Electrical (Starter) problem

[dls]

I have been having trouble with my battery of late on my "04 1150RT. The connection would come loose and I would not be able to start the bike, it would run fine once it started and would jump start immediately. I finally just bought a new battery (BMW Gel) installed it and still the bike won’t start. I hit the start button and there is nothing. The headlight also acts strange, at first it wouldn’t come on when I turned the key then I put the battery on the charger thinking it might not have come charged, it charged fairly quickly so now the headlight comes on but still not enough juice to even turn the starter. To top it off ,once I turned the key off and the headlight stayed on for several minutes no matter what I did, with the key off mind you.

The whole thing has me baffled. My thought is there is a short somewhere or bad relay.

Any thoughts out there?

 

Latest development. When I press the starter the headlight goes out.

 

 

 

[11101110]

Since you have mentioned loose conneteions, make sure the lock nuts on the battery and starter are actually locking. Also make sure they are clean. I recently replaced my starter cable and all connecting fastners, though for different reasons. I would suggest, if you can find them, using Belleville serated washers (www.mcmaster.com). You'll need 6mm for the battery and 8mm for the starter.

 

 

Your headlight going out when starting is normal.

[SyntorX]

Sounds to me like you have an issue in your ignition switch...since the headlight would not go out.

 

A loose ground also can cause some REEALLLY weird things to occur-as I have seen in my 10+ years in the electronics/communications biz.

 

Look for and corrosion/oxidation on your relays and connectors and chase all of the ground wires to verify proper termination.

 

 

[Boffin]

You could also have a sticking load-shed relay. It is this that switches the headlight and other accessories off at startup.

 

Andy