Wrong section but…

AndyB_11

AndyB_11

Still waiting
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I’ve just got in after a fortnight in the US and gone to start my RT ready for leaving to go on holiday on Sunday and it’s not playing nicely.

It’s always left on a BMW charger and that’s saying it’s fully charged, the ignition lights come on, horn etc all work but the electric start button does nothing.

I’ve gone to plug in my shiny GS-911 but that’s saying low power mode so I’ve plugged it in to charge it in the hope that it’ll be ok in about 1hr and will give me some clues but meanwhile has anyone got any suggestions?

I’ve posted in the pub rather than the RT section in the hope of some rapid clues because as things stand I should be out all day tomorrow watching cricket, come home Sunday morning then load up and go.
 
I know this sounds daft but……

kill switch?

it’s easy enough done
 
It's forecast to piss down all day tomorrow, so cricket is likely to be rained off. Plenty of time to sort the problem.
 
Battery condition would be my first thought.

However, if the starter button does literally nothing (no clicking etc) then I'd consider the possibility of a faulty switch too.

Have you got another battery / power source to use to rule out the battery on the RT? (jump leads to car for example)

Does it have an immobiliser?
 
Battery. Had a similar scenario (charger plugged in etc) a few years ago.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
Right then. The battery is showing 14.4v so that’s ok.

Kill switch could be malfunctioning, once the 911 is working that’ll tell me.

It’s in neutral plus I’ve lifted the side stand, pulled the clutch in etc. m

It does have an immobiliser which has never been used and that’s on my list to check but I don’t even take the fob out with me normally so I’m rating it as highly unlikely to be the cause.

I need to check the starter relay but it’s not very willing to be unplugged for testing and I’ve been up since midday yesterday so I’m more brain dead than normal and don’t want to do more harm by forcing it out of its seat.

I reckon the cricket is going to be a washout so I’ll give it another go tomorrow and if it still doesn’t play ball I guess the Enfield or the 501 will be going touring. Neither are exactly ideal but that’s where I am with the situation.
 
I’ve suddenly had a thought (dangerous) but does the BMW immobiliser have an independent battery in it? If so how the fuck do I get at it and is it a standard type of mini lithium battery?
 
Interesting. I had that DWA warning on the dash of my 10 year old 1200 TC GSA a few weeks ago. It happened twice so I rang 3 dealers, the 1st 2 had no idea what I was talking about but the 3rd knew what it was straight away. As the bike was due a service I decided to wait to get it sorted then but the warning light hasn't reappeared so I've put it to the back of my mind for the time being. Maybe I should get it sorted after all.
 
The warning light hadn’t come on but I’ve looked at a few sites and the symptoms seem right so I’ll check it. I’m pissed off but such is life.
 
What bike are we talking about?

If it’s a pre water cooled 1200, then they are all fitted with immobiliser. The Alarm system (DWA) is an optional extra and has batteries. The Alarm should not prevent the bike from starting.

so your fault is likely to be:
1. Main battery
2. Start button
3. Starter relay
4. Ring antenna (immobiliser input).
5. Starter Motor.

A faulty kill switch could prevent the start button from working. Knowing the crap design of the kill switch and start button, I never use the kill switch ever, I treat it as emergency only. There are other ways to stop the engine without using the kill switch.
 
Last edited:
Ian J Hartley said:
What bike are we talking about?

If it’s a pre water cooled 1200, then they are all fitted with immobiliser. The Alarm system (DWA) is an optional extra and has batteries. The Alarm should not prevent the bike from starting.

so your fault is likely to be:
1. Main battery
2. Start button
3. Starter relay
4. Ring antenna (immobiliser input).
5. Starter Motor.

A faulty kill switch could prevent the start button from working. Knowing the crap design of the kill switch and start button, I never use the kill switch ever, I treat it as emergency only. There are other ways to stop the engine without using the kill switch.
Click to expand...
It’s a
Ian J Hartley said:
What bike are we talking about?

If it’s a pre water cooled 1200, then they are all fitted with immobiliser. The Alarm system (DWA) is an optional extra and has batteries. The Alarm should not prevent the bike from starting.

so your fault is likely to be:
1. Main battery
2. Start button
3. Starter relay
4. Ring antenna (immobiliser input).
5. Starter Motor.

A faulty kill switch could prevent the start button from working. Knowing the crap design of the kill switch and start button, I never use the kill switch ever, I treat it as emergency only. There are other ways to stop the engine without using the kill switch.
Click to expand...
its a 2010 1200 SE.

It’s chucking it down right now so I’m having a cup of tea before going out to resume the battle and my plan is to start by running a scan with the GS-911, change those batteries whether they’re relevant or not, remove and check the starter relay, open and clean the switch then start working out how much I can carry on my RE 500 Classic.

The biggest problem is that unless it’s something easily solved with a tin of contact cleaner I can’t do it in the time I’ve got so once I’ve exhausted the easy checks I’ll walk away.

I’m seriously pissed off because the bike is spotless and rides perfectly but it doesn’t like being left standing for a few weeks. Last time I did that the electric screen packed up and now this so I reckon I’ll just try to get it going and get rid of it :anger:
 
AndyB_11 said:
I’ve just got in after a fortnight in the US and gone to start my RT ready for leaving to go on holiday on Sunday and it’s not playing nicely.

It’s always left on a BMW charger and that’s saying it’s fully charged, the ignition lights come on, horn etc all work but the electric start button does nothing.

I’ve gone to plug in my shiny GS-911 but that’s saying low power mode so I’ve plugged it in to charge it in the hope that it’ll be ok in about 1hr and will give me some clues but meanwhile has anyone got any suggestions?

I’ve posted in the pub rather than the RT section in the hope of some rapid clues because as things stand I should be out all day tomorrow watching cricket, come home Sunday morning then load up and go.
Click to expand...
I did a job on an 1150 that displayed the same symptoms for a fellow Tosser. The battery in the alarm/immobiliser had gone flat so inhibiting the starter. After replacing the whole thing it was up and running.
 
It’s a shame the OP on this thread didn’t follow it up because the symptoms on his are identical to mine including lack of ABS warning light.

https://www.ukgser.com/community/threads/won’t-start.355835/
 
I had similar on my 1150, it was the kill switch. Disconnected it and all was well. Just remembered I forgot to tell the new owner
 
Well it’s not the CR123A batteries :blast

They’re a right bastard to get at with 36 screws (that’s the minimum by the way) needing removing and typical BMW about 12 of them had Loctite on them :blast:blast

I’ll strip the switch next……
 
If it was me, I would be checking the things that are easy to get to.

if the ignition works, then I would jump the starter motor to see if the engine fires up. If it does, then the fault is most likely in the Starter circuitry and not the immobiliser.

I would check whilst at the starter motor the little black wire to make sure it is connected and not corroded.

similarly, checking the voltage on the same little black wire when you press the start button with ignition on should give a good 12v. If it does, then the cause is most likely a starter motor failure.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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