Biting the Bullet

Shakedown test tomorrow - Hawes or Alston. Steady ride out as I’ve not been on two wheels for 5 months.
Also in two minds of getting the decal set from France or just waiting and getting a pro paint job in the winter.
I’ll post links to all those who contributed. But I’m chuffed.

Ozz, Your bike looks bloody fantastic!
If you want a top notch airbrush artist, I can recommend "Kev Bambra". He's in the Newcastle area and he is bloody good.
 
That.
Looks.
Awesome.

What a great result after all your hard work.
 
The blue wheels don't do it for me, but I am in awe of your technical ability and attention to detail, a great job, very, very well done.
 
The blue wheels don't do it for me, but I am in awe of your technical ability and attention to detail, a great job, very, very well done.

What he said. The colour scheme is pretty irrelevant though against the backdrop of the brave decision to tackle this and seeing it through to a successful conclusion. Well done, a really enjoyable thread. :beerjug:
 
Did it all go to plan on the test run... all working fine I hope??
 
Panels haven't been wrapped yet - but the kit has been ordered so will be done in Jun as I'm off to skye, applecross, durness, loch ness next week.
The shakedown went ok. Spent a day and 140 odd miles going to Alston, Hartside Pass, Penrith, Kirby Stephen, Tan Hill and back to Richmond. While out there was an oil leak from the RH cylinder (traced back to oil in the thread of the filler cap - once wiped off the threads there was no more leak so must have been blowing past once oil pressure was up). Over the next two days there was a coolant leak from the LH cylinder coolant drain plug and an oil leak from the LH Camchain tensioner. Both were found to be 'loose'. I think the powder coating may have been getting warm and allowing both plugs to slacken off. It's something that i'll keep and eye on in future.
 
yes. thats the problem with powder and thats why BMW spot face areas that then go bad with salt.. so long as you keep nipping them up it will be fine. Powder coating is done at around 120 deg so at 100 deg it will be getting a bit soft.. great news! always good to know it can be done. Takes the worry out of owning the thing ... :)
 
So...problems...

While in Scotland the bike started playing up. Actually it was while camping in Bamburgh. Heading to the shops for some beer the yellow ! light came on along with the engine symbol. While waiting for a train to pass I switched the ignition off and when I came to start it up again the lights extinguished. Checking the manual I was advised that I could ride the bike as normal but seek help from BMW.

The bike ran perfectly the next day until I got to Glengarry when the lights came back on and it would surge - like the ignition was being retarded (I'm presuming going in to safe mode). I felt it ws wise to go to BMW Inverness to see if they could hook it up to a diagnostic machine to determine what was going on.

Disappointed on two fronts there:

1. They wanted to charge me £98 per hour for the diagnostic hook up
2. They couldn't read the ECU but still charged me £40.

Feeling that it was better to break down closer to home than darkest Scotland I headed home on Tues. The bike ran ok even with the warning lights on.

The bike has since been hooked up to another diagnostic machine which does read the ECU and the fault codes have been read, which suggest that the bike thinks theres a problem with both ignition coils and that there is a misfire. A change of plugs hasn't cured it so I may have to remove the body work again and trace the wiring loom around to make sure that everything is connected correctly.
 
maybe a connection not quite made or clicked in fully? canbus is very sensative to such things... strange how it ran okay at first so think it must be something like this... did and plugs / socketts snap the locking lug when you pulled it down??..
 
So...problems...

While in Scotland the bike started playing up. Actually it was while camping in Bamburgh. Heading to the shops for some beer the yellow ! light came on along with the engine symbol. While waiting for a train to pass I switched the ignition off and when I came to start it up again the lights extinguished. Checking the manual I was advised that I could ride the bike as normal but seek help from BMW.

The bike ran perfectly the next day until I got to Glengarry when the lights came back on and it would surge - like the ignition was being retarded (I'm presuming going in to safe mode). I felt it ws wise to go to BMW Inverness to see if they could hook it up to a diagnostic machine to determine what was going on.

Disappointed on two fronts there:

1. They wanted to charge me £98 per hour for the diagnostic hook up
2. They couldn't read the ECU but still charged me £40.

Feeling that it was better to break down closer to home than darkest Scotland I headed home on Tues. The bike ran ok even with the warning lights on.

The bike has since been hooked up to another diagnostic machine which does read the ECU and the fault codes have been read, which suggest that the bike thinks theres a problem with both ignition coils and that there is a misfire. A change of plugs hasn't cured it so I may have to remove the body work again and trace the wiring loom around to make sure that everything is connected correctly.

You get it sorted mate? Would be well worth your time to set yourself up with some diagnostic equipment. Find a way to contact me if you want some help
 
Thanks for everyone’s posts...
Still not sorted - though I have to admit that work has gotten in the way. I’m having a raging debate with myself about buying a GS911 (which I will probably do - just to clear the codes, reset the service interval). Also read that it gives live values so that may point to the fault. Need to conduct a multi meter test on the CANBUS next.
Been looking up info on the fault codes. The ones we have 21Fe12 and 21Fe22 are the ignition coils (21 being the right hand cylinders as seen from riding position and 22 the left). They have an open circuit which is why the fault can come back as soon as bike turned on when hot. So it should be possible to verify with multimeter if the ignition coils have an open circuit.
The primary portion of the ignition coil is connected directly to the ECU, in a circuit. The secondary coil is connected to the engine ground on the cylinder and the other end to the spark plug. Whatever break or damage in the primary coil has, its not enough to stop it from generating enough energy to produce a spark more often than not.
So long as the wires from the ignition coil to ECU are in good condition, it should point to being a fault in the ignition coils or hopefully a dodgy earth (given that the bike has been completely repainted).
 
I changed the plugs on my bike without making sure the lead to coil was fully pushed home. Didn't show any issues for around 300 miles when I had a misfire and lurching on the M1. Pulled in and it started fine and revved well with no load, as soon as under load it started misfiring again.

Hooked up to my GS911 and showed open circuit on cylinder one, but fault not currently present. Did a double check on the lead to coil and it wasn't fully home. I corrected it and all ok until it was stolen...

If you haven't double checked already it might be worth it.
 


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