Here are my throttle cable replacement observations so how I spent my Sunday.
Having waited two months to get the throttle cable upgrade parts from Chicago BMW I was in no big hurry to get this done. so being the procrastinator that I am I finally told myself I had to get off my duff and do this. I stripped the bike down to the 24k level. I remember reading that some one did this without taking the air box off; they must have been magicians!
I removed the fan cowling, two screws holding that on. I also removed the handle bar covers both sides and the cover around the ignition. There was no way I could get the new cable ends installed without removing the air box. Here’s why; there is a small circlip that holds the throttle cable in place behind the cruise control plate. This must be removed in order to change it out. I guess to could unscrew the cruise control switch but I thought the air box removal would be best. You have to get to that clip from above. Plus it’s just plain easier to change out the cables with out that air box in the way!
The air box comes straight off after you have unclipped two non reusable hose clamps on the first and second throttle body and then unscrew the third and forth re useable hose clamps. There is also one screw you have to remove that holds the airport to the air tunnel which goes out to the front of the bike. You really have to tug on that air box to get if off. I just kept wiggling it back and forth and it finally slid off the throttle bodies.
So now comes the fun part, the hand grip disassembly. Having installed the Phoenix light switch to my bike I sort of remembered how the grip comes apart, sorta…….
Words can not describe how I got this done! There are a few very small screws that hold this thing together. The toughest part was how to remove the old cable holder. Once I had the cable ends off, the retaining plate was still there and I could see two small screws behind the hand grip that held it. How do you get to those? Well turn the hand grip a short distance and its slides off about an inch giving you enough room to unscrew the two screws. I found this out by accident. Then you have to snip a ¾” section off the old plate off to get it completely gone.
I taped the new cables to the old ones and feed them down by pulling the old cables. This worked ok but the clearance is minimal at the steering head. The throttle opening cable has a green tape attached to it by the way. I held the throttle bodies open so I could remove and replace the lower cable. This just took patience and a long needle nose pliers and a long screwdriver. Then I removed the circlip off the upper cable and slide it out along with the spring for the cruise control switch. This cable was the easiest to do.
I then cut an elongated hole in the lower handle bar cover with my Dremel tool so I could feed the upper ends of the cables through it. I installed the new cable retaining plate to the hand grip. Then I positioned the cables (make sure you mark the throttle opening cable some way so you don’t install them backwards!) and hooked them to the hand grip and aligned the cables in the grooves. I re-assembled the hand grip and adjusted the tension until it moved freely and felt right. I made sure the cruise control switch was working too.
I then cleaned the throttle bodies because they were dirty after 59k of running. Then I bought two new hose clamps to replace the clamps on number 1 and 2 throttle body. Be sure these clamps to not interfere with the throttle body openers and spring holders. They have to be installed so they don’t block the operation. I reinstalled the air box and then everything else until I could start the bike after the gas tank was back on. I started fine so I completed the re assembly. I took a test ride and liked the new feel of the throttle. Very different than what I was used to.
The hardest thing about this install was the hand grip disassembly and the hook up of the new cable ends to the throttle body cam and the cable ends back into the hand grip. The air box was no picnic either. But I had read other install comments and referred to the BMW manual several times so I was able to muck my way through this. I started at 10am and finished at 5:30pm including a run to the parts store for hose clamps and carb cleaner plus a short lunch break. I can only feel better having known the dealer charge for this would have been at least 400.00 give or take a c note. I love saving money when I can but this plum tired me out!
Sorry no pictures but there are a lot of pictures in the FAQ.
Having waited two months to get the throttle cable upgrade parts from Chicago BMW I was in no big hurry to get this done. so being the procrastinator that I am I finally told myself I had to get off my duff and do this. I stripped the bike down to the 24k level. I remember reading that some one did this without taking the air box off; they must have been magicians!
I removed the fan cowling, two screws holding that on. I also removed the handle bar covers both sides and the cover around the ignition. There was no way I could get the new cable ends installed without removing the air box. Here’s why; there is a small circlip that holds the throttle cable in place behind the cruise control plate. This must be removed in order to change it out. I guess to could unscrew the cruise control switch but I thought the air box removal would be best. You have to get to that clip from above. Plus it’s just plain easier to change out the cables with out that air box in the way!
The air box comes straight off after you have unclipped two non reusable hose clamps on the first and second throttle body and then unscrew the third and forth re useable hose clamps. There is also one screw you have to remove that holds the airport to the air tunnel which goes out to the front of the bike. You really have to tug on that air box to get if off. I just kept wiggling it back and forth and it finally slid off the throttle bodies.
So now comes the fun part, the hand grip disassembly. Having installed the Phoenix light switch to my bike I sort of remembered how the grip comes apart, sorta…….
Words can not describe how I got this done! There are a few very small screws that hold this thing together. The toughest part was how to remove the old cable holder. Once I had the cable ends off, the retaining plate was still there and I could see two small screws behind the hand grip that held it. How do you get to those? Well turn the hand grip a short distance and its slides off about an inch giving you enough room to unscrew the two screws. I found this out by accident. Then you have to snip a ¾” section off the old plate off to get it completely gone.
I taped the new cables to the old ones and feed them down by pulling the old cables. This worked ok but the clearance is minimal at the steering head. The throttle opening cable has a green tape attached to it by the way. I held the throttle bodies open so I could remove and replace the lower cable. This just took patience and a long needle nose pliers and a long screwdriver. Then I removed the circlip off the upper cable and slide it out along with the spring for the cruise control switch. This cable was the easiest to do.
I then cut an elongated hole in the lower handle bar cover with my Dremel tool so I could feed the upper ends of the cables through it. I installed the new cable retaining plate to the hand grip. Then I positioned the cables (make sure you mark the throttle opening cable some way so you don’t install them backwards!) and hooked them to the hand grip and aligned the cables in the grooves. I re-assembled the hand grip and adjusted the tension until it moved freely and felt right. I made sure the cruise control switch was working too.
I then cleaned the throttle bodies because they were dirty after 59k of running. Then I bought two new hose clamps to replace the clamps on number 1 and 2 throttle body. Be sure these clamps to not interfere with the throttle body openers and spring holders. They have to be installed so they don’t block the operation. I reinstalled the air box and then everything else until I could start the bike after the gas tank was back on. I started fine so I completed the re assembly. I took a test ride and liked the new feel of the throttle. Very different than what I was used to.
The hardest thing about this install was the hand grip disassembly and the hook up of the new cable ends to the throttle body cam and the cable ends back into the hand grip. The air box was no picnic either. But I had read other install comments and referred to the BMW manual several times so I was able to muck my way through this. I started at 10am and finished at 5:30pm including a run to the parts store for hose clamps and carb cleaner plus a short lunch break. I can only feel better having known the dealer charge for this would have been at least 400.00 give or take a c note. I love saving money when I can but this plum tired me out!
Sorry no pictures but there are a lot of pictures in the FAQ.