K11 Owners Group

[sailbahama]

1994 K1100LT 58,900 miles

Bike has had the side stand switch dis abled.

The problem: Bike shut off while running and won't restart....

Info that may be helpful is below. Hopefully I'm not providing info that is not needed, but I thought it best to tell all I know. I greatly appreciate any help.

First issue, one month ago, radiator fan would not come on automatically. BMW dealer installed a switch, linked direct to battery, to allow for manually turning on radiator fan. Dealer said problem most likely in the motronic. After hearning price for new motronic, I said "what else can you do?" So, bike now has a manual switch for fan.

Switch was a 15 amp rated on off, push button, switch.

I replaced this switch with one easier to tell whether it was actually on. A lever up and down switch. The replacement is rated at 10 amps..

Several days later, while riding at night, the headlights flickered, then went out, and the manually operated cooling fan (which was on at the time) stopped when the lights went out.

The bike kept running.

I pulled over and shut off the bike. It would not restart. I pondered the situation for a moment. Then the bike restarted.

I plugged in a gps to the cigarette ligher 12 volt plug, and the lights went out again. I shut the bike off again. Unplugged the gps from the cig lighter and tried to start. No luck. Waited and pondered and presto it starts.

All seemed well. In fact, I rode for one more full day with no problems. ( (I was in the middle of a ride back to Atlanta from Boston)

Then, while climbing a hill in Virgina, the bike quit instantly.

Tried to re start. No luck. Pushed the bike across the road and coasted down hill to find myself at a budget truck rental place. I took this as a sign and trucked the bike home. No sense in pushing my luck.

The headlight will turn on. The radiator fan will turn on.

The fuel pump can be heard to whine when the key is turned to the on position.

The battery turns over the starter, but no ignition. Yes, there is gas in the tank.

Boy do I hate the idea of paying 80 bucks an hour for a dealer to spend who knows how many hours troubleshooting a 15 yr old motorcycle that is worth 3300 bucks.

I love the bike and was about to install new fork seals, springs, and rebuild the master cylinder, so I haven't given up on it by any means.

Any electric gurus out there who have had a similar problem?

I have not looked at the kill switch yet to clean it.

thank you in advance for any ideas,
Jeff

[Scott_Anderson]

I can't speak to all of the issues,

1st how old is the battery.

2nd, I would partially suspect the load shed circuit, which is grounded thru the starter. The starter could use to be cleaned out and brushes checked/replaced.
If the dealer installed the fan switch to the load shed relay then this would have more credibility.
_________________
Ride safe.



1995 K1100LT 0302044
2017 FLHTK Ultra Limited
Garmin StreetPilot 2820
Garmin Zumo 550
Garmin Zumo XT
"One who does not ask questions is ashamed to learn" Danish proverb
1997 K1100LT 0302488(R.I.P.)
1997 R1100RT ZC62149(sold)

[wera32]

Your dealer can plug in his diag box and tell you if it's the Motronic in less than an hour. Might be $80 well spent?
_________________
Paul - '93 K11/12RS (sold), 2002 R1100S BCP and '03 RC51 KOG 29

[sailbahama]

Thanks for the replies... The battery is less than 3 months old. And yes, I don't mind 80 bucks to the dealer if it yields an answer. My experience is that 80 quickly becomes 300 or more in the blink of an eye, with a less than satisfactory explaination.

Example: When the BMW dealer in Scottsdale, AZ (where I bought the bike) installed the hot wired fan switch, they told me "we think the problem with the fan not coming on automatically is the motronic", "but we aren't 100 percent sure". They were nice to work me in short notice and to at least install the manual fan switch, but I'm not sure why the fan wasn't coming on.

I'll look at the starter issue..... Do I understand correctly that if the connections there are bad, then it could cause the bike to stop running? Or would it just cause the bike to not start?

Has anyone had any success with a used motronic? There is one on E bay at the moment.

Jeff

[tmoons]

[sailbahama]

Wow, I had no idea to even look for previous threads on testing the motronic. ( I assumed this was something only a dealer had the tools to do) I will try my hand at testing it. And I hope to receive a code that leads me to a diagnosis.

This does make me wonder why the bmw dealer in Arizona couldn't tell me what the problem was with the fan. I'm happy to have a manual switch, but now have doubt in my mind about a dealers ability to diagnose a problem.

Thanks
Jeff

[sailbahama]

It occured to me that my intitial post was too cumbersome, too rambling.... so.... perhaps this post will be more to the point of the problem.

Bike cut off while running

will not restart

battery is 3 months old

fuel pump is heard to prime when key is turned on

starter engages but no start

two days previous, at night, the headlights went out, but bike kept running. upon shutting off bike, it would not re start. waited a few minutes, bike started. Now, after shutting off while running, bike will not restart at all.

bike has had side stand switch disabled several years ago.

I will try to see what reading I get out of testing the motronic.

thanks for any and all suggestions
Jeff

[Saltcreek]

I'm going to take a stab at this, if for no other reason than to keep it alive until the real mechanics weigh in.

First of all welcome to the forum, We want to see pictures of you, your bike, your backyard, your dog, and your desktop.

I'm suspicious of the kickstand switch disable. Was it done with the jumper plug or twisting wires together? It seems like everything you describe except the headlight could be explained by a problem with the kickstand switch circuit. It's possible that the headlight failure was caused by a bad connection at the bulb, the fuse, or a ground. If both systems were getting ready to fail, a hard bump might have triggered both at the same time.
_________________
Jim

1994 K1100LT Mystic Red, bfd, 37000 miles, sold
2009 Wilderness Systems Zephyr 155 ST
2002 Litespeed titanium

[sailbahama]

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm also suspicious of the kickstand switch and will look into it this weekend. It was done by the previous owner, a friend, several years ago and he doesn't remember how it was done.

Thanks for the welcome to the board. I've ridden a viariety of bikes over the years, mostly bmw's. This is my 3rd K1100LT. I keep coming back to them. They are hot in the summer, but comfortable, handle fairly well and are cheap compared to a new sports tourer. I Bought this one two months ago from a friend in Phoenix and rode it back to Atlanta, via south Texas, Big Bend Park etc. Had a great ride. Bike performed well.

Prior to leaving Phoenix, the cooling fan stopped working. This happened, I might add, shortly after a radio tech installed a new radio. I know, I know... this adds even more possiblilies to the nightmare. The local BMW dealer, then installed the manual fan switch.

I've enjoyed reading posts on this forum about other needs my bike has. Leaking front master cylinder. Leaking fork seals.

At this point, I am trying to get a one price quote from a mechanic to replace the master cylinder, install new forks seals and install the race tech springs I purchased for the bike.

My electric knowledge is very limited and I don't have to tools to diagnose shorts, etc.

Based on the excellent posts on this forum, I may decide to tackle the master cylinder and fork springs myself and save those labor dollars to have the "bike not starting" issue.

Jeff

[endoman100]

The fork seals are very easy to replace. you should try to do them yourself and save some cash.
I looked it up on youtube.com and watched how they did it. and then replaced the seals myself. Not hard to do. BWM wanted 250.00 plus a fork
to rebuild them. I did it for about 50.00 for both forks.
Just my 2 cents
_________________
In the words of the stones
Time Is On My Side
Yes It Is
1993 K1100RS

[BobZ(IL)]

[SugarHillCTD]

If you are doing seals- spend another $12 or so and put gaiters on- those may keep you from having to do them again- too soon.



The seal replace looks difficult before you do it- do it once and the mystery goes away- easy to do.

If you have problems doing them- post it here- many of us on this forum have done it ourselves and can help you through the steps.

Good luck.
John
_________________
John & Cathy

'92 K100RS4V Pearl White SOLD
'04 K1200GT
IBA Several-SS1k, BBG, 50CC NYC to S.F.

[endoman100]

[sailbahama]

John and Endo.....

Your encouragement is appreciated. I'll look for that you tube video. Projects like fork seals, will, I'm quite sure, have me uttering a few choice words as I go through the learning curve. The various fork seal threads on this site will be referred to often with greasy hands and hopefully a patient head.

If I can figure out how to post a pic, I'll post one of this K bike. It was professionaly repainted bmw auto white and is really a nice looking example of the K1100 series.

Jeff
[/img]

[Scott_Anderson]

[Saltcreek]

[Scott_Anderson]

[sailbahama]

Here is the gremlin mystery bike, poised to tackel the Natchez Trace. [/img]

[jpberens1994K1100RS]

Nice bike!

Clean looking paint, BLACK final drive!

You getting this OTG?

Hope you can get the gremlins out, and may your brick never leak!
_________________
1993 K1100RS that I'd rather be riding FAST!
2014 Moto Guzzi Norge

[Stoked Steve]

Sweet ride! If I saw that on the side of the road, I'd think I was getting a ticket. I'll bet people either slow way down when you come up from behind or pull over.

Good luck with the electrical gremlins, dodgey connections are usually the most likely issues.
_________________
Steve
Virginia Beach, VA
93 K1100RS Mystic Red SOLD
12 Suzuki DL650A VStrom