Bike dead....any ideas?

[steforsh]

I have a 06 1200gs that is used at weekends and left on a bmw charger all week. the wife rang me yesterday to inforn me that my back light was on, so when i get home i disconected the charger (that was showing error) and tried the key... nothing at all, not lighting up the dash or anthing. completely void of life.

anyone had similar, or any ideas before i ring the dealer.

 

[Wapping]

four possibilities:

(a) You have somehow set the parking lights. It is possible to do through a combination of pushing the indicator button(s) and turning the ignition key. There is a thread on it, somewhere. That has left the lights on, the charger is perhaps insufficient to keep the battery topped up and run the lights.

(b) There is a short. There is a thread somewhere about a bike running with the the ignition off, so the lights being on is a possibility. Charger unable to cope and / or the remainder of the Canbus system has failed (tripped) to safety, so cutting off the inwards charge from the charger. The battery then going on to simply flatten itself.

(c) The rear light wasn't on. It may have only been sunlight catching it at the right angle (it has happened to me) and it's simply that the charger didn't work properly.

(d) You left your keys in the ignition and the lights on, charger unable to cope?

Have you tried charging the battery since?

Have you run a volt meter across the terminals, to see if the battery has any charge at all?

If you recharge the battery, are the lights still on, when the ignition is off and the parking lights not engaged? If so, strong possibility of a short.

 

[Belizibub]

when my 06 lost all life with no display, turned out to be a corroded ignition barrel.

 

[steforsh]

just run a volt meter across the battery and it's showing 4.9V maybe the charger is at fault and actually flattened the battery by keeping the rear light on.for some reason the charger flashes the park lights every time it starts a cycle. i've took the battery off and plugged it to a car charger, i'll give it an hour and try again.

 

[Wapping]

just run a volt meter across the battery and it's showing 4.9V maybe the charger is at fault and actually flattened the battery by keeping the rear light on.for some reason the charger flashes the park lights every time it starts a cycle. i've took the battery off and plugged it to a car charger, i'll give it an hour and try again.

From the 'flashing' of the park lights, I suspect a short somewhere.

There is no reason at for the park lights to 'flash' at any time, when the bike is simply being charged.

It may well be quite easy to trace via the BuMW's self-diagnostics.

 

[steforsh]

she's alive.... after an hour on a proper charger i got a voltage of 12.4 and she sprang back into life.
i tried the bmw charger back in the aux socket and all it did was turn on the park lights i switched it off and unplugged it and the lights stayed on so i'm guessing my charger is kaputt. not only is it not charging it puts the lights on just for devilment.
regarding the quick flash of the parking lights when the charger starts its cycle, does nobody elses do that? mines done it since new, i thought it was normal.

 

[steforsh]

spoke too soon. it switches on and starts fine now, but the left indicator comes on and stays on, then when i finally get it to go off it won't come back on.
something is definatly amiss.

i miss the old fuse boxes, these things are too complicated. looks like a trip to the workshop after all.

 

[Bem]

Might be an electrical problem, or are you using 15/40 instead of 20/50 ?

Seriously, keep the ignition turned on for no more than 2 mins at a time whilst you poke and prod each set of wires around the headstock to see if this produces any results ie lights on/off, indicator on/off even take off the odd cable tie to allow you a bit more flexing space.

And yes, I too missed fuses so much I fitted a Centrex box to run the power sockets, and they have been A1 for almost 4 years.
Good luck.

 

[Wapping]

Aha, now we are getting somewhere, perhaps.

It has nothing to do with a lack of conventional fuses, the smart charger or much else of a 'modern' origin.

More than likely you have a simple short in the left hand indicator switchgear, maybe broken or simply dirty. Failing that, in its leads.

From memory, the park light sequence is initiated by the left hand indicator and the ignition switch. If the switch is shorted to on, when you turn the ignition off, the bike will light its park lights.

The chances are that the BuMW charger is not sufficient to charge the battery and run the park lights, so the battery flattens itself.

Start by simply checking / cleaning the switch connections and / or do a search on UKGSer. There are several threads.

If the bike is still under warranty BuMW may well do the job for you and / or replace the switches for free. If it's out, get busy or pay or ask for a goodwill payment.


PS It might be interesting to know how many people who have flat battery problems on the 1200 GS have exactly the same problem. Ie. They have initiated the park lights and wandered off for a couple of weeks. Then come back to a dead bike.

 

[steforsh]

thanks all.

will investigate this before before the wallet comes out..

i'll let you know how i get on