GS911

[Corazon de Pollo]

After my last "electronic" troubles and rumors the local BMW dealership may close down in the near future I am thinking to buy a GS911.

I am handy with mechanical stuff (shock absorbers, clutches, transmissions etc) but I am not the most electronically-minded person in the room (as proven by recent events), so I'd like to know if some other ignoramus like me bought a GS911 and wasn't overwhelmed by it.

I would be using it for resetting service reminders, reading fault codes and maintenance-related jobs (calibrating RDC, ESA etc). Nothing truly fancy: reading real-time parameters is way over my head.

I am thinking about the Wifi model with an Enthusiast but "upgradeable" license, just in case I win the end of the year lottery and start buying bikes left, right and center.

 

Any experience is appreaciated.

[LittleBriar]

While the GS-911 is expensive ($425 at current exchange rate), if you can do most of your own maintenance it will pay for itself fairly quickly. Shop rates can vary but it's typically around $100/hr. It's a must for someone like me because the nearest dealer is 3 hrs away.  I have found the device to be fairly easy to figure out. I use the USB connection to my laptop. I found the wifi interface to be difficult to set up and I always travel with my laptop. The large screen size with the menus is easy to navigate, intuitive and the operating instructions are clear. I have used it to troubleshoot some electrical fault codes, reset maintenance reminders, and calibrating ESA.  I do some long distance touring and find it nice to have while on the road.

[Lowndes]

LittleBriar,

 

Do you leave the 911 plugged in on the bike all the time or just when you need it??

[PadG]

There is an alternative to GS-911, and the set-up will cost you a little over $100 with no VIN usage restriction!  You will need an OBDLink MX OBD2 adapter, the 16-pins to OBD2 connector converter cable, IF your machine is older than 2016, where the BMW diagnostic plug is the round 16-pins style, and finally the Android-only MotoScan app.  I had posted full details in the other forum, and works very well with my '15 RT.  The same set-up will also work with older bikes as well as the newest ones.

[EvilTwin]

11 minutes ago, PadG said:

There is an alternative to GS-911, and the set-up will cost you a little over $100 with no VIN usage restriction!  You will need an OBDLink MX OBD2 adapter, the 16-pins to OBD2 connector converter cable, IF your machine is older than 2016, where the BMW diagnostic plug is the round 16-pins style, and finally the Android-only MotoScan app.  I had posted full details in the other forum, and works very well with my '15 RT.  The same set-up will also work with older bikes as well as the newest ones.

I have this as well.  The Motoscan app has about 3 different price levels besides free, you need to get either the top level or next to the top for it to do anything to update the software on the bike.  I have the professional level that goes for about 30 bucks and you need the cable and the odb2 adapter PadG cited above.  It works well enough for resetting the service indicator and reading codes.  Some of the other service functions like servicing the ABS can only be done in the ultimate version, but you can always upgrade for just the difference in price cost.  And it only works on an Android phone.

[RogerC60]

+1 on the OBDLink MX plus MotoScan.

[Pappy35]

2 hours ago, RogerC60 said:

+1 on the OBDLink MX plus MotoScan.

I have a 911 but had I known about this I would have definitely gone this way.

[Corazon de Pollo]

Thanks everybody folks.

No chance of MotoScan: I am an Apple guy.

 

It looks I will put the GS911 on the Winter shop list right next to another small jack and an oetiker pincer.

[LittleBriar]

7 hours ago, Lowndes said:

LittleBriar,

 

Do you leave the 911 plugged in on the bike all the time or just when you need it??

Just when I need it. It's easy to plug in when it's needed.