gs-911 cheap alternative DIY

[Denz0]

HI
I found tutorial how to make diagnostic tool for k1600 nad f6500gs using car K+DCAN USB Interface Cable http://www.f650gs.crossroadz.com.au/Diagnostics/DiagsCable.pdf
would this work on r1200gs ?

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Good question and I dont know the answer but the hexcode site doesn't list the K1600 as being compatible and I know the new 1200LC isnt compatible either. With that information I would say probably not. The interface is only part of the deal. Without decent software all the code being spat at you is useless. Only one way to find out though and that is to try it.

 

[Denz0]

Only time will tell ...

 

[Magwych]

Have you tried pricing the required components? Would be interesting to see if the cost of the BMW ignition harness, plus the other parts comes to more than a GS-911?

 

[Bendy toy]

The Fiat ECU Scan software costs about £50 and uses a widely available OBD2-USB cable.

Obviously it's not compatible with the BMW bike ECU but does illustrate that costs don't have to be silly.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

The Fiat ECU Scan software costs about £50 and uses a widely available OBD2-USB cable.

Obviously it's not compatible with the BMW bike ECU but does illustrate that costs don't have to be silly.

Car manufacturers are forced to use an open and unified system for cars. Unfortunately bike manufacturers aren't so the costs of breaking into their system rises exponentially. To be fair to hexcode the 911 is actually pretty good value given they had no standards to build on and it does a whole lot more than your cheap OBD2 kit for cars can. When you look at the car kit than can do what the 911 does it starts to get a whole lot more expensive.
Like I said before the interface is pretty cheap to put together. It's the software that makes sense of the information and being able to do something with it that costs.

 

[Bendy toy]

I appreciate what you are saying.

The FiatECU Scan OBDII software does engine, ABS, airbags, electric steering and canbus so it's pretty comprehensive. But as you say bikes don't work to the car standards.

It seems a bit silly to me, why reinvent the wheel. I guess tell that to "creative " software engineers.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

I appreciate what you are saying.

The FiatECU Scan OBDII software does engine, ABS, airbags, electric steering and canbus so it's pretty comprehensive. But as you say bikes don't work to the car standards.

It seems a bit silly to me, why reinvent the wheel. I guess tell that to "creative " software engineers.

If they didn't have to they wouldn't with cars either. They don't want a home user looking at information and fixing things. They want you to go to the dealer and pay through the nose.
Yes your OBD can read but other that that what can it do? Can it reprogram parameters or lock the idle for servicing? Obviously it will be able to reset the MIL for servicing but that will be about it for the cheap end. There usually a big difference in the diagnostics. The cheaper end will tell you there is something wrong with the fuel system leaving you to do a bit more investigative work where the dealer kit on the new models will tell you a diode has blown or whatever. You then get the part number, a description of the repair process and a diagram of where it is along with booking a job card and costing the repair. I have seen the system Mercedes uses on the new models and it's very impressive. Way more than you need at home but you get the idea of why some systems cost what they do.

 

[juddadredd]

As some of you know I got sponsored with a 911 when I did my trip, and I did a fair bit of research on this very subject before asking Stephan for his help in supplying me with the kit. Again some people know me from the uk horizons unlimited meetings and I always demo the kit to people so that Stephan gets more customers and so that people know how easy the kit is to use.

So BMW use their own design for the diagnostics socket so you have to sit there and wait for a signal on one of the pins, then they use their own error codes so you need to fuck up the bike to see what error code it spits out then decode that value and substitute a user readable string and that's how you have to approach the situation.

Much easier to as a group purchase a 911 and use it amongst your mates, that way you spread the cost and can do your own servicing plus the more you know about the bike the happier you will be to ride it, unless your a banker then you can afford bmw's prices and not have to worry about getting your hands dirty.

 

[Steptoe]

gs-911 cheap alternative DIY ?

HI
I found tutorial how to make diagnostic tool for k1600 nad f6500gs using car K+DCAN USB Interface Cable http://www.f650gs.crossroadz.com.au/Diagnostics/DiagsCable.pdf
would this work on r1200gs ?

Right, get one thing straight from the start.
The GS911 isn't just a piece of diagnostic equipement, it does so much more.

So you can't ask "is this a cheap alternative", because it isn't an alternative.

 

[Bendy toy]

First off I'm not dissing the GS-911.

Fiat ECU Scan is at www.fiatecuscan.net. It's also a lot more than a codes reader, but except for the laptop no more money. I guess they have economy of scale. I used it only to reset my airbags and power steering, but certainly it was very efficient.

If GS-911 is as good for the bikes as Fiat ECU Scan is for the cars it will be very good.

 

[juddadredd]

Well my 911 pretty my covers most of what I need plus it has real time data on the screen displaying all of the sensor data that the bike streams.

Plus you get to reset the service lights and intervals, convert miles to kms etc. It saved me getting ripped off a couple of times on my trips so it's really worth it's weight in gold.

 

[rudiemoto]

First off I'm not dissing the GS-911.

Fiat ECU Scan is at www.fiatecuscan.net. It's also a lot more than a codes reader, but except for the laptop no more money. I guess they have economy of scale. I used it only to reset my airbags and power steering, but certainly it was very efficient.

If GS-911 is as good for the bikes as Fiat ECU Scan is for the cars it will be very good.

What does a fait ecu have to do with bmw bikes
I have a bag of balls a cheap alternative to a fiat

 

[tosh23]

Right, get one thing straight from the start.
The GS911 isn't just a piece of diagnostic equipement, it does so much more.

So you can't ask "is this a cheap alternative", because it isn't an alternative.

nuff said

 

[Bendy toy]

What does a fait ecu have to do with bmw bikes
I have a bag of balls a cheap alternative to a fiat

Maybe some folks really are not too smart.

Both systems had to be reverse engineered which we accept is costly, but the car has lots more going on = even more work. Yet with an OBD connector Fiat ECU Scan (also a lot more than basic diagnostic) costs 1/3 to 1/2 of the GS-911 price.

So the point is totally relevant. With no competitor the GS-911 is taking the P on price. Good luck to them.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Maybe some folks really are not too smart.

Both systems had to be reverse engineered which we accept is costly, but the car has lots more going on = even more work. Yet with an OBD connector Fiat ECU Scan (also a lot more than basic diagnostic) costs 1/3 to 1/2 of the GS-911 price.

So the point is totally relevant. With no competitor the GS-911 is taking the P on price. Good luck to them.

Have a read at your own text "OBD connector" OBD is a standard as such you know what the codes are so you don't need to reverse engineer anything. Cars must be OBD compliant and there must be a hundred scan tools out there if not more. BMW bikes are not OBD so you do have to reverse engineer and work out what the ecu is saying. That's after you have managed to create the hardware that the ecu will talk to in the first place. By all means if it's easy to you go for it and I will give you 20 notes for your work.

 

[Gizmo]

Question asked;

HI
I found tutorial how to make diagnostic tool for k1600 nad f6500gs using car K+DCAN USB Interface Cable http://www.f650gs.crossroadz.com.au/Diagnostics/DiagsCable.pdf
would this work on r1200gs ?

Answer given;

Right, get one thing straight from the start.
The GS911 isn't just a piece of diagnostic equipement, it does so much more.

So you can't ask "is this a cheap alternative", because it isn't an alternative.

'nuff said

 

[Bendy toy]

Have a read at your own text "OBD connector" OBD is a standard as such you know what the codes are so you don't need to reverse engineer anything. Cars must be OBD compliant and there must be a hundred scan tools out there if not more. BMW bikes are not OBD so you do have to reverse engineer and work out what the ecu is saying. That's after you have managed to create the hardware that the ecu will talk to in the first place. By all means if it's easy to you go for it and I will give you 20 notes for your work.

I fully appreciate there is more work, but a bike has a lot less stuff to analyse than a car and no car is 100% OBD compliant. The extra (read really useful) stuff has to be reverse engineered.

How ever its measured, the GS-911 prices are excessive, but they have the market to themselves. There is no other option. Good luck to them.

 

[juddadredd]

I like Bendy his posts normally make quite a lot of sense to me and his views on the 911 are pretty spot on but... (remember anything else before the but is pure horse shit)...

Re the pricing of the 911 - to call it Excessive is a bit extreme when you figure out how much you paid for your bike, your lid, your suit, your waterproofs, your boots or for that shiney new skid plate from touratech or other Farkle that your bike just couldn't do without...

And I know that I pretty much got the whole kit for the time it takes to demo it to people both on the road and at various meetings, which I would have done if I had actually bought the kit on my own anyway so I guess I'm good PR for Stephan in that regard and I can and do fight to get the kit noticed for him...

Now servicing date resets and fault code clearing - if your about to see your bike and have done your own servicing you aren't going to get as much if that tell tale lights on...

Diagnostics and the real time data that the bike sends out - Either on the road (I use my 11 inch MacBook as it has Windows installed and has an SSD drive so doens't get shaken to bits) and you have problems or if your tinkering at home balancing your throttles or maybe just wanting to see how the temp or Ox sensors are holding up when do you use?...

You see the more you use the kit the better the investment so the kit just gets better and better in my opinion, and like I said in one of the other posts buy it between 3 or 4 of you and your laughing...

The only things I would like to see is a way of updating the bikes firmware from the 911 - that way I could pretty much do without BMW apart from some servicing parts every now and again...

And if Apple ever get their fingers out, a way of communicating with my iPad that way I'd only have to take the iPad with me...

Any Questions then just let me know and I'd be happy to try to answer them, anyone want a demo (apart from resetting your service light as I only have 2 slots free as I've helped people on the road and they have taken up my slots) I'm in the Derby area and can meet up if you want, apart from that I will see some of you again at the Horizons bash At Donnington Park Derbyshire later on in the year...

Forgot to add the 911 also stopped me getting ripped off when riding abroad when I had a couple of issues with my little Dakar and had to stop at non dealers for assistance, it was quite fun to show them the bikes diagnostics when they where trying to tell me all sorts had gone wrong with the bike and I left with more in my wallet then they would have liked...

 

[Bendy toy]

Point taken "excessive" was a bit strong but I do think they are pricing high because they can. But if I was running the company would I do the same? Probably, yes. The hard part is selling at the best price for the business without alienating potential buyers.

At £100 I would buy a GS-911 whether needed right now or not. £150 I would be tempted, but at £200 or more I'm staying out until forced to get an ECU analyser.