R1200GS broke down!

[Anonymous]

#2108

Had a bit of drama yesterday, coming back from Ohakea. Just North of Whatawhata The bike felt as if it was running out of fuel and came to a stop.  Tried a restart but it died again after 5 secs or so.Bit the bullet & pushed it 2 km back down the road to the service centre to find it only sold petrol & had no mechanic.  Peter (?) & his wife who were coming back from the waitomo weekend stopped to see if I was O.K. & gave me Henry's phone number. Henry gave a list of easy faults with no success, so Mr AA man was called.  He had a go fault finding & after another talk to Henry, decided it was a matter of getting it to Hamilton Motorcycle center.A towtruck turned up & took it to my mates place, early this morning I rang mike at HMCC & the boys quickly isolated the fault to the fuel pump relay which had died a horrible fried death.  No part was in stock, but the boss kindy allowed the relay to be cannabalised from his new 1200 GS ADV, so I was on the road quck smart.Thanks to all those who helped, Peter, Henry, the AA dude, the towies and the team at Hamilton MCC.Dave Bessant at Thunderbike (who I got the bike off 6 weeks ago) is also  coming to the party with the warranty claim, so happy faces all round.Thank god it didn't happen on Friday when I was riding down the forgotten Highway!!(Man the GS is a good bike)  (except when it breaks down!)

[Arne Rohde]

#8041

Bad luck with the breakdown. That relay is a known R1200GS problem, and I'm surprised Henry didn't know about it. I was recently advised by Experience to install a new one, even if the old one was working perfectly, as they are sure to fail sooner or later. I now have a new one installed and the old one as a spare. It's a 10-minute job to do it yourself, and not too expensive.

[Jim Young]

#8042

Thats handy to know Arne, whats a new one worth ? and can't it be bypassed as a temporary measure ?

[Dave Ross]

#8043

All this because of a relay. I thought that canbus system was foolproof. I glad you've managed to sort it out. Bikes aren't much fun to push.We'll you join us for the gravel option on Sunday?Alex

[Anonymous]

#8044

new relay was $230, plus labour/diagnostic machine charges.Sorry, can't do the gravel ride, as I'm picking up my son from the airport for the hols.  Have a good ride.

[Anonymous]

#8045

Glad to see you got it sorted Rob. I've now decided I should carry a list of useful phone numbers on the bike. A water proof list. I ran out of gas once 1/3 of the way up the Ngauranga Gorge in Wellington. I knew the nearest gas station was Johnsonville at the top of the hill. The funny thing is I switched to reserve but couldn't get it to run. So I realised it must have been on reserve. I got 2/3rds of the way up the gorge when another motorcyclist stopped. He told me he had the same bike and it was a bugger to start after running out and switching to reserve. So he jumped on and after a lot of kick starting attempts finally had it running. The Ngauranga Gorge feels steep when you ride it, but pushing a bike upit makes it seem a lot steeper.

[honeybear.2399]

#8046

🙄  I had the same trouble with the fuel pump relay on a (Dare I say it)  🙄 Ducati some years back.  None in stock in NZ, and the cost was something like $230.00, so I took the old one to an auto elect. supply shop and they found a replacement, at a cost of about $25.00.  I plugged it in and we were away.  It was still going when I sold the bike some 12 years latter.  “Makes you wonder”  Phil

[Arne Rohde]

#8047

Sorry, my memory cells are starting to corrode. It was not cheap, and BMW do not call it a relay. They call it a solenoid. And together with a new O-ring and a small discount it cost close to $215. I have no idea whether you can bypass it as a temporary measure.

[honeybear.2399]

#8048

? Is it a solenoid or a relay ? Phil 👿

[Dave Ross]

#8049

A relay is a magnetic switch, I suppose that makes it a solenoid.

[honeybear.2399]

#8050

A relay is a magnetic switch, I suppose that makes it a solenoid.

Without getting to carried away, a relay uses a solenoid to pull in a set of contacts, so therefor is only part of a relay.  Phil 😀

[Dave Ross]

#8051

😀

[Arne Rohde]

#8052

Getting carried away just a little further, a solid-state relay does not have a solenoid to pull in a set of contacts. You can have a relay without having a solenoid, and you can have a solenoid without having a relay. Whatever BMW call it, it's not exactly cheap.

[honeybear.2399]

#8053

Whatever BMW call it, it's not exactly cheap.

Nothing to-do with BMW is ever cheap, but then if you want the best 😐  or is it???????  Phil

[Dave Ross]

#8054

Sometimes it's worth looking for generic components. My starter solenoid was much cheaper from an auto electrician than the BMW part would have been. Your relay may have been a BMW specific part, seeing that you have canbus and all that. It's a black art for me, I only the most basic knowledge on electric components. However, as it was all covered by goodwill and warranty, the cost doesn't really matter, just the inconvenience.

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