Dead 1250GS

[M3GS]

R1250 GS Rallye TE, only 800 miles - new in June. Bike parked unused for 3 weeks. Go to start bike today and dead as a doornail, electric steering lock won't even activate. Connect CTEK charger which has the faintest of orange glows.

Ring dealer, who tell me it's my fault as I have left it for 3 weeks without a charge, the tracker will have drained it. Apparently I should have been told at handover to charge the bike AT LEAST WEEKLY to prevent this from happening.

Un-bloody-believable.

Needless to say nobody mentioned this to me, and if they had I would have told them to either stick the bike where the sun don't shine or remove the tracker. Surely this can't be correct? After all it's 2020 not fukcing 1965...

Anyway, I'll give it a few hours and see if it takes a charge.

Plus I am supposed to be taking it to France on Sunday.

Not a happy chappy at all.

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

BMW website says the TrakKING system by Datatool has "virtually zero current drain when the ignition is switched off" so either BMW Motorrad are telling porkies, or the dealer is.

 

[Mr Bean]

BMW website says the TrakKING system by Datatool has "virtually zero current drain when the ignition is switched off" so either BMW Motorrad are telling porkies, or the dealer is.

My Biketrac has no current drain with the ignition switched off as it has an internal battery that lasts for months - be surprised if the Datatool one was different.

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

Reading a review of it, all of your journeys (including speeds) are uploaded to Datatools servers which, and I quote "may be a concern to some" haha.

 

[M3GS]

Thanks for that info. Seems the dealer is BS-ing me.

Anyway battery still RIP after 3 hrs on charge so called BMW Emergency Services out. Apparently they carry brand new replacement batteries with them, according to the dealer 'service' person, and may well fix it on the spot! So perhaps this is a problem which they experience frequently? Who knows.

Will update once they show up - which will probably be tomorrow, Ho Ho. Covid apparently...

 

[roamer]

You will need to leave it on the c teck for a few hours possibly overnight,
Hope you find the cause,

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

FYI batteries on the 1250's were a known issue, I never got to see what the old vs new brands were but there were a batch of batteries that caused starting issues, mine included.

 

[Boxerlust]

This is weird as I had my 1250GS sit in the garage for a good 6 month without a charger or ever starting it and it cranked hard/started like I had it run every day...There must be some drain on your bike...Get the latest software downloaded to fix it and have the canbus to shutoff ?!

 

[M3GS]

BMW Assistance came within the hour, diagnosed, bike said replace battery, which he did (He had a few brand new ones with him ).

Seriously impressed with Assistance, but still peed off with the dealer service girl bullshitting me on the Tracker drain and alleged charging regime.

Oh well, onwards and upwards. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[GSian]

Now you've got it sorted you can setup the tracker to tell you when the battery is going dead, before it goes totally dead.

 

[M3GS]

Now you've got it sorted you can setup the tracker to tell you when the battery is going dead, before it goes totally dead.

I'll be dead before that happens...

 

[Stanford]

Now you've got it sorted you can setup the tracker to tell you when the battery is going dead, before it goes totally dead.

I think it does that automatically - it's not something I can set up (or disable) through the app.

edit - it's not automatic and has to be set up online...which I've now done!

With a tracker and an alarm, although the draw should be low, it makes sense to me to keep my bike on a maintenance charger.

 

[AberdeenAngus]

If not the tracker then something drained your battery.
Get a meter on it and check for current with the ignition off.
If none then just put it down to an iffy battery.

 

[ogni]

Bloody new bikes , must be so frustating after spending all that money ......
Hope you get it sorted .

 

[mrtee43]

If BMW say the bike should be charged weekly,then after paying umpteen thousands to buy it, they should include one with the bike.

 

[M3GS]

If BMW say the bike should be charged weekly,then after paying umpteen thousands to buy it, they should include one with the bike.

That's what I said to the girl at the dealer. On reflection I think that she was just spouting a rehearsed script, I don't really blame her, but her training seems to have massive holes in it for sure.

Bring back the days when you could actually talk directly to a mechanic in a brown smock smoking a half inch tab end

 

[DC]

yep battery "recall" issues on the 1250s. The updated battery is more heavy duty than the previous model. it the bike os left for three weeks on the older battery battery it drains ,new batteries are perfect. I had exactly the same issue as you. New battery 1500 miles ago, never had issue since

 

[Tarka]

Sell it while it's still working.

 

[Dougunn]

yep battery "recall" issues on the 1250s. The updated battery is more heavy duty than the previous model. it the bike os left for three weeks on the older battery battery it drains ,new batteries are perfect. I had exactly the same issue as you. New battery 1500 miles ago, never had issue since

How do you tell if you have an old or the new battery?

 

[JerseyNeil]

How do you tell if you have an old or the new battery?

It won't start if you leave it for 3 weeks.......