Little but often. The practice has always served me well. Been doing it that way since 1976. Old habits die hard!

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 4:43 pm
by Tapio
nab 301 wrote:Lube on a Teflon cable can afaik penetrate between the liner and the cable , causing the liner to swell , and the cable operation to become heavy.
Didn’t know that. I’ve just lubed all four throttle cables! But then again, I have never had any problems with swelling.

As for the choke lever ass.: I thought something was broken, and took it apart to see what was wrong. But since it became as good as new with a little motor oil, I just put it back together again.

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 7:06 pm
by nab 301
Corvus wrote:
nab 301 wrote:.
Would water also cause swelling?

!
I don't think so?
Tbh , I've never had a lined cable on a bike need lubing , in the case of the fast idle cable , I've dismantled the splitter box once and removed a lot of road grit while renewing the cables as preventive maintenance at high mileage.
On a cb500 I owned for 12 yrs I replaced the clutch cable 3 times , external breaks , cable never became heavy.

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 9:16 am
by MelC
Thanks Guys That's the one thing I like about this Forum there is so much knowledge readily on tap and of high quality, 20years in the automotive trade wielding a spanner and you can still learn from other people!!