The hand guard issue has probably been discussed on the forum before, but I’ve not seen it and as it’s related to my recent post about ‘Should I buy another 1200GS?’, I thought I’d share my experience as it may save someone some grief.
Less than a week after having had a new ABS pump fitted on my 2006 bike, my servo assisted brakes failed (red flashing ‘Brake Failure’ light). I was confident that it was related to the repair and had it booked-in to be looked at today. When I set off to the dealership, there was no warning light and the brakes were fine. I mentioned this to the Service Manager plus the fact that since having the ABS pump fitted, I’d had to replace the dipped headlight bulb.
The only fault that was identified by the diagnostic computer was the bulb, with no reference to the servo. The Service Department told me that the problem was down to the fact that the hand guards on the first generation 1200GS can move and catch on the front brake lever. This increases the pressure on the brake system which is picked up during the diagnostic start-up when the ignition is turned-on. A fault is registered which prevents the servo from working and the warning light comes on. My hand guard even had the tell-tale scuffing from contact with the brake lever.
Interestingly, the brakes had been fine until I took out the bulb to check-it. That’s when I must have knocked the hand guard to cause the servo to ‘fail’. The bulb was clearly blown, so I had to pick-up another one and fitted it a few days later. That’s when I must have again knocked the hand guard so that it was no longer in contact with the brake lever. The next time I rode the bike after fitting the bulb, there was no brake warning light.
When speaking to the Service Manager I did remember receiving a letter from BMW about the hand guards moving but that was a reference to the front brake overheating and I failed to make the link to the servo problem. The Service Department even had cases of bikes being recovered from overseas because of this problem so this posting might help someone out one day and remind first generation GS owners to make sure that the hand guards are secure. It was also interesting to hear that BMW no longer supply that type of hand guard as a replacement part and, of course, the facelift model has a completely different design.
Less than a week after having had a new ABS pump fitted on my 2006 bike, my servo assisted brakes failed (red flashing ‘Brake Failure’ light). I was confident that it was related to the repair and had it booked-in to be looked at today. When I set off to the dealership, there was no warning light and the brakes were fine. I mentioned this to the Service Manager plus the fact that since having the ABS pump fitted, I’d had to replace the dipped headlight bulb.
The only fault that was identified by the diagnostic computer was the bulb, with no reference to the servo. The Service Department told me that the problem was down to the fact that the hand guards on the first generation 1200GS can move and catch on the front brake lever. This increases the pressure on the brake system which is picked up during the diagnostic start-up when the ignition is turned-on. A fault is registered which prevents the servo from working and the warning light comes on. My hand guard even had the tell-tale scuffing from contact with the brake lever.
Interestingly, the brakes had been fine until I took out the bulb to check-it. That’s when I must have knocked the hand guard to cause the servo to ‘fail’. The bulb was clearly blown, so I had to pick-up another one and fitted it a few days later. That’s when I must have again knocked the hand guard so that it was no longer in contact with the brake lever. The next time I rode the bike after fitting the bulb, there was no brake warning light.
When speaking to the Service Manager I did remember receiving a letter from BMW about the hand guards moving but that was a reference to the front brake overheating and I failed to make the link to the servo problem. The Service Department even had cases of bikes being recovered from overseas because of this problem so this posting might help someone out one day and remind first generation GS owners to make sure that the hand guards are secure. It was also interesting to hear that BMW no longer supply that type of hand guard as a replacement part and, of course, the facelift model has a completely different design.
