Mmmmm dead bike

[busy builder]

So I was all set for ride to Glencoe, around 250 miles. But the RT obviously has other ideas, it's dead Jim, not a flicker, nothing. So here I am waiting for the infamous BMW breakdown service.

The last Beemer I had was a lovely R1100S Sport bought new in 2001, which also introduced me to the BMW breakdown service, in fact 7 times in 16 months.......

 

[busy builder]

Batterys fooked so they've recovered it. My mate who had an F800Gt reckons it's a recognised problem with 2013 bikes ??

 

[Puggy]

Had this problem with my 2013 RT. The issue for me is the can bus system staying powered up due to the tom tom bracket. If I unplug the tomtom bracket, the battery seems to stay charged, I reckon any non BMW accessories left plugged into the accesories socket or wired in could cause this problem. It is a recognised problem.....


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[busy builder]

Well the bike will be in the garage tomorrow, I have a Garmin 660 wired direct to battery but don't leave the garmin on the bike, I also have an autocom wired into the rear 12v socket wires. it has been okay for the past couple of months.

 

[Puggy]

I don't understand what is going on in my case: however i don't have the Garmin unit in the bracket, and I don't have anything else attached.

I had the bike sit happily all winter and then start on the push of the button. However it started going flat in 3-4 days in the spring. I tried to measure the current draw but couldn't see any - the can bus seemed to not be pulling any current after about 10 minutes. The terminals on the tom tom bracket produced 5volts when powered up, and this dropped to zero when the can bus powered down. However, if I measured the voltage on the battery over a period of days I could see it dropping steadily.

I changed the battery and got the same result.

I spoke to BMW North Oxford and Matt Tilsley suggested it was the Tom Tom bracket causing the problems. I was a bit sceptical, but pulling the plug out of the bottom of the bracket certainly seems to have coincided with the battery maintaining it's voltage - I tested this leaving the bike for a week and measuring the voltage all week, and it stayed about 13v to 12.9v all week.

 

[Deleted account 220427001]

how can a bracket drain a bloody battery ?

 

[Malvern_Beemer]

how can a bracket drain a bloody battery ?

Short circuit! Optimate is your friend!

 

[walrus]

Zumo brackets did this at one time. Something about canbus not recognising the GPS has shut down so canbus stays on. I think.

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[Malvern_Beemer]

Zumo brackets did this at one time. Something about canbus not recognising the GPS has shut down so canbus stays on. I think.

Only when the Zumo was plugged into the bracket. The op states that the drain was evident even when the Zumo was not on the bracket.

 

[Puggy]

how can a bracket drain a bloody battery ?

Remember there is some circuitry converting 12v to 5v and this consumes even a little power when idling (ie no GPS in the mount). It all depends on where the thresholds for the canbus are set, and I suspect what state the battery is in at any given time.

Hmmm... Didn't have this problem on my 1150RT, but then again I did have loads of other ones, far worse...

 

[busy builder]

so are we saying that even though my Zumo cradle is powered directly from the battery it still runs the battery flat ?

 

[rickyxsara]

Bit off topic...what does your mate think of the F800GT as I fancy one.

 

[Puggy]

so are we saying that even though my Zumo cradle is powered directly from the battery it still runs the battery flat ?

I think you have to eliminate this option. Disconnect it when not in use and see if you still have the problem. What about your Autocom? I wonder if this could also be causing problems, especially as this is wired into the rear socket and hence the canbus. Maybe this is keeping the system powered up....

 

[busy builder]

Bit off topic...what does your mate think of the F800GT as I fancy one.

he loved it, I had th
e F800ST for a day and thought it a very nice bike.

 

[busy builder]

Got the bike back, battery was dead, wouldn't take a charge. New battery fitted, everything checked over nothing taking a draw on the voltage, so we'll see.