ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS FAULT?

[The smudger]

On Saturday I left the bike (98 R1100RT) outside all day as I was clearing out the garage. The bike got very hot (from the sun!).

I had used it on Friday (130 mls) and Saturday morning (5 mls) and its always plugged into a charger.

Saturday afternoon tried to start the bike but churned over very slowly, just like a flat battery, about 2 or 3 revolutions then stopped (again, just like a flat battery. I pushed it back into the garage and went out for an hour. Came back and just had to try it again out of curiosity...

It cranked normally and started? The bike had cooled down considerably by then as well.

Left it on charge till this morning. Went out at 6 and it started OK albeit a little sluggish. Stopped on the way to work to get some fuel (35 mls into the ride). Came out from paying and, yep, same as Saturday afternoon, a couple of very slow churns then flat battery symptoms again! Left it for a while then after it seemed to cool down a bit it started???

Rode to work (further 30 mls) and switched off. Tried to start straight away and no go, same again....

One thing i did notice was the clock had reset and the ABS lights were flashing....So, I would have placed a few quid on it being a battery. Bought a new BMW battery, fitted it this afternoon at work and??

Same.......

Started to check connections etc and the B+ lead at the starter looked slightly corroded. I literally did no more than remove the lead, clean things up a bit, then re-fit it. Spun over like a good un! It was, or so it seemed, obvious that this was the problem. I even re-fitted the original battery and yep, spun over well.....

But......

On the way home a bloody fly/bug or something found its way into my lid, drove me bloody mad so I pulled over to remove the lid and the fly. Switched the bike off and after a couple of mins went to start again, yep, same as before......sounds really sluggish...but eventually just about started. I rode the rest of the way home with the ABS lights flashing. Got home and switched off. After a couple of mins it wouldnt start, same symptoms again...

Left it for a good 35-40 minutes and it started well, like there was no problem at all!!!!!!

I suspect the starter.....

Any thoughts?????

 

[Paul Wakefield]

Every boxer I've owned (as far as I can remember) has done this i.e. cranked very slowly when starting when hot but has in fact actually started quite happily. Though I can't recall this being the case from just being in the sun.

 

[stever1]

You don't say how old the battery is. They don't last for ever, even if its put on a battery optimizer.
As the bike is 15 years old I think you can expect it to cause trouble from time to time.

 

[Deleted account 220427001]

starting

On Saturday I left the bike (98 R1100RT) outside all day as I was clearing out the garage. The bike got very hot (from the sun!).

I had used it on Friday (130 mls) and Saturday morning (5 mls) and its always plugged into a charger.

Saturday afternoon tried to start the bike but churned over very slowly, just like a flat battery, about 2 or 3 revolutions then stopped (again, just like a flat battery. I pushed it back into the garage and went out for an hour. Came back and just had to try it again out of curiosity...

It cranked normally and started? The bike had cooled down considerably by then as well.

Left it on charge till this morning. Went out at 6 and it started OK albeit a little sluggish. Stopped on the way to work to get some fuel (35 mls into the ride). Came out from paying and, yep, same as Saturday afternoon, a couple of very slow churns then flat battery symptoms again! Left it for a while then after it seemed to cool down a bit it started???

Rode to work (further 30 mls) and switched off. Tried to start straight away and no go, same again....

One thing i did notice was the clock had reset and the ABS lights were flashing....So, I would have placed a few quid on it being a battery. Bought a new BMW battery, fitted it this afternoon at work and??

Same.......

Started to check connections etc and the B+ lead at the starter looked slightly corroded. I literally did no more than remove the lead, clean things up a bit, then re-fit it. Spun over like a good un! It was, or so it seemed, obvious that this was the problem. I even re-fitted the original battery and yep, spun over well.....

But......

On the way home a bloody fly/bug or something found its way into my lid, drove me bloody mad so I pulled over to remove the lid and the fly. Switched the bike off and after a couple of mins went to start again, yep, same as before......sounds really sluggish...but eventually just about started. I rode the rest of the way home with the ABS lights flashing. Got home and switched off. After a couple of mins it wouldnt start, same symptoms again...

Left it for a good 35-40 minutes and it started well, like there was no problem at all!!!!!!

I suspect the starter.....

Any thoughts?????

your bike is sulking ! clean up solenoid switch and clean up the armacher on the starter motor fit new bushes

 

[MEDICMAN]

You don't say how old the battery is. They don't last for ever, even if its put on a battery optimizer.
As the bike is 15 years old I think you can expect it to cause trouble from time to time.

Errrr, excuse me, I don't mean to be rude but Smudger said he changed the battery and the same thing happened with the new one so I very much doubt it's that.

I'd go with the solenoid or starter motor as said above.

 

[kennyc]

sounds like the starter to me, my 1100 managed to go a whole year between incidents of non-starting, both times it was in very hot weather, both times I was on tour in between it ran as sweet as a sweet thing! go figure! a quick strip of the starter willl show if the magnets are starting to break away.
PS bump starting an RT11 is easy peasy, as long as you can roll downhill or have some willing pushers

 

[roddy]

friend had similar starting issues with a 1150GSA and it was the starter motor was cooked to the point of have melted all its wiring, and windings.

worth pulling it out for a look its an easy job, even with all the plastic in the way

 

[Puggy]

I had exactly the same thing on my 1150RT - starter motor was on the way out and then finally fried itself - they are a bugger to bump start. I don't know about the hot weather, but the symptoms are exactly what I saw.

 

[stever1]

Errrr, excuse me, I don't mean to be rude but Smudger said he changed the battery and the same thing happened with the new one so I very much doubt it's that.

I'd go with the solenoid or starter motor as said above.

Actually I meant the bike is 15 years old.

 

[The smudger]

FIXED

OK, firstly thanks for all the replies.

It was the starter motor. Took it off this morning and stripped it. 3 of the 4 magnets had come adrift..






The armature has taken a bit of a beating but i plan to re build it as a spare, It did actually start OK ish so will be OK i think.




Does anyone know of a strong glue I could use to stick them back on with? I had a spare starter so fitted it up. I cannot remember it ever spinning over that fast????

 

[Muppet]

A proper epoxy 2 pack resin should do it Steve, Araldite or similar.

Anyway, what you mucking about with that for, you have a far more capable touring machine to play with now............

 

[The smudger]

Cheers Clive, BTW I owe you mate, the starter i fitted was in that box of bits!!

Thanks again.

I am quite excited about the new 'Tourer' I'm collecting it tommorow AM....