Hello, new here

[Che sera sera]

Hi all, new here and wanted to say hello. Just picked up a K11rs - my 4th BMW but first K bike. '96 with 43,000m. Seems to ride very well - smooth and powerful - but have a few (hopefully) minor issues to sort out.

1. Temp guage doesn't read anything. Is there a common problem with the guages or wiring or sender, or could it simply be a random failure of one of these? Easy fix?

2. ABS has yet to initialise in 200 miles of riding. From previous BMWs, I suspect battery is on the way out. Mostly get slowly alternating flashing light, but once or twice have had both lights on all the time.

I've also noticed a small weep of oil between the engine and gearbox. I intend to leave this as long as possible before getting stuck in (only if necessary) unless someone tells me otherwise. Major job?

All in all very pleased so far - looking forward to a long and hapy relationship.

Cheers

[John Clauss]

I've also noticed a small weep of oil between the engine and gearbox. I intend to leave this as long as possible before getting stuck in (only if necessary) unless someone tells me otherwise. Major job?

Welcome aboard! The oil seep could me something, or nothing. I had what I thought was a seep at that location, turned out it was from the water pump and traveling back. If it is the rear main seal it is a big job, but it will be necessary as a leak there tends to oil up the clutch plates, then they do not work so good.

[old guy old bike]

Depends on how bad the leak is. Mine would dump a few drops every time I parked it. I tried my best to ignore it until the clutch started to slip slightly after 3 years. It was the clutch nut o-ring that was leaking. I suspect that is your leak also.
Jeff

[Flying Duck]

First, remove the right knee panel and make sure it's hooked up at the connector.

If that isn't it then remove the belly pan.

With the bike turned on (running or not) try grounding the lead to the temp sensor. If it's a bad connection or temp sensor, then grounding that should peg the needle. The temp sensor is at the bottom front of the engine on the water/oil pump. The one behind and above it is the oil pressure switch.

Report back with your findings and we'll go from there.

Battery is the first suspect on the ABS. Check your battery voltage.

What the other guys said on the oil weep.

Welcome!


(Please put your year and model in your signature.)

[Shoganai]

Welcome!

[Che sera sera]

Thanks for words of welcome and tech advice.

Service kit just arrived so hopefull will get around to having a good poke around at the weekend. (Also in the middle of fitting a kitchen (no, not to the bike!) so may take a few days to post an update on what I've found).

Oh, and sig strip duly updated!

[Che sera sera]

OK - Changed all oils etc, but struggled geting belypan off. Someone has previously rounded one of the underneath allen bolts part way out, so has glued it in place! Now successfuly drilled out.

Anyway, on temp guage - guage is connected by a 4 way conector which looks corrosion free (now cleaned anyway). Grounding the sensor wire does result in guage giving a reading up to full deflection. Does this indicate a faulty sensor? If so, doesn't look too big a job?

Cheers

[Flying Duck]

If you're quick you can do it without having to change the coolant and just a top off afterwards though it's probably easier just to drain it all out.

Be careful putting the new one in. If you use he-man torque you can destroy it.

[Che sera sera]

Thanks for quick response. I'll order a new one tomorrow. I was thinking I could "snatch" it without draining - I'll report back.

Cheers

[malcolmt]

Welcome aboard

Looks like you'll be getting some good riding weather this year.
How about a few photos !!

Malcolm(t)
Joburg,
Souf Efrika

[Che sera sera]

Temp guage sensor changed. Was easy but could have been nasty. Old one sheared off flush with engine casing leaving no hexagon to grab hold of. Worse still it started leaking (I didn't drain first). Luckily, I wedged the end of a screw driver into the hollow stub and managed to unscrew it. Guage now works a treat.

Am getting 56MPG across a full tank (about 220 miles) of (admitedly fairly gentle) commuting, so pleased with that.

Last remaining issue for now is the alarm. It's a Datatool Series 2 Evolution, which arms itself after 30 secs of ignition off. There is no override to this, and it's a bit of a pain. Still, it works OK and while that's the case I'll probably leave it rather than try and disconnect it permanently.

[Scott_Anderson]

Old one sheared off flush with engine casing leaving no hexagon to grab hold of. Worse still it started leaking (I didn't drain first).

Well, truth be told that is the "drain plug" for draining the system.