2007 R1200RT - no display, no ignition, no anything??

[Rainor]

Hoping someone can help me (again!🤔).

So I've had my R1200RT out for a few great spring rides! The last ride was upwards of 300 km and I couldn't believe how good it felt after a long winter. The bike ran flawlessly. 

The next day I took it to a wand wash to clean it up and gave it a good hosing down. It started fine and I drove home.

A couple of days later I went to start it and nothing was working.  The display screen came on but when I hit the starter I heard a click and everything went dead including the display screen. I checked the battery and it seems ok. 

When I pulled the battery out I noticed a little bit of water in the bottom of the battery holder. I'm wondering (hoping?) that something electronic got wet and just needs a little time to dry out.

Any ideas?

Thx, Rainor 

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, Rainor said:

Hoping someone can help me (again!🤔).

So I've had my R1200RT out for a few great spring rides! The last ride was upwards of 300 km and I couldn't believe how good it felt after a long winter. The bike ran flawlessly. 

The next day I took it to a wand wash to clean it up and gave it a good hosing down. It started fine and I drove home.

A couple of days later I went to start it and nothing was working.  The display screen came on but when I hit the starter I heard a click and everything went dead including the display screen. I checked the battery and it seems ok. 

When I pulled the battery out I noticed a little bit of water in the bottom of the battery holder. I'm wondering (hoping?) that something electronic got wet and just needs a little time to dry out.

Any ideas?

Thx, Rainor 

Afternoon Rainor 

 

Not much to go on but it is sort of pointing to either a low/almost-dead battery, or loose battery cable connections at the battery.   

 

How did you check the battery? You need to check it under load.

 

Also try tightening the battery cable connections. 

 

If you have way you might also try jumping from a non-running automobile.

[Rainor]

Hey dirtrider,

Good to hear from you again!

I tried a boost from our car like you suggested and it started "on the first kick"!

I didn't do a load test on the old RT battery. I just put it on the charger and it showed full test. I bought a new battery and all is well again.

I'm just surprised how it worked so well one day then dead the next.

 

[dirtrider]

11 hours ago, Rainor said:

Hey dirtrider,

Good to hear from you again!

I tried a boost from our car like you suggested and it started "on the first kick"!

I didn't do a load test on the old RT battery. I just put it on the charger and it showed full test. I bought a new battery and all is well again.

I'm just surprised how it worked so well one day then dead the next.

 

Morning  Rainor

 

If your battery was an original GEL type battery then those can have a habit of instant death. In fact some of those GEL batteries will show fully charged when on a battery charger but go almost totally dead when the starter button is pushed. 

[VaR1200RT]

So I had almost the same thing happen to my 2012 RT a few weeks ago.  I have been on a bunch of rides this year. I replaced my battery only a few months ago.

I was out on a ride and I stopped to get gas about 100 miles into the ride.  This was the second stop so far.  So I had ridden the bike 50 miles since starting.  I got gas and turned the bike on to reset the trip and all of a sudden, everything went out.  No screen, lights, anything.  I pushed my bike over to a parking spot and tried again.  Dash came on, but no two clicks like I get everytime I turn the key on.  I hit the started, it goes dead.  I pulled the seat and tried to move the battery cables and they did not seam to be loose.  I hooked up my jumper box, turned on the key and everything came on, I heard the two clicks, and after the computer finished its checks, it started right up.  I started it 4 more times on that ride, no issues.  I have put another 500 miles and a bunch of starts since and no more issues.  

 

I did try and tighten the bolts on the battery and they were tight.  So I do not know why my bike did what it did except I think somehow the electrical connection somehow did not connect,

 

If your battery test good then it is most likely this is just an cable connections issue. 

 

Good luck.

[Hosstage]

Check the battery cables and connections downstream from the battery. Check for loose relays in the fuse box, if this happens again, or for peace of mind before it does.

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, VaR1200RT said:

So I had almost the same thing happen to my 2012 RT a few weeks ago.  I have been on a bunch of rides this year. I replaced my battery only a few months ago.

I was out on a ride and I stopped to get gas about 100 miles into the ride.  This was the second stop so far.  So I had ridden the bike 50 miles since starting.  I got gas and turned the bike on to reset the trip and all of a sudden, everything went out.  No screen, lights, anything.  I pushed my bike over to a parking spot and tried again.  Dash came on, but no two clicks like I get everytime I turn the key on.  I hit the started, it goes dead.  I pulled the seat and tried to move the battery cables and they did not seam to be loose.  I hooked up my jumper box, turned on the key and everything came on, I heard the two clicks, and after the computer finished its checks, it started right up.  I started it 4 more times on that ride, no issues.  I have put another 500 miles and a bunch of starts since and no more issues.  

 

I did try and tighten the bolts on the battery and they were tight.  So I do not know why my bike did what it did except I think somehow the electrical connection somehow did not connect,

 

If your battery test good then it is most likely this is just an cable connections issue. 

 

Good luck.

Afternoon  VaR1200RT

See Rainor's post above yours, he put a new battery in & all seems good now.  His type of failure is pretty characteristic of a sudden-death GEL battery in the 1200 bikes.

 

 

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, Hosstage said:

Check the battery cables and connections downstream from the battery. Check for loose relays in the fuse box, if this happens again, or for peace of mind before it does.

Afternoon Hosstage

 

I don't know which person you are replying to above but Rainor's 2007 1200RT doesn't have a fuse box therefore no relays in the fuse box, there is a standalone starter relay but it isn't connected to any of the dash circuits so couldn't have caused his "heard a click and everything went dead including the display screen"

 

On VaR1200RT's 2012 1200RT, his motorcycle only has 2 fuses (if even that)  & neither have connection to the starting system, with only 2 fuses in the little fuse box, again no relays in that fuse box. 

 

 

[Hosstage]

Thank you for the info on those bikes.

I'm not familiar with specific models and did not know about the fuses and relays, but I do know that many, if not most similar electrical problems are caused by loose battery cables or bad batteries. And most bad batteries test good and can't be bad because they are almost new, and yet, bad battery.

I will refrain from offering any technical advice going forward.

 

[VaR1200RT]

2 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Afternoon  VaR1200RT

See Rainor's post above yours, he put a new battery in & all seems good now.  His type of failure is pretty characteristic of a sudden-death GEL battery in the 1200 bikes.

 

 

Sorry, I missed his post about the new battery fixing his issue.  

 

I chalk my issues to an electrical gremlin.