1150GS Hiccups/Lurching & Stalling

[grez]

I have a 2001 1150 GS with 50,000 miles on it, just had a new clutch 5 weeks ago. Rode home after the new clutch (20 miles) no problems and put the bike in the garage. Not ridden since and took it out last weekend. All was fine until she warmed up and stalled at the lights with a bit of a cough. Restarted and though nothing of it until I got on the motorway and accelerated at which point she had a severe coughing fit, lurched a lot and generally behaved like a demented kangaroo before cutting out. I got onto the hard shoulder and had a look around, nothing amiss so fired her up OK and 5 miles down the road repeated the whole thing stopping in the motorway roadworks. Another look around revealed nothing so off I went again heading for a garage whereas she did it again on a roundabout (now looking for clean underwear as well as a garage). She has always been serviced properly and fairly well looked after.

I am at a loss. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the problem might be? Am hoping not too expensive as the next trip is on the line.

 

[beemer pimp]

Make sure all connection seating properly ( on top of injectors , on top air filter, and so on)

 

[Cook1e]

Main earth connector on top of gearbox (under battery tray)?

 

[KMD]

I would go to the fuel lines first. New clutch is a big job and see's a lot of stuff removed to break the back of the bike, which then gets hung up to gain access. The fuel lines are easy (for an amateur like me) to get wrongly routed and 'kink' which could possibly cause a starvation.

 

[grez]

The thing is it was running fine on the 20 mile ride home after the clutch was done. It then sat in the garage until I took it out and got these problems. Therefore I can only assume fuel lines are ok but will check connections as I once had an intermittent fault where the battery lead was not connected due to the bolt falling out and every time I went over a bump the lead would jump off the terminal and cut the engine - was a bugger to find as when I had stopped the cable returned onto the battery under its natural bend.

 

[Canuck]

Could be feeling or electrical, if we assume feeling is good I'd start by checking the little electrical connector under right side of tank.

 

[KMD]

I've had to clean that out before Canuck, but it only affected the fuel gauge on mine. Does it do the fuel pump too ? (I don't know, I'm asking )

 

[flatdog]

I've had to clean that out before Canuck, but it only affected the fuel gauge on mine. Does it do the fuel pump too ? (I don't know, I'm asking )

yes the pump's wiring goes there too.

Are you sure the cables on top of throttle bodys are correctly seated.

 

[Karlread]

There is a clutch of wiring that can be stretched when the rear frame is hinged upwards give all connections a good push. It could also be a vacuum in the fuel tank, check the breather tubes have not been crushed by the tank. I would as said above check that the throttle cables are properly seated, usual culprit is the one on the offside.
It may also be worth talking to Steve Scriminger of Scriminger engineering in Sleaford, he is the Yoda of all things BMW motorcycle wise and a very affable chap. He overhauled the gearbox on my 19 year old R1100RS and did a top job!

 

[Roger 04 RT]

I would go to the fuel lines first. New clutch is a big job and see's a lot of stuff removed to break the back of the bike, which then gets hung up to gain access. The fuel lines are easy (for an amateur like me) to get wrongly routed and 'kink' which could possibly cause a starvation.

The thing is it was running fine on the 20 mile ride home after the clutch was done. It then sat in the garage until I took it out and got these problems. Therefore I can only assume fuel lines are ok but will check connections as I once had an intermittent fault where the battery lead was not connected due to the bolt falling out and every time I went over a bump the lead would jump off the terminal and cut the engine - was a bugger to find as when I had stopped the cable returned onto the battery under its natural bend.

I agree with he fuel line suggestion or the vent lines. You can test fuel sys performance like this, just a hose connected to the return line: http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=838585#Post838585.

There are other possibilities, wiring, HES, etc. but it's easy to rule the fuel in or out.

 

[Colban]

Bike on centrestand and fire her up.
Move bars lock to lock-any misfiring?.
Suspect break in wire(s) to ignition switch.

 

[grez]

Well bike started, ran, died. Fuel is pumping fine but sounds like it is hunting for fuel - weird.

 

[Roger 04 RT]

Well bike started, ran, died. Fuel is pumping fine but sounds like it is hunting for fuel - weird.

The only way to know that fuel is pumping fine is to separate the return line at the QD going back to the tank, open the check valve on the QD and see if fuel is flowing when the pump is running. Did you try that? It sounds like you just hear the pump running.

 

[Irishdude]

Did you try to loosen bolt holding tank on the right side lift tank a bit and check if there is nothing twisted or pinched or unplugged.

 

[grez]

Well bike does't start at all, its trying but nope. Can't see any pinched fuel lines, although didn't expect to as I got 20 miles home with no problems, if a fuel line was pinched I wouldn't have got that far. The problem has come after the ride home when I took it out again. Between getting it home and going out again it just sat in the garage. I can only suspect some failure due to age. Interesting that on the side stand the fuel light is on, upright it is off yet there is at least a third of a tank of fuel in there.

 

[MikeO]

Do you have an alarm fitted?

 

[grez]

Nope - I am thinking it is either a loose connection that opens up under vibration from time to time (unlikely), some sort of electronic fault as it appeared when the bike was up to operating temp (perhaps a component failure although now does not fire up at all) or perhaps ignition system fault (fuel is being fed when turned over - coroded wire perhaps or damaged insulation somewhere).

 

[hops]

I had a similar problem with my '03GSA. Turned out to be a split/perished in the hose inside the tank that links the fuel pump to the filter, see thread here

 

[Cook1e]

Did you check the earth connection to the top gearbox bolt?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[Loutre]

Did you find out what it was? I had exactly the same after also a flywheel replacement. Rode Ok on test ride and then two days later after sitting the same symptoms. I disconnected and reconnected all the connecters, fuel lines, saw that my gas tank was hitting the lower right stick coil wiring (some tension) so I solved that problem aswell, cleaned my BBS, and went for a testride. Wasn't able to reproduce it so I guess I solved it by reconnecting something that wasn't properly seated. YMMV. Hope you've got it sorted 4 month later but wanted to chip in in case someone has the same problem.