The magic number ... 3K
[ Thursday - July
8, 2010 ]
It seems this is a bad year for me regarding batteries. Not only
was I able to run down the battery on the 8GS by riding at low RPMs, I
also succeeded in
neglecting the R12R for long enough that it too suffered a drained
battery
problem. For the 8GS, I adjusted my riding a bit and found the
magic number to keep the bike happy. So long as the engine is
spinning at 3K RPM, there are no battery problems. Interestingly,
3K RPM doesn't reduce the fuel economy
by much.
The saga of the hard start problem on the 8GS continues.
Fortunately,
there is a solution. What is it? Why it's another fuel
injector and
fuel pump change out. Apparently, the gas station I've been
using, 90%
of the time, is causing my problem. According to BMW, what I'm
experiencing is due to water corrosion of the fuel pump and/or fuel
injector. With this change out, I've also been told to use a
different
gas station. There is a likely chance that the gas station I've
been
using is supplying bad fuel. Easily enough done, there are other
gas
stations in my area that I can go to that hopefully has better
gas.
Isn't ethanol wonderful?
At this point the 8GS is grounded on battery tender until parts
arrive. The appointment has been set for 7/24. If all goes
well, I
will take the 8GS on this year's Mammoth trip in addition to receiving
a new chain and sprocket from BMW due to a final drive recall.
As for the 12R, I had to jump start the bike via my Subaru
Forester. I left the two vehicles connected long enough for the
12R to receive enough juice so the 12R can power the computer on its
own. Battery tender, a 50 miles ride at 70MPH, and even more
battery tender yields a fully charged 12R battery. Cool! I
don't have to resort to spending $160 for a new BMW AGM battery.
It's still ALIVE!!! 
Written on: July 8, 2010
Last modified: July 8, 2010
