nickg
Guest
33k miles on the clock and the *!*$£ abso servo decided to seize up on the rear caliper.
It had been slowly playing up over about 2k miles, initially seizing when it was hot in town traffic and then gradually getting worse, to the point where I would have to pull over, switch the engine off and let the brakes release.
I took the calipers apart, cleaning them thoroughly, checking all the fluid levels, and generally doing what youre supposed to do when a caliper seizes.... the only thing i didnt really think was that the bloddy £1000 magic box of tricks, the one that is supposed to save your life was packing up.
it all came to a head when it was seizing quite badly, so I found some slippery ground and tested the brakes, making the abs kick in. I figured it might be the abs in need of some use, perhaps it would clean it, as a run on the motorway would clean an engine
well, the abs worked fine, and the bike felt ok...ish But not feeling too confidant I took an a road instead of a motorway
4 miles along ai smelt burning... the kind of electrical fire burning small you get when things are on fire! ! ! !
looking down there was smoke and flames !!!!!!!!!! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH]
so I pulled over and it was the gator protecting the rear axle joint. I put it out quickly and pondered my next move.
letting the caliper cool down, I managed to get it off the disk and rode the bike home slowly.
this was the critical moment for me because when the rear caliper was off the disk the servo system went completely haywire. Every time i braked the abs kicked in and then it just stopped and i was then on natural braking - but soggy and soft braking.
I guess what scared me a bit was that nothing in ths black box (abs) is servicible - not even bmw will touch it. and what if it went wrong on a motorway at 80 MPH
I understand that if any of the abs seneors fail, brake light sensors .. anything like that - then its bizzerk brakes !
So I decided to not pay out £1500 and bypass the whole thing.
How I did it:
I contacted a couple of comapnies and in the end settled on speaking with motorworks and got 5 items:
(annoyingly I dont have the receipts with me, so the prices are approximate as are the descriptions)
- a rear brake hose (£30)
- coupling block used on the non abs bmw's + a spare brake nipple and cover (£40)
- front and rear 'off / on' brake light switches ( the original abs ones are 'on/off' (£40)
what I did
- I left the abs in the bike,
- took off the rear brake cable and replaced it, fitting the new one directly on the rear brake cylendar and then bled it
- replaced the rear brake sensor
- took out hte old front coupling unit whicih was a holder for 2 pipes, one leading to the abs and the other leading from the abs to the front brakes
- replced it with the new one and capped off the 3rd inlet and bled it
- replaced the front brake switch
And then the difficult bit - wiring in the electricals
- I used a wiring diagram from a haynes manual and followed a non ABS method
- I took out the fuse box and followed the brake light cables to the fuse box, making sure that I didnt cut the neutral wire
- then ran an extension from the front brake light sensor
- and wired the whole lot up to the power cable controlling the side lights ( i think) .
- I took the abs plug out so there was no power to that
- and since the red light on the front dashboard light cluster was showing as 'brake failure' I out some black tape over it !
and it all works beautifully ! ! ! and it was only 4 hours work + £110 - 1 hour to ponder over the electricals and the rest replacing some simple parts
I have been on it now for a couple of days and I love the feel of the bike, its like i can really feel the bike and braking is far more sensitive. Much like my Ducati - you can really feel the road when youre braking.. Lovely !
so the moral of my story - yes abs could save your life - but messed up servos could take it.
NOW my question
can you retro fit a abs unit only ... it is fairly straightforward ? seeing as I already have a abs infrastructure?
any thoughts gratefully appreciated !
It had been slowly playing up over about 2k miles, initially seizing when it was hot in town traffic and then gradually getting worse, to the point where I would have to pull over, switch the engine off and let the brakes release.
I took the calipers apart, cleaning them thoroughly, checking all the fluid levels, and generally doing what youre supposed to do when a caliper seizes.... the only thing i didnt really think was that the bloddy £1000 magic box of tricks, the one that is supposed to save your life was packing up.
it all came to a head when it was seizing quite badly, so I found some slippery ground and tested the brakes, making the abs kick in. I figured it might be the abs in need of some use, perhaps it would clean it, as a run on the motorway would clean an engine
well, the abs worked fine, and the bike felt ok...ish But not feeling too confidant I took an a road instead of a motorway
4 miles along ai smelt burning... the kind of electrical fire burning small you get when things are on fire! ! ! !
looking down there was smoke and flames !!!!!!!!!! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH]
so I pulled over and it was the gator protecting the rear axle joint. I put it out quickly and pondered my next move.
letting the caliper cool down, I managed to get it off the disk and rode the bike home slowly.
this was the critical moment for me because when the rear caliper was off the disk the servo system went completely haywire. Every time i braked the abs kicked in and then it just stopped and i was then on natural braking - but soggy and soft braking.
I guess what scared me a bit was that nothing in ths black box (abs) is servicible - not even bmw will touch it. and what if it went wrong on a motorway at 80 MPH
I understand that if any of the abs seneors fail, brake light sensors .. anything like that - then its bizzerk brakes !
So I decided to not pay out £1500 and bypass the whole thing.
How I did it:
I contacted a couple of comapnies and in the end settled on speaking with motorworks and got 5 items:
(annoyingly I dont have the receipts with me, so the prices are approximate as are the descriptions)
- a rear brake hose (£30)
- coupling block used on the non abs bmw's + a spare brake nipple and cover (£40)
- front and rear 'off / on' brake light switches ( the original abs ones are 'on/off' (£40)
what I did
- I left the abs in the bike,
- took off the rear brake cable and replaced it, fitting the new one directly on the rear brake cylendar and then bled it
- replaced the rear brake sensor
- took out hte old front coupling unit whicih was a holder for 2 pipes, one leading to the abs and the other leading from the abs to the front brakes
- replced it with the new one and capped off the 3rd inlet and bled it
- replaced the front brake switch
And then the difficult bit - wiring in the electricals
- I used a wiring diagram from a haynes manual and followed a non ABS method
- I took out the fuse box and followed the brake light cables to the fuse box, making sure that I didnt cut the neutral wire
- then ran an extension from the front brake light sensor
- and wired the whole lot up to the power cable controlling the side lights ( i think) .
- I took the abs plug out so there was no power to that
- and since the red light on the front dashboard light cluster was showing as 'brake failure' I out some black tape over it !
and it all works beautifully ! ! ! and it was only 4 hours work + £110 - 1 hour to ponder over the electricals and the rest replacing some simple parts
I have been on it now for a couple of days and I love the feel of the bike, its like i can really feel the bike and braking is far more sensitive. Much like my Ducati - you can really feel the road when youre braking.. Lovely !
so the moral of my story - yes abs could save your life - but messed up servos could take it.
NOW my question
can you retro fit a abs unit only ... it is fairly straightforward ? seeing as I already have a abs infrastructure?
any thoughts gratefully appreciated !
