Maybe 10 - 11 years ago I bought a second hand bright yellow 1150GS with sensible miles and in pretty good all round condition. This bike served me very well as a daily commuter and some longer distance trips for I think around 3 years, it was boringly reliable and with only one incident when the fuel pump packed in. (I managed to fix that at the side of the road!) Our relationship continued in a stable and harmonious manner until!....... It just happened! ….. To my eternal shame my head was turned by a fresher, younger, slimmer model. This one had low miles, many toys ABS, ESA, Extra lights. Heated grips that worked, easy to clean cast wheels and it was blue, which didn't attract every insect for 40 miles. So I cast aside the old 1150 and began this new affair.
Moving forward 7 or 8 years and here I am with another 1150. The 1200 was an OK bike but just a little bit fragile and had a fair few niggles, fuel gauge rarely worked. ESA was temperamental at best, a persistent oil leak that was only cured with a new cylinder head, and it finally disgraced itself by leaving me stranded due to a fuel pressure control sensor that decided the afterlife was infinitely more interesting.
It just had to go.
So, onto the ‘new’ machine……. I traveled up to Scotland to pick the bike up and having satisfied myself that all appeared well with the bike, I started my homeward journey. 220 miles back to the warm glow of a Lincolnshire sunset.
The first hint of any problem was when I stopped 5 miles up the road to fill the tank. Upon restarting the bike I discovered that not all was well with the starter motor. The solenoid was throwing the pinion but the pinion was not engaging with the flywheel. I tried again and it engaged and started. I gave it no more than a passing though, assuming that as the bike had only traveled 29 miles in two years it was just a bit gummed up.
100 miles down the road and hunger got the better of me, so I pulled into the next available services and availed myself of a burger and coffee. Very nice it was too. On returning to the bike I tried to start up and nothing, nada, zilch, zero, just the click of the solenoid! My first thought was that the battery had discharged and wasn't charging, but the lights barely dimmed when the starter was activated so I figure the starter motor is just stuck. Putting it in gear and rocking back and forth seemed to make a difference and the starter energised, the whirring motor however intimated it wasn’t in a happy place, two more attempts and it finally caught and churned the motor into life. By this time I’m thinking that the first job will definitely be to strip and clean the starter motor. So, I continued my journey and fortunately arrived home without any further issues.
Due to work commitments I wasn’t able to look at the starter until Friday, Good Friday…. Bank holiday. That morning I went out to the workshop and sat there with my coffee and contemplated upon what needed doing. To be fair the previous owner had the bike fully serviced with new filters. Oil and plugs. Throttle bodies balanced and new discs/pads all round with fresh brake fluid. There wasn’t a lot to do maintenance wise apart from adjust the bars to suit me. So I finished my coffee, dug out my torx bits and proceeded to remove the starter. It’s when you have to do these jobs that you realise what a fantastic design these bikes are. 20 minutes and the starter is on the bench.
I checked the flywheel when I removed the starter and was relieved to see all the teeth were present and in good condition, I only wish I could say the same about my own! Another coffee and 30 minutes later the motor is in bits on the bench and the enormity of the problem presents itself. One of the magnets has detached from the body and crumbled into 3 bits with a few other small pieces stuck to various bits of the body. The armature has a groove worn into it and has definitely seen better days. Surprisingly the carbon brushes are in good condition.
So a quick search of the WWW reveals I’ll not be getting a motor locally any time soon and I’m not paying BMW prices. So I have ordered what I assume is a refurbished one for £60 (With a 5 year warranty) which will turn up sometime, maybe, hopefully.
In the meantime it’s a bank holiday weekend and I want to be out on the bike. Will a starter motor work with one magnet missing? Only one way to find out. So I clean and reassemble, sans magnet. With the starter refitted to the bike, battery reconnected and everything in place, I push the tit and she jumped into life instantly! Result!
Needless to say a trip to the local cafe and a slice of cake washed down with a mug of tea to celebrate my good fortune ensued. At least the old girl is still mobile.
So here we are, back in the world of a dependable (Mostly) easy to maintain, simple bike.
Below is the offending article and the girls.
Moving forward 7 or 8 years and here I am with another 1150. The 1200 was an OK bike but just a little bit fragile and had a fair few niggles, fuel gauge rarely worked. ESA was temperamental at best, a persistent oil leak that was only cured with a new cylinder head, and it finally disgraced itself by leaving me stranded due to a fuel pressure control sensor that decided the afterlife was infinitely more interesting.
It just had to go.So, onto the ‘new’ machine……. I traveled up to Scotland to pick the bike up and having satisfied myself that all appeared well with the bike, I started my homeward journey. 220 miles back to the warm glow of a Lincolnshire sunset.
The first hint of any problem was when I stopped 5 miles up the road to fill the tank. Upon restarting the bike I discovered that not all was well with the starter motor. The solenoid was throwing the pinion but the pinion was not engaging with the flywheel. I tried again and it engaged and started. I gave it no more than a passing though, assuming that as the bike had only traveled 29 miles in two years it was just a bit gummed up.
100 miles down the road and hunger got the better of me, so I pulled into the next available services and availed myself of a burger and coffee. Very nice it was too. On returning to the bike I tried to start up and nothing, nada, zilch, zero, just the click of the solenoid! My first thought was that the battery had discharged and wasn't charging, but the lights barely dimmed when the starter was activated so I figure the starter motor is just stuck. Putting it in gear and rocking back and forth seemed to make a difference and the starter energised, the whirring motor however intimated it wasn’t in a happy place, two more attempts and it finally caught and churned the motor into life. By this time I’m thinking that the first job will definitely be to strip and clean the starter motor. So, I continued my journey and fortunately arrived home without any further issues.
Due to work commitments I wasn’t able to look at the starter until Friday, Good Friday…. Bank holiday. That morning I went out to the workshop and sat there with my coffee and contemplated upon what needed doing. To be fair the previous owner had the bike fully serviced with new filters. Oil and plugs. Throttle bodies balanced and new discs/pads all round with fresh brake fluid. There wasn’t a lot to do maintenance wise apart from adjust the bars to suit me. So I finished my coffee, dug out my torx bits and proceeded to remove the starter. It’s when you have to do these jobs that you realise what a fantastic design these bikes are. 20 minutes and the starter is on the bench.
I checked the flywheel when I removed the starter and was relieved to see all the teeth were present and in good condition, I only wish I could say the same about my own! Another coffee and 30 minutes later the motor is in bits on the bench and the enormity of the problem presents itself. One of the magnets has detached from the body and crumbled into 3 bits with a few other small pieces stuck to various bits of the body. The armature has a groove worn into it and has definitely seen better days. Surprisingly the carbon brushes are in good condition.
So a quick search of the WWW reveals I’ll not be getting a motor locally any time soon and I’m not paying BMW prices. So I have ordered what I assume is a refurbished one for £60 (With a 5 year warranty) which will turn up sometime, maybe, hopefully.
In the meantime it’s a bank holiday weekend and I want to be out on the bike. Will a starter motor work with one magnet missing? Only one way to find out. So I clean and reassemble, sans magnet. With the starter refitted to the bike, battery reconnected and everything in place, I push the tit and she jumped into life instantly! Result!
Needless to say a trip to the local cafe and a slice of cake washed down with a mug of tea to celebrate my good fortune ensued. At least the old girl is still mobile.
So here we are, back in the world of a dependable (Mostly) easy to maintain, simple bike.
Below is the offending article and the girls.
