Hello everyone.
Despite the title, today's post isn't about magic maintenance that boosts torque for free. It's about how I'd been losing out by neglecting maintenance.
I wrote in the post below about finding the insulator loose and tightening the band again.
On my first ride after tightening the band, I thought, "Hang on, the engine's running nicely!", so I'd like to tell you about it.
Neglected maintenance: I hadn't noticed the loose insulator
-
-
Checking for a Loose Insulator Band on My BMW G650GS: Brown Staining at the Joint Gave It Away
With the battery out of my G650GS, I spotted brown staining where the insulator joins the throttle housing. The insulator band screw turned out to be loose, so I tightened it.
On the G650GS, the insulator band is inside the yellow circle in the photo above.
The bolt in the photo above was really loose, so I tightened it.
How the engine ran with the insulator band loose
To be honest, my G650GS had a problem I couldn't explain.
The engine speed wouldn't settle at idle.
Now and then I even wondered, "Is the engine about to stall?"
I thought it was odd for a fuel-injected engine, but since it never actually stalled, I left it.
I also felt that it had less torque than when I bought it second-hand.
That one is just a feeling, so I can't say whether it's true.
How the engine ran after tightening the insulator band
First of all, the unsteady idle I mentioned above was gone!
On top of that, the engine ran well and felt as if it had more torque.
It reminded me that regular maintenance really matters, and I felt as if I'd gained some torque for free.
In reality, though, it had just gone back to normal after running badly, so I hadn't gained anything at all...