Does everything work fine with the traction control switched off?
Traction-control malfunction on a 2009 GS Adventure.
- Thread starter Nick V
- Start date
It seems to... by that, I mean:
- With the ASC in 'Reduced functionality' mode, it still cuts in when the rear wheel isn't spinning but the misfire and power loss isn't as noticeable (as you'd expect).
- With the ASC disabled, it doesn't seem to cut in at all. (I've never been 100% sure whether 'disabling' the ASC outright actually disables it 100% - I know that on some traction-control systems, there is still a limited amount of traction-control functionality even when the system is ostensibly 'switched off'.)
- Whether the ASC is 'On', in 'Reduced functionality' mode or 'Off', ABS functionality is not affected in any way.
trainman
Registered user
has this always happened since the bike was built as it is now?
i wonder if the GSA electronics cannot cope with the 1200S engine and gearbox, i am fairly sure the S and GSA will have totally different gear ratios and even fuelling and TPS logic etc and maybe the logic for the ASC uses wheel speed, TPS, engine revs and gear position to work out what you are up to, and its maybe getting confusing gen as you have given it a different engine and gearbox (relative to a 2009 GSA) to play with!
ABS involves less use of engine information so I guess thats why that works?
bit of a wild guess!!?
i wonder if the GSA electronics cannot cope with the 1200S engine and gearbox, i am fairly sure the S and GSA will have totally different gear ratios and even fuelling and TPS logic etc and maybe the logic for the ASC uses wheel speed, TPS, engine revs and gear position to work out what you are up to, and its maybe getting confusing gen as you have given it a different engine and gearbox (relative to a 2009 GSA) to play with!
ABS involves less use of engine information so I guess thats why that works?
bit of a wild guess!!?
I mulled over all this... thing is, the answer to that question is a qualified 'No'.
For the first couple of months, the system played really nice. I never even bothered to switch the ASC from it's default 'On' setting, and the rear tyre gives so much grip that I'd have to be riding the thing like an absolute nutter before it broke traction.
The ASC malfunction started at exactly the same time as water got into the bike's TPS for the first time and started causing havoc.
All true - the S gearbox and/or final drive definitely have shorter ratios.
But taking into account what I said above, my hunch is that these aren't the deciding factors... if they were, the symptoms would have manifested from the day I test-rode the bike before buying it.
Possibly, but I suspect I'll have to dig a bit deeper before I find this gremlin...
trainman
Registered user
ok, only other suggestion is has it been in for any work which might have included a software update, these can go wrong
its does sound like it needs hooking up to the dealers kit to check all this out
its does sound like it needs hooking up to the dealers kit to check all this out
juddadredd
Registered user
Dude take it to BMW as they have the people and the kit to fix it...
Well by that I mean a complete knob to stand their scratching his balls whilst saying I don't know Kev. what do you think.
Well by that I mean a complete knob to stand their scratching his balls whilst saying I don't know Kev. what do you think.
Issue sorted. 
Over the weekend, I tried two different approaches.
First, I got the bike up on the centre stand and removed, inspected and cleaned off both wheel-speed sensors (thinking that perhaps dirt, debris, metal particles etc. might have been interfering with the readings forwarded by one or both sensors).
I picked up nothing of particular interest, except that the front sensor was so close to the disc that it had in fact been scraping it at one point. (I couldn't get a 0.05mm feeler-gauge blade between sensor and disc - the Haynes manual specifies an air gap of between 0.2mm and 0.7mm.) I spaced out the front sensor to 0.6mm using a thin 4mm flat washer.
It made no difference to the ASC malfunction. But there was a moral: Never assume that the guy who built your bike built it properly.
With the sensors now a known quantity, I pulled the rear wheel off my K1200S streetfighter and exchanged the worn-out 190/50-17 tyre for an ex-track-day 190/55-17 Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa I picked up for next to nothing, mounted the 'wrong' way round on the rim (on K-series, the rear wheel bolts on from the right-hand side).
From the time the new combo went on, the ASC worked perfectly. (I'm now getting a tyre-pressure readout error, but that's natural - the streetfighter's rear wheel has no pressure sensor.)
I can only assume that the 180/55-17 tyre the bike was wearing when it was sold to me was only just inside the 'acceptable' parameters for rolling circumference (taking into account a combination of R1200S gear ratios and GS Adventure ASC software), and as it started to wear, the circumference must have eroded enough to cause the fault to manifest. Turns out, the extra rolling circumference given by the taller tyre profile was the 'magic bullet' I needed.
And, I was really surprised at how well the 190/55 complements the GSA.
The original 180/55 (a Michelin Pilot Road 3) gave stable, neutral handling when I pushed the bike hard. But with the Pirelli, it's just more, more, more. The bike turns in much more easily, is calmer in fast bends, and holds it's line more accurately. There is also an improvement in ride comfort.
Make no mistake, the original wheel/tyre configuration was good. But with the 'new' config, the bike feels like it's just exchanged Wellies for track running spikes.
A 190/55-17 Pilot Road 3 is definitely on the cards.
Over the weekend, I tried two different approaches.
First, I got the bike up on the centre stand and removed, inspected and cleaned off both wheel-speed sensors (thinking that perhaps dirt, debris, metal particles etc. might have been interfering with the readings forwarded by one or both sensors).
I picked up nothing of particular interest, except that the front sensor was so close to the disc that it had in fact been scraping it at one point. (I couldn't get a 0.05mm feeler-gauge blade between sensor and disc - the Haynes manual specifies an air gap of between 0.2mm and 0.7mm.) I spaced out the front sensor to 0.6mm using a thin 4mm flat washer.
It made no difference to the ASC malfunction. But there was a moral: Never assume that the guy who built your bike built it properly.
With the sensors now a known quantity, I pulled the rear wheel off my K1200S streetfighter and exchanged the worn-out 190/50-17 tyre for an ex-track-day 190/55-17 Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa I picked up for next to nothing, mounted the 'wrong' way round on the rim (on K-series, the rear wheel bolts on from the right-hand side).
From the time the new combo went on, the ASC worked perfectly. (I'm now getting a tyre-pressure readout error, but that's natural - the streetfighter's rear wheel has no pressure sensor.)
I can only assume that the 180/55-17 tyre the bike was wearing when it was sold to me was only just inside the 'acceptable' parameters for rolling circumference (taking into account a combination of R1200S gear ratios and GS Adventure ASC software), and as it started to wear, the circumference must have eroded enough to cause the fault to manifest. Turns out, the extra rolling circumference given by the taller tyre profile was the 'magic bullet' I needed.
And, I was really surprised at how well the 190/55 complements the GSA.
The original 180/55 (a Michelin Pilot Road 3) gave stable, neutral handling when I pushed the bike hard. But with the Pirelli, it's just more, more, more. The bike turns in much more easily, is calmer in fast bends, and holds it's line more accurately. There is also an improvement in ride comfort.
Make no mistake, the original wheel/tyre configuration was good. But with the 'new' config, the bike feels like it's just exchanged Wellies for track running spikes.
A 190/55-17 Pilot Road 3 is definitely on the cards.
Bendy toy
Registered user
Tyre size numbers wheel rim diameters etc get all too confusing. Can you post the measured rolling radius for each tyre. It would be interesting to see how your rolling sizes vary in simple terms.
Well done for sorting it and even more well done for doing something different with your bikes.
Well done for sorting it and even more well done for doing something different with your bikes.
I agree - it would make it easier to express the new rolling circumference (Y) as a relative percentage of the old circumference (X) (i.e. Y = [X + 10%], or whatever the actual percentage is).
I'll try and break out the tape measure this weekend!
Well done for sorting it and even more well done for doing something different with your bikes.
Thanks much!
I'm a firm believer in 'breaking out of the mould'. On some American BMW forums, I've taken a lot of flak for deviating from 'The Norms'. Bemusement is usually my first reaction - why not play with it? It's mechanical... that's what it's there for.
As an aside, I get quite concerned when people unquestioningly swallow hype. Contrary to what the rich urban biking crowd here in SA would have you believe, the R1200GS and GSA are NOT the best off-road bikes in the world. (And how would they know, when the furthest 'Off road' many of them will ever go is the sidewalk of the nearest News Cafe).
Actually, if we're completely honest, the GS and GSA are not off-road bikes at all. They are simply too big, too heavy and too unmanageable for anyone except twenty-something factory Dakar pilots on anything but hard-packed dirt tracks. I think Dan Walsh put it best (even though he was talking about the HP2 Enduro at the time): "This thing's too spicy and heavy to fake sweetness and light".
There are myriad reasons I ride GSs and GSAs. The #1 is this: in my sphere, they are the best road bikes I have yet encountered.
What I ride has the same acceleration as an early Fireblade, will outpace any KTM 990 and breathe down the neck of a Multistrada 1200 (I know; I've done it), carry me 1 600 Km without breaking my back or my neck (try THAT on your Fireblade), go for 400 Km without needing a refill, and when I park up at the end of the day, I don't have to grovel on the floor adjusting a chain.
Plus, it's not a UJM, and that means it's also a great conversation piece wherever it goes...
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