Smokin` headlight..?

[Hann]

Mrs Hann and i went for a ride on my new 1250GSA motor bicycle on Friday and when we stopped at the destination of interest i detected a whiff of what smelt like burning polystyrene.
I didn`t put too much effort into thinking about it at the time, there were builders across the road putting a roof on a new house and my best guess was that the acrid aroma might have been something to do with them.
However, when we got home and the bike was in the garage my olfactory senses were once again subject to the unpleasant odour and this time it was obvious from the light smoky haze that it was eminating from my very own motorized velocipede in the area of the headlight!
I`ve got a short vid in which you can see the smoky haze in the glare of the light rising upwards.
Anyone else experienced this/is it `normal`?
I`m assuming that the high power LED lights require a heatsink or other to dissipate the heat - could it be that?
This ride was probably the first time that the main headlight has been on for an extended period - could it be that it`s just the heatsink or headlight housing burning off `newness` or some kinda` cleaning/polishing jollop that may have found it`s way on there during the bikes prep or something?
Odd that i haven`t smelt it on any of the other rides i`ve done, although i`m still not completely sure which fecking front light is on or not due to the complexity of how the `daytime running light`, `auto daytime running light`, `auto headlight`, switches and the corresponding (making no sense to me) lights on the TFT showing what is on or not.....FFS, what`s wrong with just an on/off button for each so you know whats on...! (prob just me..)

 

[batman1]

There is a cooling fan in the headlight, I had it fail on one of my GSLC’s, mine was replaced under warranty and I had no further issues.
It’s the only warranty claim that Ive had in owning x6 GS LC’s

 

[Hann]

Did yours smoke?

[video]https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/643282170[/video]

 

[batman1]

Did yours smoke?

[video]https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/643282170[/video]

No it didn’t smoke but it did do something odd, I think that the daylight LED switched itself off for protection after about 10 minutes of riding? I would get it checked at dealer ASAP.

It was technician Paul at Marshall’s BMW Grimsby who sorted my bike.

 

[BigT]

Mrs Hann and i went for a ride on my new 1250GSA motor bicycle on Friday and when we stopped at the destination of interest i detected a whiff of what smelt like burning polystyrene.
I didn`t put too much effort into thinking about it at the time, there were builders across the road putting a roof on a new house and my best guess was that the acrid aroma might have been something to do with them.
However, when we got home and the bike was in the garage my olfactory senses were once again subject to the unpleasant odour and this time it was obvious from the light smoky haze that it was eminating from my very own motorized velocipede in the area of the headlight!
I`ve got a short vid in which you can see the smoky haze in the glare of the light rising upwards.
Anyone else experienced this/is it `normal`?
I`m assuming that the high power LED lights require a heatsink or other to dissipate the heat - could it be that?
This ride was probably the first time that the main headlight has been on for an extended period - could it be that it`s just the heatsink or headlight housing burning off `newness` or some kinda` cleaning/polishing jollop that may have found it`s way on there during the bikes prep or something?
Odd that i haven`t smelt it on any of the other rides i`ve done, although i`m still not completely sure which fecking front light is on or not due to the complexity of how the `daytime running light`, `auto daytime running light`, `auto headlight`, switches and the corresponding (making no sense to me) lights on the TFT showing what is on or not.....FFS, what`s wrong with just an on/off button for each so you know whats on...! (prob just me..)

Off to the dealer with you my friend, video in hand and whatever you do, do NOT accept the "it's normal" BS that can and is spouted from time to time. May 21 GSA TE 11,000 miles......no smoking (even me, I quit 12 months ago to please the ayatollah and god, I still yearn for a cigar stop when riding;-). Good luck.

 

[bosnjo]

...even me, I quit 12 months ago to please the ayatollah and god, I still yearn for a cigar stop when riding...

I quit 2 months ago and it's been huge struggle. I tought when I reach 12 months I'll not even remember tabaco but now you gave me bad news...

 

[GoSquirrel]

Mrs Hann and i went for a ride on my new 1250GSA motor bicycle on Friday and when we stopped at the destination of interest i detected a whiff of what smelt like burning polystyrene.
I didn`t put too much effort into thinking about it at the time, there were builders across the road putting a roof on a new house and my best guess was that the acrid aroma might have been something to do with them.
However, when we got home and the bike was in the garage my olfactory senses were once again subject to the unpleasant odour and this time it was obvious from the light smoky haze that it was eminating from my very own motorized velocipede in the area of the headlight!
I`ve got a short vid in which you can see the smoky haze in the glare of the light rising upwards.
Anyone else experienced this/is it `normal`?
I`m assuming that the high power LED lights require a heatsink or other to dissipate the heat - could it be that?
This ride was probably the first time that the main headlight has been on for an extended period - could it be that it`s just the heatsink or headlight housing burning off `newness` or some kinda` cleaning/polishing jollop that may have found it`s way on there during the bikes prep or something?
Odd that i haven`t smelt it on any of the other rides i`ve done, although i`m still not completely sure which fecking front light is on or not due to the complexity of how the `daytime running light`, `auto daytime running light`, `auto headlight`, switches and the corresponding (making no sense to me) lights on the TFT showing what is on or not.....FFS, what`s wrong with just an on/off button for each so you know whats on...! (prob just me..)

As others have said, it sounds like something is amiss! Let us know what the dealer says. On the subject of LED headlamps, the BMW blurb says...

"The light unit has two LEDs each for low and high-beam, and four additional LEDs for the daytime riding light and the position light. These are fastened to a central heat sink made of die-cast aluminium. An axial fan is positioned behind the heat sink. Another air rectifier directs the warm air to the window glass and in so doing creates an air circulation in the headlight. This air circulation allows the headlight to de-thaw and also makes an active contribution towards de-icing the headlight lens in the winter."


https://www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk/en/engineering/detail/Safety/led-main-headlight.html

David

 

[GSMarky]

I can see you do not have a protector on your bike and hope you get it sorted.

Would/Could the solid Perspex/Lexan type headlight protectors promote over heating?

 

[bosnjo]

I can see you do not have a protector on your bike and hope you get it sorted.

Would/Could the solid Perspex/Lexan type headlight protectors promote over heating?

Lexan protectors I know of all sit at quite a distance from the headlight. I have one that is mounted using 4 bolts of headlight surrounding and there is a space between the protector and headlight, some 100mm. When I installed it, I touched the headlight with bike stationary for 10 minutes, low beam on, in hot portuguese summer and it wasn't hot at all.

 

[BigT]

I quit 2 months ago and it's been huge struggle. I thought when I reach 12 months I'll not even remember tabaco but now you gave me bad news...

Ooops, sorry my friend. KBO (Keep buggering on) it will all be worth it in the end.........

 

[GSMarky]

Lexan protectors I know of all sit at quite a distance from the headlight. I have one that is mounted using 4 bolts of headlight surrounding and there is a space between the protector and headlight, some 100mm. When I installed it, I touched the headlight with bike stationary for 10 minutes, low beam on, in hot portuguese summer and it wasn't hot at all.

Mine is similar. Cymarc.

 

[Hann]

Phoned `em:- `that sounds unusual`...
They`re going to investigate when it goes in for 1st service...................in 3 weeks time....

 

[malcopopolo]

I quit 2 months ago and it's been huge struggle. I tought when I reach 12 months I'll not even remember tabaco but now you gave me bad news...

Its like any bereavement it gets the better as memory fades over time.... But your health, smell, wallet and waistline will increase

 

[bosnjo]

...and waistline will increase

That is the second part of the struggle. Beside fighting the need to reach for the cigarette, I'm fighting the need to reach for the food. So it's double struggle. After 2 months I'm still with same weight and will keep on figthing.

 

[SBD]

Returning to headlights, I have a loan bike whilst mine is being serviced and I needed to collect Madame from the station quite late on Monday last.

I bunged her lid on the rack with a cargo net, and fired up the steed. Big yellow warning about the headlight dipped beam failure. And it had, no dipped headlight at all, so I rode to the station on “high beam”. Understatement. It was doing a good impression of a searchlight seeking Lancasters, bats and owls. Got there, turned it off, herself arrived, and I started it up, and normal service was resumed.

No idea why, and it’s been fine since. Will get mine back tomorrow.

(And I quit smoking about 18 years back. Was a bit difficult at first, I’d smoked for thirty years, but I somehow convinced myself that I was not a smoker - rather than I was a smoker who wasn’t smoking - and that helped immensely. In any case, at a tenner a pack, and a pack a day, that’s a new GS every 5 years. Stick at it and good luck)

 

[bosnjo]

Returning to headlights, I have a loan bike whilst mine is being serviced and I needed to collect Madame from the station quite late on Monday last.

I bunged her lid on the rack with a cargo net, and fired up the steed. Big yellow warning about the headlight dipped beam failure. And it had, no dipped headlight at all, so I rode to the station on “high beam”. Understatement. It was doing a good impression of a searchlight seeking Lancasters, bats and owls. Got there, turned it off, herself arrived, and I started it up, and normal service was resumed.

No idea why, and it’s been fine since. Will get mine back tomorrow.

(And I quit smoking about 18 years back. Was a bit difficult at first, I’d smoked for thirty years, but I somehow convinced myself that I was not a smoker - rather than I was a smoker who wasn’t smoking - and that helped immensely. In any case, at a tenner a pack, and a pack a day, that’s a new GS every 5 years. Stick at it and good luck)

What year and model it was?

 

[SBD]

2021 GS Rallye, About 6 months old, and about 2500 on the clock.

 

[Hann]

It wasn`t the headlight..................

I think i`ve found it, and it wasn`t the headlight!!

Went out again today and the nasty niff was back.
This time, when i got home and the bike was back into the garage i left the motor running and got on me hands and knees with a torch and had a poke around.
I soon discovered the smell`n`smoke was coming from the r/h lambda sensor!
This particular component caught my eye only the other day as it looked very `weathered` and not at all like the one on the left which only showed signs of normal heat discolouration.
I don`t know whether the r/h smokey one had a label left on it, or maybe some kind of protectice plastic sleeve which should have been removed on the production line or what, but whatever it was it has melted, was sticky and gooey and was deffo the source of the wayward whiff, the smoke rising from under the headlight area i saw last week was a red herrring. When we stopped today during the ride we both had a good sniff around the bike (receiving some odd looks from passers-by) and my best guess at that time was that it might of been coming from underneath the tank. The headlight/heatsink were both cold to the touch.

 

[SBD]

Result

 

[batman1]

Thanks for the feedback