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Help, bike wont' start!


Colorado Jeff

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Hi Everyone:

 

I have friends flying in tomorrow for a weekend of riding and my '15 R12RT would not start this morning! Never had any problems like this before.

 

I washed it last night, started it up and rode it into the garage. I powered it up to raise the windshield, then listened to the radio as I washed. I've done this before with no issues. This morning the system went through its pre-ride checks, lights came on, etc. like usual. I pushed the starter button and the bike went immediately dark. Now it won't do anything. I hooked jumper cables from my car and the bike went through its pre-ride checks, but the starter would not engage. It made a slight buzz sound, but no click click click like I am use to from a car with low battery. There was no warning lights for the battery yesterday. It ran great.

 

I bought a charger (Optimate 1 from the local BMW shop) this morning and it's been on the charger for about 4 hours now. I tried to power it up, but nothing, it's just dark. Okay, yea, the yellow charging light was still on, but I thought after four hours I'd at least get some lights. I hear a few clicks from someplace down deep, but that's it.

 

I got to get this going, trailer to the shop (if they can even get me in) or have my friends cancel their plans. They've been looking forward to this for months, so I hate to do that. Suggestions?

 

Thanks!

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I'd try a known good battery if available. Or maybe completely disconnect your battery, charge, and then reconnect.

Edited by narcosis
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Sounds like your battery is gone. Remove the trickle charger let the battery rest of about on hour and test to see how many volts., it should be 12.8 or so. This still isn't a true test that would require a load test but if it's low the battery needs to be replaced.

 

Jay

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The optimate runs a very long test using varying voltages before it starts to charge. I have seen it take 4-6 hours on a very depleted battery. Once it gets past the test it should charge. If you have a plain Jane battery tender handy hook it up for a few hours and it will go vroom.

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If you have a VOM (volt/ohm meter) put it across the battery terminals or us the charger pigtail and then as it shows voltage (probably over 12 volts) hit the starter button to perform the load test. If the voltage falls below 11 volts (I think it will) then the battery is toast. Have done this many times when the same problem has occurred for me and always it was the battery. Maybe if this is an AGM and the Optimate charger has a restore cycle then is might be brought back to life.

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Thanks Narcosis and strataj, appreciate the ideas. If the battery is dead, wouldn't I have gotten a warning on the dash? That's what's keeping me from thinking its the battery, that and it's only a four years old.

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The optimate runs a very long test using varying voltages before it starts to charge. I have seen it take 4-6 hours on a very depleted battery. Once it gets past the test it should charge. If you have a plain Jane battery tender handy hook it up for a few hours and it will go vroom.

 

Thanks LAF, I thought with these AGM batteries you cannot use a normal charger?

 

 

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Replace the battery - even though it's only 3 years old and even though it should still be good and even though you've charged it up and your VOM says it's good. If you're sure the connections are clean and tight, just replace the battery before going any further (IMO). And it's not hard to find a non-BMW exact fit replacement to save some $$.

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AdirondackJack

First of all:

 

Don't cancel your plans. This problem is eminently solvable. Try these easy steps as outlined above:

 

0. Check the Key Fob Battery. I believe there are some Youtube videos on how to do this.

1. Check the fuses. I'm thinking they'll be OK, but even if they are, you still need to start here to rule this out. If bad. . . . replace.

2. Next step is definitely to check the voltage you are producing at the battery. Use the Volt/Ohm meter, as suggested. You can certainly do the Load test

as mentioned by one of the posters above, but I don't think you 'll need to. I think you'll find that the raw reading will be below 12.8 volts, and most likely in the 8-11V range = No good.

3. Get your butt to NAPA or Advance or whomever you like for a new battery, and I bet you'll be good to go. Do not rely on the native BMW warning light/indicator system on the bike,

they are notoriously unreliable.

 

Finally,

 

4. Let us know how you make out. The good news is that these are all things you can do yourself.

 

BTW, to detach the battery securement system, simply remove the right hand side cover in the middle of the bike, release the rubber membrane on both the right and left lower sides of the battery, then lift the black plastic weird shaped cover you are facing, and release how it's hooked on both the right and left sides. After that, it's a "piece of cake". Simply pull the battery towards you and unscrew each of the screws holding the battery cables onto the posts and slide it out toward you. Be careful to hang on to the washers with the screws, since this typically assures good contact when you reverse this process and install the new battery and put the cables back. To complete removal, simply slide the battery toward you after unscrewing the cables from the posts. Remove the old battery from the foam sheath and put the new battery back in this same sheath and re-install.

 

That's it! You should be good to go.

 

Best,

 

Rep

Edited by AdirondackJack
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Have you checked and tested the 2 fuses under the rider seat?

 

Thanks Bernie, I'll check those next.

 

I called the local BMW shop yesterday to see if they had a battery in stock. They said to bring the old battery in and they'd check it. They're charging it over night and will test it in the morning. It it's good, I'll check those fuses.

 

Jeff

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If the bike has Keyless ride, when was the last time you changed the battery in the Key FOB? Maybe it is not communicating?

 

Thanks 041100S, that was the first thing I did, but no joy.

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First of all:

 

Don't cancel your plans. This problem is eminently solvable. Try these easy steps as outlined above:

 

Thanks Dave, great stuff! Appreciate it!

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Hi everyone, as many predicted, it was the battery. We're off in the morning! Great summer like weather here in Colorado and aspens changing to gold, should be fun.

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AdirondackJack
Hi everyone, as many predicted, it was the battery. We're off in the morning! Great summer like weather here in Colorado and aspens changing to gold, should be fun.

 

Glad you didn't cancel your plans. 9 times out of 10, symptoms like this are battery-related.

 

Ride safely!

 

Dave R.

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If it is the original battery, you are in the window of failure, from my experience.

Bike sits on dealer floor after being shipped.

Sometimes just bad from get go, other times owner use can weaken.

No offense, but if you haven't been charging it properly, all the time, and you've used the battery at stop,

good chance it has gone, or will shortly.

Replace it. You'll have a known.

We played this game hundreds of times.

Could be something else, but do you really want to duplicate thismiles from home with friends?

Best wishes.

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Glad you got it sorted! Now you know what's next? Ride pictures! :grin:

 

Pat

 

Hi Tewks, I"ll give that a try soon. It was a great ride, short at 500 miles, but he's not been on a motorcycle in 10 years and his wife had really not been on the back at all in her life. So it was enough.

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If it is the original battery, you are in the window of failure, from my experience.

 

Best wishes.

 

Thanks for the input Tallman, appreciate it.

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  • 4 years later...
On 9/13/2018 at 7:11 PM, Bernie said:

Have you checked and tested the 2 fuses under the rider seat?

Being from Ham-fisted University, i am reluctant to pry these too hard but i simply cannot get mine to open up.  Anyone able to clue me in on a trick or two to open these to visually examine the fuses?

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