http://www.moto-techniques.com/bmw.htm
Well,.....site says "approximately" 10-15 minutes to install. I say "Bull $-it".
Also mentioned having to cut 2 ties on each side,......i had to cut at least 5 on each side,........maybe the prep guy on my bike went crazy,.......but the wires and clutch/brake hydrolic lines were locked down tighter than a Pit Bull on a T-bone! About 1 tie was installed every 2-3 inches along the cable and wire routing.
Also,....granted,.....the site mentioned having a helper available to hold the bars in place when placing the barbacks in place , (which i didn't have the luxury of),..........so i was missing at least 1 convenient hand that would have speeded things up for sure. Also,......i had previously installed a touring windshield from Parabellum that i had to remove the top 2 brackets to work things out,......but that took all of 2 minutes,....tops.
But where the real problem came in, was that even after carefully cutting all the required ties on each side,.......i found the front brake line would not even come close to working. I figured out i would have to re-route the line from between the headlamp brackets to behind the bracket to gain a few inches of length.
No mention of that "possibility" was stated in the directions, and i carefully wrapped up the gas tank and all exposed plastic and painted surfaces in contemplation of some brake fluid spillage when disconnecting the line at the master cylinder.
VERY strange that when i disconnected the line, ....NO leakage occured at the master cylinder hookup,......and i plugged the hole anyway to make sure while i turned my attention to re-routing the brake line. I wrapped that in a paper towel and quickly dropped the cable below the headlamp mounting bracket and quickly re-connected the line at the master cylinder.
Surprise,........the paper towel was dry and no brake fluid had dripped on any of the protective coverings i had so carefully placed over the vunerable parts of the bike. WHAT UP?
Being a bit intreagued at this point,.......wondering if the old BMW designers had somehow engineered a valve that worked to cut the flow of fluid if the hose was disconnected. It was probably just a vacumn within the resevoir that prevented the flow of fluid from the master cylinder,.......but what prevented the actual line from leaking when i brought it down and under the headlamp bracket? Seems very strange to me.......
.......AND,..........stranger still is after i got it all back together,..........i expected to have to immediately bleed air from the line to get firm hand-lever function. I still plan to do that tomorrow,......just in case. But, damn,......the brake handle was just about perfect in function with no perceptable spongyness or extra play before the brake starts to engage.
After a total of about 1 1/4 HOURS i had it all installed and looking good,........and i was anxious to test the new "feel" of the now more comfortable seating position.
So after testing the brakes several times in my driveway,.....i decided to go slow and go around the block a few times at slow speed to check things out.
Brakes feel perfect, but i still plan on bleeding them soon just as a precaution. As the bikle is a 2004 model,......i may just go ahead and change all the fluid out as recommended every 2 years.
Long way around to my question,.......but,.......is my experience with the lack of fluid leakage unnusual when disconnecting the lines on these bikes?
...OR,.......was i just super lucky?
