Mysteriously dead

[Island Ranger]

Has anyone else had this happen. My girlfriend called me the other day to say that the lights were on, on my 1200adv. Well I thought I must have activated the parking lights in error but she explained that it was the ignition lights as well and then proceeded to explain that the warning triangles were lit and the brake system failure warning signal was flashing also. Maybe I had left the key in and the ignition on? No she said and sure enough the key was in my pocket 100 miles away! When I returned to the bike it was totally dead, so I used my nifty bm charger to try and recharge via the extra power socket on the faring - no joy after 24 hours. Then i switched to the other power socket under seat - no joy. I just cant work out what happened although there were electrical storms around this time, lightning and scary stuff.............nice of her to ring me though don't you think? Anyway its back to the dealer with the bike, just wanted to know if anyone had experienced anything similar, and I don't mean acts of concern from girlfriends.

 

[rc mad]

did she try hot wiring it to go for a spin

















Sorry, couldn't think of anything useful to say. Maybe a close lightening strike has fried the computer, if that's even possible

 

[sionnach]

Can you actually charge the battery via those sockets if it is totally dead? I thought they were controlled via the canbus... I could be talking rubbish though, it has been known
I would try disconnecting the battery and charging directly across it....
However, an irate phone call to BM rescue might be quicker if you have warranty!

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

I think you can charge the battery up via the socket provided the charger is the V Expensive BMW variety or I could be talking complete bollox as per normal

 

[earthmover]

Hmmm, I had that happen on mine, but it was during a torrential rainstorm, and I traced it to a fried relay that was part of my non-BMW aux lights.
All the lights came on, as you said, and the battery was totally flat. It jump started and ran ok after that, and when I replaced the relay, the aux lights worked. That was over 1000 miles ago.
HTH
Mark

 

[Island Ranger]

Thanks all

Its off to the dealer under warranty - thanks for the ideas. As to the girlfriend trying to hotwire it - she is from Penzance so its a fair bet!

 

[darkhorse]

Can you actually charge the battery via those sockets if it is totally dead? I thought they were controlled via the canbus... I could be talking rubbish though, it has been known
I would try disconnecting the battery and charging directly across it....
However, an irate phone call to BM rescue might be quicker if you have warranty!

can't charge from aux socket if battery totally dead

 

[Island Ranger]

Thanks that is useful to know for future ref - but I still don't understand how the ignition came on by itself, hopefully dealer will get to the bottom of it

 

[Robbo1200ADV]

Hi i was told you can't charge via the socket.I have fitted an optimate straight across the battery,this all sounds most odd,let us know what went wrong.

 

[EddTheDuck]

Oi, watch the Penzance jibe!! Kernow rules.

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Charging

We are so used to BMW's wiith batteries buried away - but on this model the battery is easy to get at, so the obvious way to charge is direct onto the terminals; If it is to take a high charge then disconnect the terminals - but an optimete or similar can just be clipped on. There is no need to buy an expensive BMW charger because there is no need to charge through the socket.

 

[Island Ranger]

Oi, watch the Penzance jibe!! Kernow rules.

Don't you mean West Wales

 

[Island Ranger]

We are so used to BMW's wiith batteries buried away - but on this model the battery is easy to get at, so the obvious way to charge is direct onto the terminals; If it is to take a high charge then disconnect the terminals - but an optimete or similar can just be clipped on. There is no need to buy an expensive BMW charger because there is no need to charge through the socket.

Thanks Brian - I bought the charger with the bike and I agree I could just recharge the battery directly but it was more the fact that the ignition came on in the first place. Lucky it wasn't in Penzance high Street at the time or it would have been nicked!

 

[Island Ranger]

Well a few months on and it's happened again following the ignition switch being replaced by dealer. They think it might be the alternator this time so will replace it. The circumstances were even more amusing this time. I came back from a ride turned the ignition off and removed the key but the bike was still running just fine! had to use the kill switch and then put the key in turned the ignition off again and all the lights went out removed the key and then all the pre igniton warnings etc came on by themselves so disconected the battery. Quite useful though if like me you constantly mislay keys!

 

[rc mad]

You sure it's not a diesel, the fork truck at work does that

At least the dealer is going to fix it, should have bought a 650, i had a dodgy indicator switch which fixed itself

 

[Fanum]

Lucky it wasn't in Penzance high Street at the time or it would have been nicked!

Quite useful though if like me you constantly mislay keys!

Are you both saying that this fault not only bypassed the system to light up the dash etc, but the bike could be started like that as well?????

Did it override the immobiliser as well....you actually checked if the start button worked????


If so, that's bloody scary.....

I wonder what would happen if some scrote did find it like that......you're in a cafe, it rains on the bike outside and it all goes live and some chav jumps on.....I can see the insurance company loving that when they get it back and start asking awkward questions!!!

 

[Loiq]

there was a fella the other day who said his HP2 lit up all by itself.... perhaps it's contagious?

 

[Island Ranger]

No luckily you can't actually start it! But all the systems come on and then just run your battery down!

 

[silvermog]

Sounds like a fault in the immobiliser/ignition circuit ...

The symptom of the bike being "live" whilst the key is removed is one I've suffered and in two cases the ignition circuit was at fault ... then in quick succession I had an immobilised bike which necesitated the replacement of the antenna ring around the ignition slot.

Symptoms are too similar here and closely related ...

 

[Island Ranger]

They replaced the ignition circuit as suggestd above and all seems well - fingers crossed. The only other thing is that the dealer said on both occasions the ignition was full of water and had i been powerwashing it. I have never washed my bike, it lives outside and its supposed to be a hardy example. Seems the igniton casing may be inferior quality