Stalling - is it a GS characteristic? How much is acceptable?

bbb said:
Hi Peeps,

I have a 2010 spec GSA that stalls from time to time without any muppetry on my part!

Normally I am sitting at traffic lights with a warm engine, then the lights go green and I go to give it some throttle, and before I can even let the clutch out the engine has died. This is obviously not so great on a commute through London with vans and lorries by my side ready to launch off the lights as well :rolleyes:

I bought the bike in the summer with low mileage and it infrequently stalled early on into my ownership. I have now changed the battery (due to previous experiences with a 650 Dakar) and it has had a big service at BMW with no faults to be found apart from a stuck exhaust flapper that was replaced. Since the service it is stil doing it but not as badly as before......yet! My bike also stumbles sometimes when giving initial throttle, like the engine can't decide if it's going to pickup or not.

The dealer has told me that GS's stalling is a characteristic of the bike. So what do you guys say!? How common is GS stalling really if at all, and how much stalling would you accept?

Apart from that I'm loving my GSA :bounce1 I just hope this won't start taking the shiny shine off things :rob
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Hi bbb, go and check out my threads here, some interesting reading.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?305695-R1200GSA-erratic-idle-misfire-pre-ignition-detonation-ping-knock-and-stall

and here

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=753622

I however no longer have this issue...
I had an accident and the insurance wrote the bike off. I bought a 2009 SOHV ADV and it purrs like a kitty. Note this is my 4th 1200GS. I have done more than 200 000kms on 1200GS's and I have NEVER experienced the problems like I did with my 2011 DOHC ADV and all the other DOHC's I tested. :nenau

Kevin
 
Whoever knicked it is probably trying to put it back because he's had enough of it cutting out all the time:D
 
Sgt Bilco said:
Whoever knicked it is probably trying to put it back because he's had enough of it cutting out all the time:D
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They're more than welcome to drop it off from where they picked it up. Hopefully they will also let me know when so I can give them a good knee capping!

CandyMan - I read your thread on this a while back after I had my stalling woes. I'm pleased you're now happy with your SOHC GSA ;) It seems to me though that only a minority of us have had stalling issues.

I'm not sure that I'm going to stick with a GSA, after being stung badly I feel like I might try something else. I was told today that around the time of my theft there had been a spate of 'large BMW motorcycle thefts in London'. I'd have thought there would be more chatter on the forum if that was the case?
 
From a reliability point of view pretty much all of the big adventure bikes have issues of some sort. In the end its down to taste and usability.
 
My 2009 GSA stalls occasionally, or maybe I cause it to stall? To make things worse, it often doesn't start first time straight after stalling. Its as if it doesn't like restarting with a hot engine?? Or maybe its intimidated by being in the middle of a crossroads with a queue of cars behind it?:mad:
 
I believe it's a factor caused by the ECU running a weak fuel mixture. I now have a Power Commander. Less stalling less fluffiness better gear shift and better rider confidence. Fuel consumption is much the same - unless I thrash it. ;).

Last weekend I did about 300 miles on Sat and 200 on Sunday. Fuel was dead on 45mpg measured brim to brim. I used to get 47 on m-ways but I wasn't hanging about and Sunday was heavy going against a head wind..
It does less on "normal " roads but then I do tend to use its new punchy acceleration.
 
Bendy toy said:
I believe it's a factor caused by the ECU running a weak fuel mixture. I now have a Power Commander. Less stalling less fluffiness better gear shift and better rider confidence. Fuel consumption is much the same - unless I thrash it. ;).

Last weekend I did about 300 miles on Sat and 200 on Sunday. Fuel was dead on 45mpg measured brim to brim. I used to get 47 on m-ways but I wasn't hanging about and Sunday was heavy going against a head wind..
It does less on "normal " roads but then I do tend to use its new punchy acceleration.
Click to expand...

I was considering trying a Booster Plug but hadn't got around to it. Perhaps that would have remedied it - don't know what the comments are like here on the Booster Plug modules. I loved it on my F800ST.

Mr Bear - when does your bike stall? Changing down gear, coming to a halt at traffic lights with clutch in etc.? Mine would always stall when pulling away from lights, but I can guarantee you it wasn't user error :-D It did it three times in the last week I had the bike. Not great for riding in congested traffic.
 
Mine did that sort of stalling when my primary coils were failing. The old black painted coils are known to fail.
 
bbb said:
Mr Bear - when does your bike stall? Changing down gear, coming to a halt at traffic lights with clutch in etc.? Mine would always stall when pulling away from lights, but I can guarantee you it wasn't user error :-D It did it three times in the last week I had the bike. Not great for riding in congested traffic.
Click to expand...

Same as you, happens when I'm pulling away from standstill in 1st gear. Its only happened occasionally, so Ive never really been concerned. But each time I was confident it wasn't due to me getting it wrong. I also found that it wouldn't restart first time, it would eventually fire up perhaps the third attempt which is worrying when theres traffic behind.

The last time it occurred I noticed a secondary problem moments later, the engine revs increased by themselves but my speed remained constant, and the gear indicator on the display panel disappeared for a few seconds, despite still being in gear. It was quite bizarre and I wondered if it was due to a worn clutch, but with only about 8k on the clock It shouldn't be the case. It hasn't happened since, and I posted a thread about it here http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?381573-Worn-Clutch&highlight=stall
 
Interesting you mention the burning smell as I noticed a burning smell twice on my bike.

1st time I'd just come out of the Blackwall Tunnel and thought is that burn clutch I can smell, is this me or a lorry or car nearby. I merrily stuck my snout down by the handlebars and could have sworn it was my bike. Anyway, 1 minute later my bike died and it appeared the jet sucking pump wasn't drinking the remaining 6 litres of fuel. Perhaps the smell was my imagination?

2nd time was after I'd left my house blimmin' early. I got half a mile down the road with no traffic in sight, and thought I could smell burning clutch again? Never worked out what that was all about but my clutch never slipped like the problems in your thread.

In the 3 months of ownership it once stalled coming to a T-junction immediately after a cold start, and the other 10 odd times it stalled was on pulling away. Oh, once I got it to stall when blipping the gas muckin' around, bit like Candyman. I noticed every now and then that the throttle pickup could be hesitant and cause the engine to stumble, to the point that I'd pull the clutch lever back in that hadn't even reached biting point!

Anyway, seeing I've had 2years of annoying glitches on BMWs I'm now checking out a Triumph. Perhaps I'll be a non-BMW owner for the first time!! Or perhaps I'll get sucked back in. The GSA has got character :D
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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