Guess why it won't start...

[Sunbeemer]

After 2-weeks and 3000 miles of trouble-free riding in 7 southeastern states (FL, GA, AL, TN, SC, NC, & VA), the bike got me home and quit in my driveway! I guess that's how you know you got a good one

The day after I got home from a hot ride through southern Georgia, I filled it with gas and rode ~ 2 miles home, then changed the oil, washed it with a hose, and put it in the garage for the night. When I went out the next morning, it started up with a clank for a couple seconds, probably because I had not run it immediately after changing the oil, but the oil light went out immediately and it quieted down. Then it ran fine for about 10 seconds as I backed it out of the garage, but when I turned the handlbars hard left it died like I had switched the key off. Turning the key on turns lights and dashlights on fine and the fuel pump whines normally, and it cranks strong but won't fire a lick. The sidestand switch and kill switch both work (e.g. the fuel pump won't come on in gear until the sidestand is retracted, and it will crank unless the kill switch is set to "kill"). I smell raw gas coming from the exhaust after cranking, and have determined there is no spark at the plug (by attaching the left ignition wire to a good sparkplug grounded to the grounding bolt on left cylinder head).

A few years ago I re-tied all the cable ties under the steering head and added lots of chafing protection (tape and plastic loom).

So, I'm interested in your best guess as to what's causing the problem?

[Boxer]

Hey Rich,
Good to see you guys at the beer tent at the MOA rally. I'm just sorry I couldn't skip out on my beer job to sit and talk for a while.

If yours is the single spark you have one main coil. That's the way mine is.

This really sounds like either the coil has given up the ghost or your HES has just died. The HES problem is (usually) really a wire disintegration issue and acts similar to the "chafed" wires suddenly becoming "disconnected". I would pull the coil and have it checked for resistance. I can't recall what the BMW tech told me it was supposed to be but a good manual will tell you that info. Its easy enough to remove.

If you have the twin spark, I believe it will run if one coil goes, so in that case I'd be looking at the HES...assuming you know the wires under the "hood" are not broken.

This is just my guess based on my own experience and reading a lot of what goes on with these bikes the last 5 years.

[Sunbeemer]

Thanks Boxer,
It was good to see you at beer tent, and the beer was excellent, too! Nice job serving it up real cold!

Yeah, I should've mentioned that my bike's a single-spark 2002.
I will pull the ignition coil and check resistances this weekend (BTW, Clymer's says they should be 0.5 ohms across the primary and 1300 ohms across the secondary).

I was searching unsucessfully for a timing thread that I think Cyclerob posted about turning the engine over with the key on and the HES would momentarily activate the fuel pump at TDC - is that correct? I thought that might be a way to exclude the HES as the problem if it works.

[iowabeakster]

I think you are correct about testting the HES. Here's the link to the article Rob referenced.

http://advwisdom.hogranch.com/Wisdom/Oi ... 20Way.html

It seems like it's getting fuel, from the smell. But, I guess you should start nailing things down positively and crossing some of those things off the list. The thing that leaves questions in my mind is the left turn of the handlebars. ??? That's symptomatic of the wiring haress issue.

I would vote that the bike is angry about getting put away wet. A day in the sun might brighten it's mood.

[Sunbeemer]

Thanks iowabeakster,
That's the article I remember reading but couldn't find. I'll try that first, since it's the easiest and might exclude the HES as the problem.

You're right, I should have added a "Rode hard and put away wet" vote!
The bike's been sitting for a few days now in the garage and still won't start, so if it was a water problem, it should have dried out and corrected itself by now.

And I agree that the handlebar movement seemed too coincidental to not be suspicious, so I'm going to tear into the wiring loom under the steering post and see what's up there after the HES test.