barryNmarin Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 This sucks: Situation: new 2018 R1200RT: I'm leaving for 2 weeks on the 26th so I bought an Optimate 4 charger BMW canbus edition and after plugging it into the accessory port for 5 minutes it appeared to work ok so I unplugged it and voila, my bike won't initiate startup, all locks are activated and the unlock switch doesn't work. My key fob is locked in the dash compartment. My back up key will not unlock anything including luggage. The only sign of life is the red LED on the instrument panel which illuminates briefly when I push the button to initiate the startup sequence. My dealer Euro Cycle Sonoma/Windsor has no idea and says to have BMW Roadside assist truck it up to them. I'm locked out of my bike and my accessory key doesn't work. Any ideas from the peanut gallery before I have it trucked off would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment
Tactical 1 Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 The only suggestion I could offer would be to pull the side panel on the right to access the battery and disconnect the negative terminal on the battery and let her sit for a few minutes and then reattach the cable. As I recall, the Optimate 4 comes set from the factory in the CANBUS setting so that should not have caused any issues...don't know what impact to the bike if the charger was not set to the correct setting. Good luck! Link to comment
Skywagon Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 hey Barry...crap..never heard of that. If you 18 is like my 14, there is a button just above the throttle that locks and unlocks all the cases at the same time. I don't know if it will open the little glove box or not. I would push it a couple of times and see if it might open them.... Before I would truck it, I would ask the dealer to cut me a real key first and just go pick it up. Best of luck....let us know what you find. Link to comment
barryNmarin Posted April 25, 2018 Author Share Posted April 25, 2018 Ok...... problem solved!! I knew there was a recovery process but my manual was locked up in the bike so I couldn't access the information. The solution for emergency unlocking with the extra key is to place the key into the space directly above the instrument cluster and below the GPS mount. This unlocks the bike. Further disclaimer/confession: The problem wasn't associated with the Optimate 4 charger. The problem was Operator Error. I normally keep the key FOB in the dash compartment until I lock the bike which is very seldom. However the last time I rode the bike I put the FOB in my jacket and forgot about it. When this happens and the FOB moves away from the bike a few feet, the bike locking system automatically actuates and locks down the bike until the key FOB returns to the close proximity of the bike. I hope my stupidity will save someone else the agony of being locked out of their bike. Make sure you keep that extra key anywhere except in you bike!! At least I did that right :>) Big Thanks to John Thompson for reminding me there was a recovery process for emergency unlocking the bike. Link to comment
Bill_Walker Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 This is why I've downloaded the PDF manual and have it accessible on my phone and other devices (via Dropbox). Link to comment
BigTup Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 Speaking of downloading the manual, I tried and can't make it happen. It freezes, any advice? And what's this 'crew' thing? I rowed crew for a while. Don't tell me you row also! Link to comment
selyab Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 I have the plastic backup key hidden on the bike in case of fob issues. Also, keep spare fob battery in the bike. Link to comment
RTnger Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 What is the Optimate 4? what is it used for? never heard of it. School me on that please. Link to comment
92Merc Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 It's a battery charger specifically designed to handle the CANBUS computer and other electronics the BMW motorcycle has. It also has the ability to just "float" charge a battery and not charge it when it doesn't need a charge. Link to comment
LudemJo Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 Doesn't a Battery Tender do the same thing? I have used my Tender on and off for the past couple of years and have never had an issue. I had never heard that you needed a special charger because of the CANBUS. Link to comment
Red Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 (edited) This is not too far off topic. I'd like to know about battery "tenders" vs battery "chargers". I replaced my 96 RT with a 2018 RT last month. Before the wet heads came out I thought a canbus was public transportation in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I still don't know much more than it is a new and 'improved' wiring system. To my question. I used a Battery Tender Plus 12v 1.25 amp unit. I see online that the ofishul BMW battery tender is the same rating. Is the Battery Tender Plus safe and effective for the wet head canbus or do I have to buy a third tender from BMW? Edited May 8, 2018 by Red Link to comment
Paul De Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 Doesn't a Battery Tender do the same thing? I have used my Tender on and off for the past couple of years and have never had an issue. I had never heard that you needed a special charger because of the CANBUS. This is not too far off topic. I'd like to know about battery "tenders" vs battery "chargers". I replaced my 96 RT with a 2018 RT last month. Before the wet heads came out I thought a canbus was public transportation in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I still don't know much more than it is a new and 'improved' wiring system. To my question. I used a Battery Tender Plus 12v 1.25 amp unit. I see online that the ofishul BMW battery tender is the same rating. Is the Battery Tender Plus safe and effective for the wet head canbus or do I have to buy a third tender from BMW? I think this sort of hits both questions If you use a pigtail connection directly to the battery you can use any AGM compatible tender on a wet head. If you want to use the accessory socket on the bike, you need a tender that is also compatible with the CAN bus system otherwise the computer will shut down the accessory circuit once the tender gets to float mode as it does not see that anything is attached. If you are only days between rides you'll likely never know that the computer shut down the path to the battery, a long winter layoff will have your battery draining keeping the computer going and by spring it might be a WTF moment. I think the difference between tender and a charger in is the amp rating with tenders typically rate at 3 amps or less for a smart unit. For motorcycle batteries you'll notice little difference. For a car battery a 1.5 AMP smart charger will work, but you'll be waiting a long time for it to get to float mode. I have read that even with a smart charger you should still be careful with motorcycle batteries to not have the charger/tender amp rating too much more than 10-15% of the batteries rated Amp Hours to avoid over heating the battering during bulk absorption mode. A 3 amp smart charger will not likely hurt your M/C battery and have a enough current to get a car battery charged in a reasonable time frame of several hours. Link to comment
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