ABS lights flashing ...AGAIN!

[Demongroover]

Bought a GS1150.
ABS not setting properly when I turn the bike on (alternate flashing).
Low voltage I am told.
Complained to Pidcocks, free BMW gelpack battery which I duly fitted.
ABS working ok, happy me.

Two weeks later, (coincidentally whilst getting BTBR lights fitted) the problem returns. Unhappy me. Out for a ride on Sunday, heavy snow on motorway, in need of ABS in an emergency, but no ABS, totally pissed off me. But the lights came in handy!

So what should I do?

I only have heated grips and the extra lights on the bike, which I am assured the BMW alternator can easily handle. I've tried charging the battery, it says it's fully charged, turn the key and the problem remains.

Advise please before I sell the bike and buy something that works as it should.

 

[Tarka]

Have you tried turning the ignition on (without accessories switched on) and waiting for a few seconds (say while you put your gloves on) before starting the engine ???

That cured my 1100 ABS dizzyfit.

Also check the ABS sensor gap and check the ABS rings are clean.

 

[Demongroover]

Tried waiting, no difference.
I always start it with everything else turned off.

Bike is quite clean and was working perfectly for two weeks after the new battery was fitted but I'll check the gaps/cleanliness though.

 

[snoopy]

Possible: The battery should be at 13.6v (ish) not the 12v that your charger will do. The bike will still start fine at 12v.

Solution:
I had a battery warning all through winter because it takes 15mins of running the bike at idle to recharge one attempt to turn the engine over. Probably alot more with ABS. If you are doing short journeys turn your main headlight off to aid quicker charging - this solved my problem.

Test:
Use a multimeter on the aux socket and report your voltage.

Hope this helps,

Andrew

PS) I read you want to keep your lights on, well, the only solution is to idle your bike at a higher RPM - keep the fast idle stuck on high or leave your engine running for a couple mins in the morning with the lights off.

 

[blues n twos]

I have a similar thing with my 1150. I find if its been a cold night, and bearing in mind my bike lives outside, It takes e few extra turns to fire up. I pull away and the ABS dosen't clunk on pullaway so no ABS.

If I pull over and restart with a little bit of throttle open the ABS will engage on pullaway

What I do now when I start is to pull the fast idle up and hold the throttle ever so slightly open. This gives the engine a quick burst of life and I would say that 95% of the time the ABS is fine.

I thought it was my battery but when I went away for a month I was sure it wouldn't start when I got back but it fired up no problem .

Am I right in thinking that the ABS sensors have something to do with this

HTH.... Jon

Have read on hear somewhere that they need checking out sometimes.

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

I think it is common to have to switch off and bump-start the engine at the first lights you encounter so the abs resets when you pull away......
Most likely to be a sign of not 100% battery, but it's no biggie.

 

[finglonga]

Have you reset the ABS?

This is for 1150 without servo, don't know if it makes a difference with a servo??

With ignition off
Find the diagnostic plug under the seat behind the battery (black one with a twist off cap).

Connect an end of wire to the brown/blue wire pin and the other end of wire to the earth of the bike(footpeg, -terminal of battery).

Turn on ignition, the two ABS lights will still be flashing as before.
Hold ABS button down for 10 seconds.
The bottom light should remain on, the other should go off.

Release the ABS button.

If it has worked both lights should be off now.

 

[MikeP]

Tell us what year the bike is and what braking system it has.

Are you following the handbook start-up procedure for Evo III brakes (if that's what you have)?

If you have Evo III, then not waiting for the self-check while the lights are flashing will give the results you describe.

Wait for the upper light to stop flashing and remain steady and the lower one to change from ten flashes per second to four per second, then start the engine.

If the lower light remains, that indicates either a failure in the stop/tail lamp bulb or ABS has been disabled.

An insufficient power supply at start-up will cause the ABS light to remain on. Brakes work fine but ABS is disabled until the alternator has done it's job (about ten miles will do it).

An indication of battery strength is the digital clock. Before you do anything, have a look at the clock. If it is blank then low battery power, on start-up the clock will not show the correct time.

 

[JohnC]

An Optimate would help. Much better than just charging the battery. I hook mine up every night, comes with a BMW style plug as well.

 

[Demongroover]

An Optimate would help. Much better than just charging the battery. I hook mine up every night, comes with a BMW style plug as well.

Thanks for the advice guys.

The bike is an 1150GS 2000 with ABS.
The battery is a BMW gel battery and Pidcocks told me not to use an Optimate though I can't see any other way off charging a battery other than passing current through it?

I have tried running for a bit then turning the bike off and trying again (not an ideal solution really eh?) I did 250 odd miles on Sunday and it did it all day whether I turned my lights off or not. Frankly I don't want to turn my lights off, I bought extras as I want to avoid getting knocked off again, as well as tanning the odd unsuspecting motorist

I will try resetting the abs with the wire technique and see what happens.

BTW those BTBR lights are shit hot!!!

 

[BTBR]

BTW those BTBR lights are shit hot!!!

Told ya didnt I...........

Hope that you get the ABS lights sorted quickly, how dam frustrating.......

BTBR