Wont Start

[Barge]

My "new" GSA is causing me problems. 2010 hexhead with 24,000 on the clock.

It was delivered to Aberdeen and arrived on the ferry on Saturday. The crew managed to ride it off and put it in the freight shed, but when I went to collect it the engine turned over a couple of times and then there was no life left in the battery. I noticed that the heated grips were on position one, so I put the problem down to that. The engine had probably been started several times to move it on and off vans on its long trip up to Aberdeen.

I took the bike for a spin, 50 miles or so, which put some life in the battery, but left overnight the bike was sluggish turning over and wouldn't burst into life. The battery dying or almost dying before the bike kicked into life. Eventually I got the battery on charge on an Optimate charger. It charges up fully, but doesn't hold its full charge. Today, after two nights on charge, the battery went back on the bike and the engine spun and spun, but except for the very rare fire it wasn't going to run. It couldn't even be described as running roughly. I got the booster battery out and kept spinning the engine over, but it just wouldn't fire, so I went off to investigate what it is likely to be. The fuel pump controller came up as a possibility, but this was usually an issue on pre-2008 bikes, except if they were GSA's. I am not where the bike is at the moment so I can't have a look to see if I am likely to be afflicted.

With few tools, which I am busy rectifying, and no previous experience of BMW in general and the GSA in particular, and living on a remote island, I am not really sure where to start. Would one of you kind souls be willing to lend me a FPC bypass cable so that I can at least rule that out if you think that is the route that I should be following? I would of course return it to you and cover all costs plus a bit more. I plan to buy my own cable but at the moment I can see that I will have to get it shipped across from the US.

If you think that I should be looking elsewhere, any nudge in the right (likely) direction would be appreciated.

A new battery is en route from the bike dealer.

Thanks

Andy
Shetland

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Have you done a throttle position sensor reset? Needs to be done when you disconnect the battery if you haven't. Ignition on, slowly open full throttle and close 3 times, ignition off. Turn it back on and try and start.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

 

[Barge]

No, I didn't know about that.

I seem to have a lot to learn.

Thanks a lot for the input. I will get on the case with that when I am back at the bike tomorrow.

Andy
Shetland

 

[Bendy toy]

Lead acid batteries left unused for long periods will self destruct.
The cheap fix is a cheap battery and treat it as a consumable item. The more costly but IMO the least cost over time is a Shorai lithium. They can stand unharmed for months they can run to dead flat with no harm done. They are a fraction of the size of lead acid.
I am a broken record on the subject but crappy batteries really p me off.

By the way the heated grips won't flatten the battery if left switched on.

 

[Barge]

It's got a Yuasa battery with a BMW logo on it, surely it couldn't be the same battery after all is time - 7 years?

Thanks a lot for the heads up on the lithium battery. I hate to consider what it is likely to cost, but I tend to think buy once, cry once, in other fields, so why not this one.

Thanks a lot for your input

 

[Delboy777]

It's got a Yuasa battery with a BMW logo on it, surely it couldn't be the same battery after all is time - 7 years?

Thanks a lot for the heads up on the lithium battery. I hate to consider what it is likely to cost, but I tend to think buy once, cry once, in other fields, so why not this one.

Thanks a lot for your input

Never mind all that expensive batteries, get one like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-R1200...hash=item540ad75619:m:mw4BEtpmJr74QCs4DCgTaaw thats all you need.

 

[Bendy toy]

It's got a Yuasa battery with a BMW logo on it, surely it couldn't be the same battery after all is time - 7 years?

Thanks a lot for the heads up on the lithium battery. I hate to consider what it is likely to cost, but I tend to think buy once, cry once, in other fields, so why not this one.

Thanks a lot for your input

If the bike stands unused for long periods any lead acid will suffer. May as well go cheap n cheerful and accept it will pack up. If the bike is used regularly the life will be ok, making the very heavy and costly Odyssey look pointless. Especially as all lead acid will suffer when not used regularly.

I have an Odyssey lead acid battery bought used but only a few months old. They suffer the abuse of standing unused better than most but cost £80 to £100 and are ridiculously heavy. A Ballistic LiFePo lithium will cost about £150, but a Shorai is more like £100 or less.

Lithiums when very won't deliver enough punch to start the engine. They will self heat (internal resistance) so a few start attempts will warm the battery and engine then starts fine. The battery is unharmed. A cold lead acid will give a single punch but if that's not enough you are stuffed until its recharged.

If you need it to work in very cold conditions get the bigger size but UK isn't "that" cold. A Ballistic 12 cell (read (HOW MUCH!! expensive) happily started a souped up Harley in 11 degs F (about -10C). But, how often do we need that in UK?

A small lithium starter battery isn't costly and will be fine in moderate weather but may struggle when really cold. For those worried about that, get a portable hard drive size booster pack. In the meantime, it's great for topping up laptops and phones.

Lots of stuff on YouTube.

 

[Pukmeister]

Ive changed my GS and GSA batteries, first time was replacing the BMW Yuasa (2004 GS) with an Odyssey at about £100, second time replacing the BMW Exide (2008 GSA) with a motobatt at £39. The motobatt is the better battery IMHO.

Be warned, cranking a GS/GSA until the battery dies is not a good idea. The low voltage can kill other (expensive) electronic items on the bike. Its also worth stripping and cleaning the starter motor, plenty of info on here if you search, and an easy job to do.

 

[Barge]

The bike is going again. Thanks a lot for all the input, without which I would still have been scratching my head. I think that there were 3 issues:

Battery - tired - one on the way from the dealer - I am also going to buy an Anti-Gravity XP1 for this and other tasks

Fuel - low, although it was reporting two bars - I could hear some sloshing about in the tank though - refilled

Throttle position sensor - this was news to me - done

I have ordered a Haynes Manual to help me out, but I am sure that there will be plenty of noob questions.

Thanks again

Andy

 

[steveC]

Have you done a throttle position sensor reset? Needs to be done when you disconnect the battery if you haven't. Ignition on, slowly open full throttle and close 3 times, ignition off. Turn it back on and try and start.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

I have read that comment before then along came another poster and said it's not required.

Having recently had my battery disconnected a number of times for fitting extras all I can say is I have never done it. I wonder if it makes any difference.

 

[bisbee]

Don't rely on the fuel gauge (which is a known fault) I would reset the trip meter on refuelling and allow 9 miles per litre to predict your range.

 

[Barge]

@SteveC - Interesting. I thought that it should at least fire up, even if it ran ragged, but like the lucky rabbit's foot (well, not for the rabbit) I can see myself doing it every time the battery comes off. For the amount of time it takes it is no hardship.

@bisbee - Thanks, that is useful.

 

[steveC]

I have done a search and a well known expert "Steptoe" made the below comment on throttle position sensor reset....

The bike will "reset" the TPS automatically as you ride it.
All your doing is telling the motronic where full throttle and idle are.

That comment was made in 2010, it may apply to twin cam models. Yes the fuel gauges are vague, do what bisbee say's.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

I have had the issue in varying stages so I know from experience it's real. If it was a quick disconnect to say change batteries or quickly connect something I got a dodgy throttle. It felt wooly and seemed to miss. One winter when the battery was out for a good while it wouldn't start until I did a reset.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

 

[mpgscott]

Hope you dont get disheartened by your problems, probably bikes been sat for a while so your new batter will sort you out.

I find the DVD's that Jim does http://jimvonbaden.com/Hexhead_R1200_2004-2009.html are really helpful and worth the money to get one. I use this to service my bike myself as like you dont really have much choice locally.

Enjoy tinkering with the new wheels.

 

[Barge]

@mpgscott - perhaps a little disheartened, but the run out today cheered me up no end. Just go to hope that the bike bursts into life when we take it out again tomorrow, and that sums it up at the moment - reliability worries, but once the new battery is in place I will be much happier.

I know what you mean about choice, and I have less than you!

Thanks a lot for the DVD link. I will contemplate upon that. Once I figure out the differences between the mk2 and mk3, and the answers are bound to be on here, I will be able to make a decision.

 

[mpgscott]

Good stuff, they are great bikes and this site is excellent for getting answers.

Im sure it will be fine.

Cheers
Mark

 

[Bendy toy]

1200 Mk 1 is before 2008. Mk 2 is 2008-2009. Mk 3 is the twin cam.

 

[Barge]

Thanks Bendy. I will add this to my knowledge database.

 

[Pukmeister]

Another little gem :

Mk 2 is referred to as MU (model update).
Mk3 is referred to a TU (twincam update).