sat out in rain all weekend now no spark

[Drakas]

I rode this Oilhead up to gatlinburg. Let it sit all weekend while i rode with inlaws. This morning, no spark. I didnt even know where the fusebox was. Im going through fuses now, but i am pretty lost. Any help appreciated.

 

[Kathy R]

Sorry to see you are having problems. Are you broken down alongside the roadway or are you in family/friends garage/property?

[Drakas]

Im on the roadside, with some fam in a cage stopped too. Im trying to send them on, but they aint having it.

[Drakas]

Update: BMW MOA tow to Alcoa Good Times Motorcycles BMW in Knoxville, on their way. Its raining again, and i dont have facilities here, so it was that or set it on fire and report it stolen. I aint that pissed. Yet.

[DaveCinNO]

Oilheads are notorious for failing hall sensors which you're not going to replace on the side of the road. Tow to the dealer was a good move.

[Drakas]

Update:

I left my bike at Alcoa Good Times Motorcycles BMW in Knoxville.

 

Being out of town, I didn't know where to go. I called a complany in Gatlinburg that rented BMW bikes, and told the nice lady who answered about my plight. I told her I had 100 mile tow, but that wouldn't get me home. Where would she go if she was in my shoes? She told me Alcoa, which was on the way home for us anyway. They were great, and as soon as my bike rolled off the trailer, Kevin took it straight to a lift and started his investigation. In about ten minutes he came into the waiting area and told me that I had no spark (which I knew) and also no injector signal. He suspected a HES, but wanted to try a new battery first. About thirty minutes after that, the new battery was having no effect. I elected to leave the bike there, and told him I'd probably be coming back for it, but it might take me a week. He said it would be that long before he could work on it, and he'd email me an estimate directly.

 

I got the estimate on the way home, and

Battery, maintenance-free K2X-1200GS/GSA/RT/R 1 $211.99

Ignition sensor 1 $300.99

RIBBED V-BELT 1 $32.99

Extension 1 $6.99

 

Parts Subtotal: $552.96

 

Labor Subtotal: $427.50

 

Tax: $95.60

 

Job Subtotal:$1,076.06

 

 

Recommended Repairs:

tested battery as weak. replaced battery with known good batt and no change. bike is not getting spark or fuel injection signal but has battery voltage sitting at injector connection. recommend replace hall sensor before continuing diag -- 4.5 hrs labor including diag

 

--------

 

I have $2500 in the bike, and I can't really justify throwing half that at it again. After some research, I'm thinking of going the Hager route. If I see a suspect place in the wires, I may just replace the wiring and use the same sensors. Or I may just buy a beemerboneyard HES and then rebuild my bad one and keep it in the bags as a spare so this won't happen again.

If that doesn't work, I will probably just part it out. I think I could get back nearly all of my $2500 that way.

 

As usual, any advice, comments, and/or ridicule is appreciated.

 

 

 

[AndyS]

Get the bike home and do the work yourself.

HES replacement is very easy.

If your battery was fine before, then it probably still is, so don't replace it.

Your alternator belt may not need replacing.

So that all reduces the cost.

 

[Matts_12GS]

Get the bike home and do the work yourself.

HES replacement is very easy.

If your battery was fine before, then it probably still is, so don't replace it.

Your alternator belt may not need replacing.

So that all reduces the cost.

 

Heck yes. Get the parts, tow the bike home. PM me, I'll give you my number and I can walk you through how to do the change.

Couple hours work, and you'll be on the road again.

[CoolTouch]

You're sure it's the HES and not something simpler like the kill switch on the handle bar? I did the HES rewire with the generous help of Eddd and LongJohn. We reused the sensors and just did the wires. It is not difficult, especially if you have good help like I did.

 

There was a post here recently about a sputtering RT and it turned out to be the kill switch. I had problems if my bike inexplicably stalling and found it to be the contacts on the fuel relay. I had a hunch it was something simple so I never changed any parts on the bike.

[tallman]

Even if it isn't the HES, now, it will be, eventually, so good start.

 

Matt, nice move.

 

Eliminate HES, go from there.

[Drakas]

Thanks a lot guys. That is very generous offer Matt, thank you very much. I am a farmer, and not completely incapable as a mechanic. Kevin at Alcoa talked to me about that option for a little while and he told me that he thought I could probably install a HES as well as he could. I'm gonna study some threads this week and then go back and see if I can make it better without making it worse.

 

 

The starter still spins, so its not the kill switch, stand switch, etc. There was no sputtering. We stayed on the top of a mountain. I rode it down the mountain in third, trying to get it to fire, and it never hit a lick. The wrecker probably couldn't have gotten it where it was, and where I rolled to was the parking lot of a closed shop that was easy to access. Once I got there I pulled the plug wires because that was easier than starting with the fuel, and sure enough, no spark.

 

Thanks again, everyone. I feel really lucky, truth be told. I had a ride home, I had a BMW MOA tow, and it didn't quit on me in traffic or anything where getting injured could've been much more likely.

And it taught me that not all dealerships suck, and try to take advantage of you when you're in distress. That's a lesson I needed to have reinforced.

[Daddoz777]

Drakes:

 

I wouldn't necessarily replace the HES - not yet anyway. What I mean is this: there is a lot of testing you can do before throwing parts at your bike, which can save a ton of money. While the HES is a common source (depending on what year your bike is), there are many things that can cause no spark and they can pretty much all be tested and/or ruled out without throwing parts.

 

For example, you can test the basic functionality of the HES without even removing it from the bike by setting up a test switch at the HES electrical harness in front of the battery, rotating the crankshaft and observing the results.

 

You can also test the side stand by observing the RID (display) with key on while you put the side stand up and down. If you notice a change in the RID depending on whether the side stand is up or down then the side stand switch should be good.

 

If you're at all familiar with electronic circuits, a study of the electrical layout of the bike can be really helpful when diagnosing a "no spark" situation.

 

These are just a couple of examples but if you're willing to turn a wrench I'm sure we can get you back on the road without having to spend too much!

 

Dan

[CoolTouch]

Drakes:

 

I wouldn't necessarily replace the HES - not yet anyway. What I mean is this: there is a lot of testing you can do before throwing parts at your bike, which can save a ton of money. While the HES is a common source (depending on what year your bike is), there are many things that can cause no spark and they can pretty much all be tested and/or ruled out without throwing parts.

 

For example, you can test the basic functionality of the HES without even removing it from the bike by setting up a test switch at the HES electrical harness in front of the battery, rotating the crankshaft and observing the results.

 

You can also test the side stand by observing the RID (display) with key on whilej you put the side stand up and down. If you notice a change in the RID depending on whether the side stand is up or down then the side stand switch should be good.

 

If you're at all familiar with electronic circuits, a study of the electrical layout of the bike can be really helpful when diagnosing a "no spark" situation.

 

These are just a couple of examples but if you're willing to turn a wrench I'm sure we can get you back on the road without having to spend too much!

 

Dan

 

+1 100%

[lkraus]

I'm not sure you want to listen to our opinions. After all, this is the same group that told you to ride the RTP instead of the K75...

 

[Drakas]

I'm not sure you want to listen to our opinions. After

all, this is the same group that told you to

ride

the RTP instead of the K75...

 

 

I'm the PIC, the depart/don't depart is always up to me, and me alone. I elected to ride a 16 year old motorcycle with 75,000 miles that I'd ridden less than 1500 miles and owned for less than a month. Anytime a rider decides to head out on a machine with any of those qualifiers, then that rider is taking a chance. That's the fun part, right? On the way up there, I lost my right side cover somewhere. I'm sure it wasn't on properly, because two weeks ago my buddy from CA came out and rode it all week while he was here, and we had to adjust the shock a little because he's about 100 pounds heavier than I am. Why didn't I zip tie it on before I left? Because I didn't know better, because I haven't ridden legs of more than a few dozen miles on high-speed, limited-access highways . Now I will do a better/more thought-out job of pre-ride inspecting the bike before I leave on a trip of longer than normal mileage.

 

There is no guarantee that the results with the K wouldn't have been similar, or worse. Still, I told the pirate I was stopped beside while we watched the oil temps climb, "I guess I should've ridden the water-cooled bike." But that wasn't the only prophecy:

 

I'd take the boxer.

 

You have two chase vehicles in which you can stow tools & parts in case something were to happen. If something does fail that's beyond a roadside repair, you have a ride home.

 

Enjoy that windshield! :-)

 

You asked, so you get my $0.02

.....

 

A four hour trip -- 200-250 miles? Even if the RT-P breaks down, you are not that far from home. And from the sound of your description,there isn't much reason to think she will break down.

 

 

You could really use this trip to get to know the RT a lot better. You've already made an assessment of its qualities and faults but a trip like this would reveal so much more. I think that most would agree that you have a to spend quite a bit of time with a bike before you reach the level of intimacy that allows you to know every aspect of its personality.

 

Anyhow, I know enough to know that lots of people here have been in my shoes and much worse when it comes to being away from home and having

a break down. And my in-laws were cool about it, so no worries there. We'd all had a really nice weekend, even if it was rainy.

 

Speaking of which, after reading a lot of HES threads, my guess is that once I get her home, I'll find obviously compromised places in the HES wiring insulation. Overheat followed by spark/injector signal failure after rainstorm seems to be a common tale on bikes of this mileage. We stayed atop a mountain, and I didn't think the wrecker could get up there. I put the bike in third and tried to get it to crank all the way down the hill, and it never even tried to fire. Rest assured, I'll be sharing whatever I find with y'all when I come back begging for help.

 

 

Thanks again guys, and I'm proud to be part of the community. My two BMWST.com stickers came today and I slapped one on the brick's bags, and stuck the other in the oilhead's bags, to be applied when that bike is roadworthy again.

[Drakas]

Update:

Went back to Knoxville yesterday and got my bike. Alcoa Good Times Motorcycles was a positive experience, and if I ever have the juice to be a new BMW owner, I'll be going back to see them.

I bought a little trailer off a classified ad that I had lined up to look at in Knoxville (I can always use another trailer on the farm) and brought my bike home on it. One of my buddies rode with me in my old Z71, and it went like clockwork. We got home 30 minutes after dark because we ate at the Waffle House instead of burgers in the truck.

 

 

I got back home and got my bike unloaded just in time to get a text message that a friend and former band mate of mine was killed in an RZR wreck Saturday night, and that I had missed his funeral while getting my bike. He would've been 30 years old the 15th of July, and he has three little kids. That just knocked the wind out of me, and I haven't thought about the bike since. I just got online to send some links to a GoFundMe page some of his people set up.

 

I start baling wheat straw this weekend, so I have the physically most-demanding two weeks of the summer ahead of me, 14+ work days {instead of just 10-12 }. After that, I'll be ready to get to work, and if I had to guess, y'all will be hearing about it, and getting peppered with questions.

 

Ride Safe everybody, whatever sled you pilot. And kiss your kids goodnight.

 

http://www.gofundme.com/JoshWhitt

 

 

[Glenn Reed]

Sorry for the loss of your friend.

 

Best of luck with everything else.

[Daddoz777]

Sorry to hear about your friend.

[Drakas]

Finally tore into his thing today, after riding the motobrick all summer. No wonder people shun RTP's. What a mess. I see lots of heat wrap and wire tracing in my future.

[Drakas]

I decided to just add on to this thread instead of starting yet another oilhead HES thread. I'm using the Hager .PDF to do my HES replacement, and the pics are of an R1150. I'm trying to figure out how to get the crank pulley off, but I'm not sure how to access the flywheel to lock at TDC. My clutch housing does not look like the R1150s. Maybe I should just try fresh eyes in the morning. If anybody has any advice, I'd sure be glad to see it here when I get back to wrenching on this thing tomorrow night. Holler.

[Daddoz777]

There should be a hole in the bell housing around 10 o'clock by the starter. You can shove a long flat punch or even the tire iron from the bike's tool kit in there to hold the flywheel. Another alternative is use an air impact wrench on the pulley bolt which should easily loosen it without the need to hold the flywheel. Just going off memory here but that should be the basic idea. Hope that helps.

[Drakas]

Thanks. I feel dumb. Looked pretty obvious when I went back this evening. Guess that's the difference in a "mechanic" and a "guy who's handy with tools". I'm the latter. I just need good instructions, or preferably, picture/vid tutorials.

[Daddoz777]

Thanks. I feel dumb. Looked pretty obvious when I went back this evening. Guess that's the difference in a "mechanic" and a "guy who's handy with tools". I'm the latter. I just need good instructions, or preferably, picture/vid tutorials.

You're welcome. I'm not a mechanic either; just a guy who usually gets in trouble with tools.

[Drakas]

I got my HES back from GS Addict (thanks!) and also a spare I bought from member "Scud" 's RT part out and sent to have rewired.

I've tried both sensors, and while the bike will run, it runs really rough, idles too low, and sounds sometimes like there is a detonation in the intake manifold.

 

I used a voltmeter to try to set the timing, but so long as the engine is at TDC, my HES orange voltage drops (and fuel pump hums) and it does so no matter how the HES is fine tuned.

 

Any advice, observations, or ridicule is appreciated.

 

 

[Scud]

So, it does start, which means you solved your original spark problem. If I understand this thread correctly, you now have 4-month old gas in the tank.

 

Before doing too much more wrenching, I would siphon that gas out and dump it in a car, where it can mix with new gas. Then fill the bike with some fresh premium - and maybe a little fuel system cleaner for good measure. Let it run long enough to clear the old gas out of the fuel lines and filter. Have you checked/cleaned the plugs?

 

If fresh gas doesn't solve it, then start looking closely at everything you touched.

 

The bike I took that HES off started easily and ran smoothly. But if you discovered a problem with it, send me a PM and we can sort it out.

[Jim Moore]

Are your lower throttle cables seated in the throttle bodies correctly?

[dirtrider]

I got my HES back from GS Addict (thanks!) and also a spare I bought from member "Scud" 's RT part out and sent to have rewired.

I've tried both sensors, and while the bike will run, it runs really rough, idles too low, and sounds sometimes like there is a detonation in the intake manifold.

 

I used a voltmeter to try to set the timing, but so long as the engine is at TDC, my HES orange voltage drops (and fuel pump hums) and it does so no matter how the HES is fine tuned.

 

Any advice, observations, or ridicule is appreciated.

 

 

Morning Drakas

 

Is the timing cup (just behind the lower belt pulley) back in the correct position?

 

If it was loose from the pulley it needs to be re-glued to the back of the pulley with the little alignment tit in the correct position.

 

If you are re-using the original HES are the attachment screws back in the appx same location on the HES (look for the original screw witness marks)

 

As mentioned above-- MAKE DARN SURE your R/H throttle cable is FULLY seated in it's furrel at the R/H throttle body (that cable has a habit of ending up ON TOP of the furrel edge)

 

If nothing else found then verify that BOTH spark plug wires are fully plugged into the ignition coil (very easy to pull one partially loose when working around the front of engine).

[kalali]

Try adjusting the timing again. Sounds like an out of time issue.

[Drakas]

Jim and DR nailed it. One throttle cable was out of its ferrule.

Thanks guys.

Then I got on it and rode to the airport, hung around a hangar a while, started home.

 

Felt a wobble (maybe) from the rear end while making a turn. I hadn't ridden this bike since June, and have been on my K all summer. Another wobble. Not imagined. I start slowing down. Wobble gets exponentially worse, and at about 40, the rear wheel comes off. Not good at all.

Down we go.

Lucky for me, I only had to walk about 1/4 mile to a house, and I know the people who live there and they let me take a shower and clean up(guy is a retired deputy/farmer) and gave me some unripped pants.

 

So today I got some roadrash on my right knee (cotton jeans, I know), a hell of a bruise across the top of my ass where the bike hit me as we slid down the road. The face bar on my helmet is cracked (don't remember my head hitting), and my right glove popped some seams. I also mashed my right toe (carhartt boots did OK).

Bike is totaled and insured for lots more than I paid.

Two state troopers came because they said they didn't see motorcycle wrecks with no ambulance call.

 

Anyway, my confidence is shaken. I found all but one of the lug bolts, two were stripped about six threads from the end.

I assume the others just fell out. You know, because the guy who's responsibility it is to check that kind of stuff before he rides, didn't.

Maybe I'm not to be trusted to work on bikes. Idk. I got some thinking to do.

Thanks y'all. All your help and attention to my problems have been all I could ask. This is a great community, and it doesn't deserve to have morons make poor decisions that make BMWs and their riders look questionable.

[dirtrider]

Afternoon Drakas

 

 

Just glad you are OK.

 

At least now you have a story to tell for a l-o-n-g time.

[Stan Walker]

the rear wheel comes off

 

WoW!!!!

Glad you literally walked away from it!

 

Makes me want to rush out into the garage and check my wheel bolts!!!

 

Any guess as to why this happened? Not tightened, oiled threads, enemy?

 

Stan

[Drakas]

Afternoon Drakas

 

 

Just glad you are OK.

 

At least now you have a story to tell for a l-o-n-g time.

 

the rear wheel comes off

 

WoW!!!!

Glad you literally walked away from it!

 

Makes me want to rush out into the garage and check my wheel bolts!!!

 

Any guess as to why this happened? Not tightened, oiled threads, enemy?

 

Stan

 

 

I really don't know. I don't ever recall having the rear wheel off this bike. I bought it at the end of April, as a step up from the Baby Brick I've been on for a few years. It was garaged in June with the HES failure, and this is the first I've had motivation to work on it in a while. I can't swear that I haven't had the rear wheel off, though. I do know I didn't check them in my walk around before I left. Not even a visual inspection because of my hubcap. Incidentally, my K75's is missing, and I DO give em a glance in my pre-ride. If I had shelved the oilhead hubcap, would I be telling a story with a better ending? Idk. But I don't think I'll ever run a rear hubcap again.

Felt a wobble (maybe) from the rear end while making a turn. I hadn't ridden this bike since June, and have been on my K all summer. Another wobble. Not

imagined...

 

This is the inexcusable part. At this point I'm three miles from home. But I know everybody who lives in this area, the road I just turned off of is named for my grandfather. I could've stopped at three different houses and asked for someone to stand on my front wheel with the bike on the centerstand and wiggled the back wheel, and this whole mess been a nice cautionary tale.

Instead, my dumbass questions his own inner ear's judgement, and heads for home. Wouldn't do that with a passenger, or on someone else's bike. So why lax up and get comfortable with what was essentially a strange bike just because I put a few thousand miles on it back spring time? Id never do that with an airplane. Except now I wonder: I knew better on the bike too. I'm too old to do dumb stuff.

And I got cussed out yesterday because my old lady picked up my tablet and saw CL motorcycle searches.

 

[Drakas]

So, it does start, which means you solved your original spark problem....

The bike I took that HES off started easily and ran smoothly. But if you discovered a problem with it, send me a PM and we can sort it out.

 

Thanks for offering. Idk how it would've worked. When I looked at the wires on your HES, they looked about like the wires on mine, so far as insulation-integrity goes (my bike was cranking again by then too, I guess it had dried out), so I just sent them both to GS Addict. I know they both work, because the bike ran with both on it while I was chasing the throttle cable gremlin. I am satisfied with our transaction, and there is nothing for you to remedy. Thanks again.

[AnotherLee]

Dramas - glad you're OK. Any chance you could post a picture of those lug bolts? I'm curious to see what threads were damaged.