I'm in the process of digging through my lengthy list on the R1. The previous owner, bless his heart, was shall we say very creative regarding repairs. Anyway getting started on a complete makeover on the ignition and fuel systems while repairing some under-hood wiring butchery.
My question is actually about the power steering, it leaks, it leaks from everywhere it could leak from, it leaks from places it can't possibly leak from, it's quite the spectacle really. It's on my list to pull all the components and send them out for rebuild but I want to kick that can down the road a bit while I work on getting it running and driving properly.
1) Is it safe for the steering control valve if I just disconnect the belt on the pump and disable the system? I don't know if the valve can be damaged if hydraulic pressure being delivered to it while driving.
2) Is there an off the shelf pitman arm that I could install to convert it to manual steering temporally while working out the other kinks.