Bad News 
Good luck with the future.......
Good luck with the future.......
GSband
Registered user
Perhaps this can be useful :
Last monday evening (27th of july '09) a BMW motorbike caught fire in Wien Leopoldstadt (Austria). Two nearstanding bikes (Honda and KTM) then caught the flames from the burning bike and burnt down too. The façade from the nearby house and some windows were damaged.
More info (sorry in German) over here : http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/chronik/wien/Drei-Motorraeder-gingen-in-Flammen-auf-0502397.ece
This is interesting :
Quote (translated liberally): "At first it looked like arson. But we can now assume that it started by itself", says Armin Ortner, the fire expert of the Police. It would seem that a short-circuit in the onboard electronics is the cause of the fire in the BMW motorbike. Unquote.
There's also an 8 minute long (boring) video taken by a passer by. I guess this guy didn't want to risk his life extinguishing the fire.
You have my sympathy, and I wish you all the best in your pursuits !
Last monday evening (27th of july '09) a BMW motorbike caught fire in Wien Leopoldstadt (Austria). Two nearstanding bikes (Honda and KTM) then caught the flames from the burning bike and burnt down too. The façade from the nearby house and some windows were damaged.
More info (sorry in German) over here : http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/chronik/wien/Drei-Motorraeder-gingen-in-Flammen-auf-0502397.ece
This is interesting :
Quote (translated liberally): "At first it looked like arson. But we can now assume that it started by itself", says Armin Ortner, the fire expert of the Police. It would seem that a short-circuit in the onboard electronics is the cause of the fire in the BMW motorbike. Unquote.
There's also an 8 minute long (boring) video taken by a passer by. I guess this guy didn't want to risk his life extinguishing the fire.
You have my sympathy, and I wish you all the best in your pursuits !
GSband
Registered user
And now something different (hence new post).
The GS's standard saddle comes with a front and rear positioning bar underneath, making it possible to install the saddle at different hights.
When the seat is installed badly there's a potential risk that the front bar makes contact with both + and - poles, thus creating a short-circuit. Don't ask me how I know.
I hope this was not the case.
The GS's standard saddle comes with a front and rear positioning bar underneath, making it possible to install the saddle at different hights.
When the seat is installed badly there's a potential risk that the front bar makes contact with both + and - poles, thus creating a short-circuit. Don't ask me how I know.
I hope this was not the case.
There was a thread about a wiring loom failure, although I think that happened when the bike was being ridden.
When the bike has not been used for 2 days and then ignites I'd be thinking about some sort of external influence, such as mice nibbling wiring (they do it to house electrics and it can cause fires) or someone trying to steal the bike and shorting the wiring.
The Fire Brigade might be able to provide some help, they seem to look into why fires started on occasion.
When the bike has not been used for 2 days and then ignites I'd be thinking about some sort of external influence, such as mice nibbling wiring (they do it to house electrics and it can cause fires) or someone trying to steal the bike and shorting the wiring.
The Fire Brigade might be able to provide some help, they seem to look into why fires started on occasion.
Glad I bought some mousetraps for the garage recently. At least 6 mice won't be responsible for any damage to wiring.
rick
Registered user
Not a fire, but it must have come close. My wiring loom shorted out to the frame. The exact position was the feed to the ABS unit under the tank.
Wiring was totally fecked, but the bike was still running. It was quite funny really, when I got to the dealers it wouldn't stop. Took the key out, still running.
A couple of days before it happened the battery went flat. It was winter so it could have been down to the cold, but, with hindsight, I did wonder if it was the start of the problem. Was your bike moved at all during the 2 days it wasn't ridden? Even if it wasn't I still think you could have had the problem there slowly developing.
In the dealers at the same time as mine was a 1200RT that had caught fire, but the owner had put out. The insurance company wouldn't pay up as they said it was a mechanical problem and BuMW wouldn't help as the bike was out of warranty and bought from a Triumph dealer. All the control units had been taken out with the loom so the guy was faced with a huge bill. The dealer admitted that he should have let it burn.
If its not been tampered with then I regard the wiring loom as one of the components on a motorcycle that should last the WHOLE life of the bike and I don't think it's reasonable for BuMW to just wash their hands of the problem. I personally had never had the tank off and believe that the fault was due to a quality control issue at the factory.
At the time my bike had done 45000 miles and was less than four years old. Obviously there are many bikes out there with lower mileages on which may potentially have the same problem in time.
Wiring was totally fecked, but the bike was still running. It was quite funny really, when I got to the dealers it wouldn't stop. Took the key out, still running.
A couple of days before it happened the battery went flat. It was winter so it could have been down to the cold, but, with hindsight, I did wonder if it was the start of the problem. Was your bike moved at all during the 2 days it wasn't ridden? Even if it wasn't I still think you could have had the problem there slowly developing.
In the dealers at the same time as mine was a 1200RT that had caught fire, but the owner had put out. The insurance company wouldn't pay up as they said it was a mechanical problem and BuMW wouldn't help as the bike was out of warranty and bought from a Triumph dealer. All the control units had been taken out with the loom so the guy was faced with a huge bill. The dealer admitted that he should have let it burn.
If its not been tampered with then I regard the wiring loom as one of the components on a motorcycle that should last the WHOLE life of the bike and I don't think it's reasonable for BuMW to just wash their hands of the problem. I personally had never had the tank off and believe that the fault was due to a quality control issue at the factory.
At the time my bike had done 45000 miles and was less than four years old. Obviously there are many bikes out there with lower mileages on which may potentially have the same problem in time.
I've heard the same advice but with regards to cars. There's none of the it's your bit that failed on no it didn't, oh yes it did malarky.
Chris Terry
Registered user
motoreiter
Registered user
My GS caught on fire yesterday when I tried to start it, apparently due to a short. Here's my post about it in ADVRider (sorry, would repost here but don't have time to repost the pix):
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=496595
I was much luckier than others I guess, because it didn't light up until I started it and I was able to put it out quickly, but it is still kind of a bummer...
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=496595
I was much luckier than others I guess, because it didn't light up until I started it and I was able to put it out quickly, but it is still kind of a bummer...
D6
Registered user
kin ell
thats scary
thats scary
motoreiter
Registered user
This seems to be what happened to my bike, although I can't really see how the seatbar could make contact with the battery terminals.
BiG DoM
Registered user
Only really if one has fitted an Odyssey bateery as I understand - see link above to ADvRider.
motoreiter
Registered user
er, that's my link to ADVRider, but I still don't see how the seatbar came into contact with the battery terminals, which are lower than the top of the battery...
ts2
Registered user
I'd agree that the seat is a tight fit with an odyssey. I'm not sure I can get mine to fit on the low setting due to my cack-handed fitting, but seeing this I'll check now.
How small a gap/damp air would you need to allow the battery to arc across a gap trough the air via the seat bar? I'd guess it'd need to be pretty close though else all the other switches would be arcing left right and centre.
You need direct physical contact to start an arc at 12V. A touch first, then as material is eroded by the current an arc will form, but the current is high enough to get the rod in the seat base pretty warm on its own I suspect. Although a nice hot arc next to a plastic petrol tank is not a good thing.
The question is why does such a thing happen when no one is sitting on the seat?
Perhaps my earlier theory of mice being the culprits was only partly correct, it was actually a cat jumping on the seat while chasing the mice that caused the seat rod to touch the battery terminals!
But the weight of the rider would be rather more, so I would have thought a fire much more likely when the bike was being ridden than when it was just parked up.
mherkin
Registered user
Odyssey
I've just fitted an Odyssey. It is damn close to the seat bar regardless of which height it's at. Time to double check especially after a warm electrical smell after a ride yesterday.
I've just fitted an Odyssey. It is damn close to the seat bar regardless of which height it's at. Time to double check especially after a warm electrical smell after a ride yesterday.
I made two small bobbins on the lathe at work last year to replace the single underseat bar (after seeing someone elses post on how to gain more underseat space for an Autocom).
Glad I did as I fitted an Odyssey years ago and wasn't aware of the risk of shorting the terminals.
Glad I did as I fitted an Odyssey years ago and wasn't aware of the risk of shorting the terminals.
Shep
Shep of the Dessert
When I fitted a hawker battery a couple of years back, I was shocked
how close the supplied terminal extension came to the frame and seat, I ended up making my own extension that sat lower/closer to the battery.
how close the supplied terminal extension came to the frame and seat, I ended up making my own extension that sat lower/closer to the battery.
RogerJ
Registered user
What Adam said. If you use your seat in the low position, or, if you sometimes don't get it lined up properly, or, you think the bar is coming close to the battery terminals then consider Adam's fix. That is, cutting the bar and securing the ends in place. The bonus is more space, and, the more elusive........peace of mind.
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