1150GS eating batteries

IanPorter

IanPorter

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Hi guys,

I'm a new 1150GS owner and absolutely loving the bike but have an annoying problem with the electrics.

I bought the bike a week ago and the battery died the following day, it didn't seem to want to hold a charge. I got some charge back into it and took it back to the dealer for a new battery and they checked it was charging OK.

all's been fine for a week and I've done about 400 miles since, yesterday the bike started and ran fine, today it wont turn over and the battery is reading 0 volts.

It wont charge and when hooked up to the charger the only current draw from the bike is about 3mA so I can't see that discharging a battery over night to the point where it's deceased.

It's going into Pidcocks under warranty tomorrow but wondered what you guys thought to the problem.

cheers

Ian
 
If by any chance Pidcocks dont fully sort this problem for you.. and it recurrs... then get the bike over to nottingham and into Towza's tender care.. he's a bike electrics expert.. and will sort it out for you in double quick time.

simply google towzatronics he lives over your side.. just off the derby road/A52.. so you wont have to risk life and limb entering the gun capital of the UK.

I can't recommend this chap highly enough. he moans and complains about the silly way bmw do things... but apart from that little failing he's a top fella.
 
Week old battery reading 0 volts:eek: It wil be interesting to see what the outcome of this is.
 
Had exactly the same scenario with the current 1150 (2002) I am riding. Rode it all the way from Devon on Sunday. Wednesday morning it started first go on the button. I realised I have been riding with the lights off all the time as it has a switch to turn them on or off not like the new fancy smanchy ones which comes on automatically :D

Got to work and parked it up. Turned off the ignition and no ligths where on and went about my business. Afternoon got to the bike and again it started up fine first push. Got 5 miles down the road and it died on me at a traffic light :blast

Pushed it across the road to the firebrigade and tried to start it - battery dead so much so the clocks reset. Chap helped me jump start it from his car and it took almost immediately. By now I switched the lights off and rode it home like that no further incidents. Put it on charge at home and battery was full within 30 odd minutes :eek

Haven't had issues since although I now switch the lights off completely when I park it up, I want to test it over the weekend and see if it is the switch that for some reason pulls amps when the ignition is off.
 
battery

Disconnect it while your not using it if it still goes flat that eleminate the bike side of things.
 
did some testing with the RAC man this morning and we diagnosed a faulty starter motor.

when trying to jump start it off his van charger it was dragging the supply down from about 14 volts to 5 volts, it actually dragged the revs down on his van.

the starter was just turning over at this and the bike still wouldn't start.

then the fun started, the RAC will only recover a vehicle from your home address to a dealer within 10 miles, guess what, my nearest dealer is Pidcocks 15 miles away. How much do they want to charge for those extra 5 miles? £100 the robbing barstewards.

luckily the Pidcocks van driver was in the area today and they collected it for £1 per mile +VAT

so it's now been with them for the afternoon and they've diagnosed it as a faulty starter motor :)

shouldn't be long before I get it back now and let's hope we're all right on the diagnosis.
 
Makes sense.
Pound to a pinch it'll be the starter motor magnets coming unglued and binding the whole thing up.
 
It doesn't explain why the battery won't hold its charge. The starter motor is only connected to the battery when the solenoid is engaged.

Greg
 
I think that the starter has been drawing so much current it has killed the battery.

the new battery was 'holding' charge until it died, I think it was just repeated starting that eventually killed it

I'll get it on the optimate when it's back and we'll see if the next battery holds a charge, I did some testing while waiting for the RAC and there's only a 3mA draw with the ignition off
 
How about a dodgy regufier/regulator or alternator?

I had very similar problems recently on my car and it was a dicky regulator pack, it intermittently drained the battery even when the ignition was off.
 
Greg Masters said:
It doesn't explain why the battery won't hold its charge. The starter motor is only connected to the battery when the solenoid is engaged.

Greg
Click to expand...

What Ian said.

Flatten a battery co completely and so often and it'll kill it.
 
Starter replaced and new battery fitted,

so far all seems well

I've got it on the optimate and there doesn't seem to be any drain on the battery when everything is turned off so I'm guessing it was just the starter that was killing it
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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