X Challenge starting problem

[ONYERBIKE]

My 2008 X challenge seems to be developing a starting problem.
It will start from cold 1st turn but if you ride the bike up the road to say the petrol station and fill up, when you go to restart the bike it just turns over and over with the odd backfire thrown in for good measure.
If you leave the bike to sit its fine and will restart but today it took 20 minutes of waiting before it would go again. Once it goes it runs sweet.
Also finding that getting the bike into neutral with the green light on is becoming a bit harder. If you get the bike into neutral with the engine running it seems to start 99% of the time 1st turn, but like I say neutral is becoming harder to find as well.
Any ideas? Side stand switch, clutch switch (if there is one)
The bike also had this problem when I 1st bought it and it had the original exhaust end can on, seems to be getting worse lately

 

[barrym]

Have you had the recall to replace the battery carried out? This fixes the starting problems you describe. It is a free, new, battery!!!

 

[Rushy]

Have you had the recall to replace the battery carried out? This fixes the starting problems you describe. It is a free, new, battery!!!

Yep, i had exactly the same problems as described when i bought mine. The very first time i went to ride it i got as far as my local petrol station and then ended up pushing it home

A few days later the next ride was 25 miles, stop for 3 hrs at a pub , ride home no problems.

3rd ride was to work. Rode 18 miles stopped for petrol, bike wouldn't start , stuck for an hr and half until jump started by a passing motorist... rode the remaining 5 miles to work . 8 hrs later the bike started no problem at all

Next ride was to Chester BMW to get the recall done..............no problems since

 

[ONYERBIKE]

Cheers chaps
I rode with one of the salesmen from BMW Sawbridgeworth the other week who offered to help me import the bike as its still on french plates.
Maybe he can sort this out for me as well.

 

[rossi]

On mine the neutral light occasionally does not come on with the bike in neutral. If it is like this the bike won't start. If I nudge the gear lever up slightly the neutral light come on and it starts fine.

The other thing to watch is that you leave the throttle closed until the red diagnostic light on the dash stops flashing. If you open the throttle while it is flashing it messes up the calibration of the throttle position sensor.

 

[PaulXC]

Cheers chaps
I rode with one of the salesmen from BMW Sawbridgeworth the other week who offered to help me import the bike as its still on french plates.
Maybe he can sort this out for me as well.

Old thread I know ...

I've just had my battery done on the BMW recall - cheers Williams in Manchester.. Bike is now 33 months old so pleased with that. Was working fine and then just wouldn't start one day.

btw - they weren't keen on doing any warranty recall work while mine was still on French plates. They reckoned it had to go back to France for that. As soon as I had it UK registered they did all the outstanding recalls. (This was about 18 months ago).

Onyerbike - if you are still on French plates and want any help doing the UK reg just shout me.

Paul

 

[ONYERBIKE]

Old thread I know ...

I've just had my battery done on the BMW recall - cheers Williams in Manchester.. Bike is now 33 months old so pleased with that. Was working fine and then just wouldn't start one day.

btw - they weren't keen on doing any warranty recall work while mine was still on French plates. They reckoned it had to go back to France for that. As soon as I had it UK registered they did all the outstanding recalls. (This was about 18 months ago).

Onyerbike - if you are still on French plates and want any help doing the UK reg just shout me.

Paul

Cheers for that Paul, yeah the bike is still on French plates, I was thinking of selling it but can't seem to part with it, bought a Yamaha Tenere but it looks like the Yam will be the one to go so will be sorting out importing the XC in the near future.

 

[ONYERBIKE]

Finally got round to getting this battery thing sorted out as I have a rally coming up, BMW Sawbridgeworth are doing the free battery, didn't seem to care that the bike is on French plates.
I also found out that you can hook the battery up to an Optimate if you connect the leads directly to the battery terminals..........it only causes problems with the canbus wiring if you try to charge through the Aux Bmw socket.......that's what the service department said

 

[WindyChuffer]

Odd to hear a dealer not doing warranty work 'cos its on French plates as the BMW warranty is 2yr AND European Wide. Some of these lazy arse dealers need a reet good kick up the jacksy.

 

[barrym]

I also found out that you can hook the battery up to an Optimate if you connect the leads directly to the battery terminals..........it only causes problems with the canbus wiring if you try to charge through the Aux Bmw socket.......that's what the service department said

Are these bikes canbus then? I assumed not but I haven't checked. Not even sure what to check. I do know however that I have charged my XCountry through the aux socket.

 

[WindyChuffer]

Are these bikes canbus then? I assumed not but I haven't checked. Not even sure what to check. I do know however that I have charged my XCountry through the aux socket.

No Canbus on the G650X.

 

[alcanara]

The manual I believe says just the opposite ....

"Charging battery when connected..

Charging the connected battery directly at the bat- tery terminals can damage the vehicle electronics. Always disconnect the battery from the on-board circuits be- fore recharging it with a charger connected directly to the battery
posts"

It also says that if the battery is completely flat... (I.e. no lights at the digital display).. you should not charge via the aux plug..... Confusing really

Alcanara

 

[Big Den]

Hopefully someone will be along in a mo to clarify. I do not believe they are canbus although looking at NN's site he has canbus chargers listed under the G650

 

[PaulXC]

Odd to hear a dealer not doing warranty work 'cos its on French plates as the BMW warranty is 2yr AND European Wide. Some of these lazy arse dealers need a reet good kick up the jacksy.

When mine was on French plates the dealer in Manchester told me he would do Warranty work under the European Warranty, but for recall work (which on mine at the time was minor mods to the mudflap to prevent it splitting the airshock) it had to be dealt with in France.

---

onyerbike : if your r around can email me - pnc444 @ gmail.com (remove the spaces) I can't PM you.

Cheers

Paul

 

[ONYERBIKE]

Hopefully someone will be along in a mo to clarify. I do not believe they are canbus although looking at NN's site he has canbus chargers listed under the G650

That's what BMW told me today, charge with optimate with leads connected directly to battery, not through the aux socket as this may cause problems.
Maybe worth checking with your local dealer as with everything else in life you can guarantee that the whole dealer network will say something different

 

[ONYERBIKE]

When mine was on French plates the dealer in Manchester told me he would do Warranty work under the European Warranty, but for recall work (which on mine at the time was minor mods to the mudflap to prevent it splitting the airshock) it had to be dealt with in France.

---

onyerbike : if your r around can email me - pnc444 @ gmail.com (remove the spaces) I can't PM you.

Cheers

Paul

Email sent

 

[HonestJohn]

Charging via the power socket

The manual I believe says just the opposite ....

"Charging battery when connected..

Charging the connected battery directly at the bat- tery terminals can damage the vehicle electronics. Always disconnect the battery from the on-board circuits be- fore recharging it with a charger connected directly to the battery
posts"

It also says that if the battery is completely flat... (I.e. no lights at the digital display).. you should not charge via the aux plug..... Confusing really

Alcanara

I agree - very confusing. The manual for my Xcountry says the same on page 88 ...

Charging battery when connected

[!] Charging the connected battery directly at the battery terminals can damage the vehicle electronics. Always disconnect the battery from the on-board circuits before recharging it with a charger connected directly to the battery posts.

[!] If you switch on the ignition and the multifunction display and telltale lights fail to light up, the battery is completely flat. Attempting to charge a completely flat battery via the onboard socket can cause damage to the motorcycle's electronics. If a battery has discharged to the extent that it is completely flat, it has to be disconnected from the on-board circuits and charged with the charger connected directly to the battery posts.​

... and then on page 89 suggests the opposite ...

• Charge via the power socket (OE), with the battery connected to the motorcycle's onboard electrical system.
• Comply with the operating instructions of the charger.

Guess I'll also challenge my dealer (Rainbow) when I'm next in, but the way I read the manual is that the first two paragraphs are warnings (they have that [!] symbol next to them) and then the two bullet points on page 89 are what the manual is saying you should do.

If that's the right reading, then it is simply:

• disconnect if it's really flat
• but if it's just topping up/trickle charging, the power socket's fine

If it is that, don't know why they don't just say that!! Will let you know whether Rainbow agree ...

 

[Big Den]

I remember a thing about charging the GS's via the power socket as it was routed through the alternator and other circuits so if you connected/disconnected the plug with the charger running it could spark and takeout your ECU. I think the electronics on the XC are a bit more advanced than a 1100/1150 but connecting optimate leads to the battery and charging is fine, i have not got the socket anyway was going to fit one then couldn't think of anything i would ever plug into it

 

[alcanara]

I remember a thing about charging the GS's via the power socket as it was routed through the alternator and other circuits so if you connected/disconnected the plug with the charger running it could spark and takeout your ECU. I think the electronics on the XC are a bit more advanced than a 1100/1150 but connecting optimate leads to the battery and charging is fine, i have not got the socket anyway was going to fit one then couldn't think of anything i would ever plug into it

The kettle silly..... for that cuppa en-route

 

[ONYERBIKE]

Got my bike back from those nice chaps at Sawbridgeworth today after finally pulling me finger out and having the new battery fitted............like having a new bike innit...........starts every bloody time.....marvellous