New 12GS - questions

[stroller]

Collected my new bike on Saturday, filthy road conditions, the bike looked like it had covered 10,000 miles when I got home!
Do the fender extenders and huggers improve matters much?
Also, I want to get some engine protection bars - which are recommended, touratech, H&B, or BMW? - and are they easy to fit?
The dealer said the BMW ones wouldn't fit if I wanted to fit a Remus exhaust (not that I do - yet).
I want to connect a GPS - is there any reason why I cannot connect this straight to the battery (with an in-line fuse)?
Lastly, has anyone come up with a solution for a map holder on the tank (I don't like big tank bags - the BMW one looks huge, like it takes over the bike.
Cheers,
Mike
PS - have seen the threads about battery charging problems - talked to the dealer about this - they insisted that it had to be the BMW charger

 

[GSmonkey]

I want to connect a GPS - is there any reason why I cannot connect this straight to the battery (with an in-line fuse)?

Hi, I only collected my bike last Saturday, so I'm learning too. One thing I can confirm however is that you CAN connect the GPS straight to the battery.

The dealer told me it would be a complex job to fit the power lead, due to the canbus system thingy. I sent him the lead to fit (for free) prior to me collecting the bike. When I collected it, I noticed that he'd connected it straight across the battery, exactly what he told me I couldn't do!!

I'd like to fit a hugger to the GS, but in my mind a hugger should look good and be sub £100, but I haven't found anything yet that does this

 

[Reggie]

Hi Stroller,

extended front guard makes a small improvement.

H&B's seem to be the choice engine bars.

GPS is OK to conect across the battery, when used in conjunction with an in line fuse.

Bagster make a beautiful tank harness and you can add a flush fit map pocket or I use the small city bag, which does the job nicely and is one of the smallest bags in the range.

As for battery charger, just ride the bike!

I've just cleaned mine today and it was caked in it!

Regards

Reggie (AKA The Cameraman)

 

[Wraithwrider]

Stroller

Firstly the Fenda extender is reportedly of little use. Much better IMHO is the proper 'mudflap' marketed by a member of this site called Garfieldus. This link shows a picture and how you might avail yourself of same:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26329

Huggers are slightly complicated. A very expensive but apparently excellent bit of kit was the hugger made by Motorrad Products (see ad at top of page). This has been withdrawn for a month or three due to manufacturing problems. I am waiting to hear if the other viable alternaltive from Imberger is very effective at what it is supposed to do i.e. keeping the cr*p off the bike before I donate my £175, or await motorrad's new product.

Engine bars, Wunderlich & H&B are identical and yes you can't fit a Remus 'Y' piece with them. Someone recently said in a post that a company is working on this issue.

BWM themselves sell a kit to provide an extra accessory socket fitted to the front n/s of the bike on the fender. It's about £35 and will support 5 (+) amps.

I find the BeeM tank bag really great and nowhere near as ontrusive as it looks. I luv mine but hey, that's me

 

[Bert]

suggestion- cockpit cover 2

Touratech sell a 'U' piece which wraps around the GS clocks and has a power socket wired directly to the battery. Cheap and very convenient and tidy looks too. Not to mention it seems tp stop an updraft too....weird!
Cockpit cover 2 part 044=0560
no need to have annoying run-around-bike cables either

 

[Mouse]

There's a lot of bollocks talked about the electrics on the 1200. Basically you can wire in any accessory you like direct to the battery, and pretty much anything to the power socket as long as it doesn't draw more than 5 amps.

Although the 5 amp limit seems a bit loose, as I've fitted an extra socket to my bike, and have used two BMW heated vests simultaneously (not both on me! ) - these allegedly draw over 3 amps each.

As far as battery chargers go, general opinion seems to be that you can connect something normal like an optimate direct to the battery, but if you want to go via the accessory socket, you need the BMW model. BUT I have read reports that the BMW one doesn't actually work, so beware before you buy!

(Not that I am saying people on this thread are talking bollocks - just don't believe every story you hear about the "CAN bus" - most of the wiring on the 1200 is normal).

 

[GSmonkey]

As far as battery chargers go, general opinion seems to be that you can connect something normal like an optimate direct to the battery, but if you want to go via the accessory socket, you need the BMW model. BUT I have read reports that the BMW one doesn't actually work, so beware before you buy!

I'm tempted to connect my optimate direct to the battery, which is certainly no hardship, as that's what I've done with every other bike owned to date. The only thing I did read is that the voltage from the optimate can exceed that allowable on the bikes electrics?? I've seen a statement from optimate which basically says that the optimate is good to charge the BATTERY but doesn't mention anything else about the bike itself. I'm a bit unsure on this point, but am reluctant to fork out £60 for a BMW charger which is probably identical.

You're bang on about the CAN bus system, its just a system of distributed control using voltage modulation for communication, certainly nothing new in engineering. Would like to see a wiring diagram though to see how it all hangs together though.

 

[Emoto]

I intend to hook my battery charger directly to the battery. To minimize risk, I will disconnect the electrical system from the battery first. No big deal; finally BMW is back to making the batteries easily accessible.

 

[birdseye]

Simply wired the Optimate leads across the battery terminals. Been using that for 6 weeks with no problem so far. Cant imagine what problem there could be.

I use the Baglux tank cover (fits really well) and the baglux map case transferred from my previous bikes. Its OK - wouldnt rave about it. The tanks curves make the map case a bit more difficult to use than previously.

I fitted the H&B bars. Nothing difficult about fitting them though I did have to purchase the correct TorX socket from my local tool shop. Only problem was the crap instructions that came with them, and my difficulty in understanding the methodology described elsewhere on this site. Brain wasnt working well that day!

The HB bars look pretty solid, but if you land on anything other than flat tarmac yopu will still benefit from the plastic covers as well.

Just noticed that you are across the bridge in Bristol. If you want to ride your way over to Chepstow you can come and have a look at the various bits mentioned.

 

[Mouse]

Simply wired the Optimate leads across the battery terminals. Been using that for 6 weeks with no problem so far. Cant imagine what problem there could be.

The alleged possible problem, is that if the optimate decides to desulphate your battery, the voltage it applies is about 20V - which BMW claim could damage the bike's electronics. If the charger never goe into desulphate mode, I can't see a danger. To be safe though, disconnect the battery from the bike to charge it.

 

[GSmonkey]

To be safe though, disconnect the battery from the bike to charge it.

....that's just a pain in the arse. Think I'd rather spend the £60 than having to do that every time

 

[John Armstrong]

Me too

I'm charging mine up now with an optimate after disconnecting the battery. Sod that palaver each weekend or whenever, I'm not impressed having to spend the extra on a charger, but to make life easier then I'm sure I'll spend more on things that don't make life easier.

 

[Emoto]

....that's just a pain in the arse. Think I'd rather spend the £60 than having to do that every time

How often do you expect to do this? And if it is more than once or twice a year, why so often? I mean, if the weather is good enough, you'll be riding and the battery will stay charged, if not, how long do you expect it to sit - mine shows no loss after sitting 2 weeks, for example...

 

[GSmonkey]

How often do you expect to do this? And if it is more than once or twice a year, why so often? I mean, if the weather is good enough, you'll be riding and the battery will stay charged, if not, how long do you expect it to sit - mine shows no loss after sitting 2 weeks, for example...

If the bike will go two weeks without problem, it would only be when I go on holiday. Suppose its not too much of a drag disconnecting, but it would be nice to leave the thing connected with the alarm on.

 

[chasr]

10 grand for a bike; £60 for a charger. How much to fix the fried wiring?

 

[JayGee]

How often do you expect to do this? And if it is more than once or twice a year, why so often? I mean, if the weather is good enough, you'll be riding and the battery will stay charged, if not, how long do you expect it to sit - mine shows no loss after sitting 2 weeks, for example...

I've been unable to ride for 6 weeks so my 12GS has been left unstarted in the garage for 6 weeks. It started easily today so I don't think there's any problem leaving the bike for a month between either riding or recharging. I have the bmw alarm but that seems to switch itself off after a few days and so there is negligible drain on the battery.
The manual advises charging every month when not in use, this seems to be about right in my experience.
So ride it once a month (minimum) or charge it once a month, so should only need ch=rging once or twice a year.

 

[stroller]

Birdseye, I may take you up on that offer. Due to DIY etc I have not had the opportunity to ride the bike since I collected it. Have been working on where to position my GPS etc, and what to do about a map holder. I have an Oxford mapholder with plastic suction cups on, but the tank's shape means that it is not a very good fit or very secure, so I am beginning to think the baglux and mapholder is probably the only solution.
Mike

 

[GSmonkey]

10 grand for a bike; £60 for a charger. How much to fix the fried wiring?

I didn't pay 10k(ex demo) and I'm a tight yorkshireman. Anyway, its the principle of having to buy a BMW charger I don't like. I'll say no more on the matter