It just stopped

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tim Pointing
  • Start date Start date

Tim Pointing

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Imagine the scene.

In London West End traffic, KTM rider asks hows the bike (R1150GS Adventure 2003 no ABS) and the engine dies.

Will not start at all. Turns over and coughs a little. Then notice as the battery is giving up the ghost that the clock has reset itself.

Anyone out there had this experience or might have a clue whats going on.

BMW Park Lane said it might be the battery and wanted to swap the old one straight away, thats GBP77 sir!!!
 
There's only three fundamental reasons why an engine won't run:

  1. Mechanical - ie you're broken the engine!
  2. Electrical - no spark at the right time
  3. Fuel - correct fuel mix not getting into the cylinder

If the engine was running and then just stopped, it is NOT because of your battery unless the charging light had been on for some time!

If it just stopped dead, as if you'd turned it off, it would suggest electrical. I think I'd have a look at the Hall effect sensor first. These are known to fail from time to time.

If the engine died slowly, it's likely to be fuel. But there's not much to go wrong. Check that the fuel pump is working by either listening to the pump as you turn on the ignition or leave the ignition on and release the clip on a fuel line. If it pumps fuel, watch for the fire hazard, but it would suggest that the pump is OK. If it doesn't pump fuel - check that you have some!! - and then check the connector block under the r/h side of the tank near the rear mounting. Squeeze the connector, pull it apart, spray some WD40 and reconnect.

If that fails, book your place at Steptoe's emporium!

:hammer

Greg
 
PS If you didn't buy a new battery, get some charge into the old one asap or you'll be buying a new one anyway!

Greg
 
Tim Pointing said:
Imagine the scene.

In London West End traffic, KTM rider asks hows the bike (R1150GS Adventure 2003 no ABS) and the engine dies.

Will not start at all. Turns over and coughs a little. Then notice as the battery is giving up the ghost that the clock has reset itself.

Anyone out there had this experience or might have a clue whats going on.

BMW Park Lane said it might be the battery and wanted to swap the old one straight away, thats GBP77 sir!!!
Click to expand...

I sold my Gs to a workmate . One month later he had the same problem. Started in the morning , driving along , stopped for traffic lights , bike stopped dead.
A new battery fixed it but the bike ran very , very badly on restart even after the trottle twist to reset .Thanks to this site :clap :beerjug: we checked the trottle cable which was sitting where it should not be sitting , quick fix all back to normal :bounce1
 
Sounds like it's not charging and the bike was running off the battery until it ran out of juice.

It could be a really dodgy battery, but generally the bike will continue to run once started. Even it was down to a battery problem, I would still recommend a couple of extra checks.

Check that it's charging properly by putting a voltmeter across the terminals and check that the voltage rises to about 14.5V and certainly doesn't go above 15V as you rev it. You should do this with the headlamp on - I've had electrical faults in the past where the charging voltage was fine, without the headlight. I found that one out about an hour from home.

Also, check all the wiring and connections, not just the wires to the 12V side, but the earth connections as well.

(note to self, check out the earth connection on the GS when fitting new battery this weekend)

From past experience, you can run a bike for about an hour on a battery with the headlamp on. With the headlamp off, it's more down to the number of times you start it.
 
Something to bear in mind is that on some vehicle systems, the charge circuit fails if the charge warning light has blown!!

In other words, if the warning lamp doesn't work, the battery won't get charged & you won't know about it until the engine stops coz the battery has run out of charge... :blast

M
 
It just stopped!

Thanks folks.

I feel abit more knowledgable and less at the mercy of Park Lane BMW.

It sounds like an electrical fault and the Hall Sensor sounds like a prime candidate.

Will post the outcome as soon as it gets fixed.

Good job I kept my Y reg 85,000 miler just in case.

Tim
 
I hope you get it sorted. I just hate it when a mechanic just has a stab in the dark and they charge you accordingly. It just smacks of sharp practice, IMHO.

I mean, in your case, it would be really easy to put a known good battery on the bike and see if that works. Or even quicker - a set of jump leads. If it doesn't fix the problem then there's no need to put a new battery on 'cos that ain't it'...
 
Tim Pointing said:
Imagine the scene. KTM rider asks hows the bike (R1150GS Adventure 2003 no ABS) and the engine dies.
Click to expand...

Your bike has clearly been cursed by the KTM demon and its rider is a sorcerer.
Make arrangements to sprinkle the posessed 1150 with Holy Water.
You may use Lager in an emergency.
The next time you meet the KTM and rider,hammer a stake through its petrol tank.
 
I can confirm, that even with a totally shot battery, mine was an early 99 original battery replaced last year, once running no issue.

But I was so lucky!!!! in deep sand in a dry river bed!!!! just started, just got onto solid gound, parked to get some oxygen into the lungs and "cool" down I think it was about 35C, I was BRIGHT RED with sweat and exertion thumbed starter it went Click, da da da da !!!

The boys managed to bump it before we went back into the sand and hoped!!!!

Look elsewhere for the issue.

Welsh ;) ;)
 
Hall sensor?

A similar thing happened to Egon recently. Cruising along quite happily and it just stopped dead. We swopped the coil and ECU with my bike (currently dead anyway) and still would not start.
Took the front engine cover off and noticed that the timing belt had started to fray, with the offending piece literally whipping the Hall sensor to bits :whip Replaced the sensor and bike fired first push.:D

Take a look here http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100190

Hope you gey it sorted quickly and cheaply!

Martin
 
Had identical problem. Used Steptoe's advice on how to track the possible causes and quickly determined that the Hall Unit was knackered. Replaced this and bike started instantaneously.

Best of luck!
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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