R1150R BMW Integral ABS 1 (iABS1) Removal

This section is dedicated to the new Rockster version of the R1150R.

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boxhead
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by boxhead »

Not wanting to layout three grand for a new meisterskidfrei unit I had embarked on this same mission on my r1150rt. I feel the brakes are quite good, post-absectomy, but the lack of brake light and running light has kept me grounded for two months. Until I found this forum and Sweatmarks ingenious 5 dollar fix. I wired it up today in less than an hour, thanks to the generous help from the man in Oregon. Tomorrow I ride again. Yeehaw! It worked exactly as described. Kudos for a solution that I could never have figured out and much more to my liking than replacing the brake light switches.
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sweatmark
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by sweatmark »

Glad the brake switch relay circuit worked out for you!

Time to dust off the project box for this and fix my Rockster speedometer signal problem.
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by iowabeakster »

Sweatmark,

Could you please give me (anybody else interested) a quick cheat sheet for the colors of the wires and to which posts (on the relay) you attached them to? and the wires you need crimped together?

I understand all the mechanical changes needed...I just can't see the photos of your schematic or the installed relay clear enough to make out the colors of the wires.

many thanks
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boxhead
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by boxhead »

Sweatmark is on Pacific time, but in the meantime I have a clearer photo of his schematic.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/yY ... directlink

The guy who said Sweatmark could have spent his time better overlooks the value of his research to his fellow man, struggling to ride free, well not free but at least less expensively. :-k .
Last edited by boxhead on Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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sweatmark
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by sweatmark »

<edit 2011 - deleted weak attempt at humor>
Last edited by sweatmark on Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by iowabeakster »

BEAUTIFUL!

Thanks so much guys.
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sweatmark
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by sweatmark »

iowa-

Is your ABS on it's way out, or already in a box in the garage?

Regardless, let me know how the brake switch & lamp relay wiring goes for you.

Buy a couple of the 5-pin relays just in case. Will cost you $7-10 for the pair. From what I dug up online, the typical relay should handle a lifetime of use in this application, including the "87a" unlatched connection for brake lamp.
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by iowabeakster »

No, my ABS is A-OK. I am planning to keep it on the bike for as long as it works. If I do have problems, I will not pay the huge amount to fix it. I will do the ABSectomy.

I am planning on keeping my roadster for a long time. I haven't had much time to ride it since starting self-employment. At the rate I am going, this bike may last another 20 years :lol: . Therefore I am going to buy the few parts (and your schematic) and have my back up plan waiting in a box in the garage.
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by boxhead »

If I am not mistaken---If you drain and plug the abs pump but leave it in place with it's wiring intact, the brake and running lights and (on models affected) speedometer will continue to work. Pulling the abs warning light relay does away with that annoyance . Then you would just have a 14 lb. brake light relay switch.
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by Jvelask »

Hi, I am in the process of ABSectomisizing my '01 R1150RT, after the usual ABS control unit failure, and found very useful the experiences and tips by Sweatmark (Great job!) and others. Of course I will share my own process as soon as I am finished, which I hope will be soon. The hydraulic part seems pretty easy, as I'm used to bleeding the brakes and so on, but as anybody else with this kind of project my main difficulties are on the electrical side.

I intend to put into practice the "five pin relay" solution, as explained by Sweatmark, but there is a question bothering me. Afrter installing the relay, connecting the "normally open" pin to the tail lamp and the "normally closed" to the brake light, I understand that when front or rear brakes are applied, the brake light will go on, which is OK; but the tail light, than will be normally on, will go off for as long as the brakes are in operation, which it should'nt: in a normal operation, tail light would be on all times (as long as the bike lights switch is "on" or "P"), and the brake light just would add more luminosity for as long as the brakes are used.

Am I correct? Is there a way to "bridge" the relay effect of giving power alternatively to the brake and tail light, an thus to operate both at the same time? I know that when you connect pins 5 and 6 in the large ABS unit plug, the tail light works correctly, but I understand that the cable going to pin 6 has to go now to the relay.

Also, is there any need of installing any new fuse to the circuit (Sweatmark pics seem to include one, but I'm not sure), or the fuses already in the box will do the job?

Thanks for any reply, and for the efforts to make this apparently "highly sensitive" for BMW information avalaible to all users.
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iowabeakster
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by iowabeakster »

Welcome aboard J,

Thats a very good point about the "always on tailight"... :-k


Image



A simple bridge would not work as the current would flow both directions. You would get a constantly lit tail light... but also get a constantly lit brake light. Another thought... is that you directly solder the tail light wire to the 12V ignition on wire (Gray/Black wire connected to the 30/51 pin on the relay), and do not connect the tail light to the relay at all. In other words...bypass the tail light around the relay. Everything else would stay the same. That would keep the tail light constantly illuminated. The other option is a slightly different relay that would power both "outputs" when normally opened, but only one "output" when normally closed.

Doing this will certainly increase the current from the 12V iginition on wire (fuse #2) when the brakes are used. But I would be less concerned about the fuse than I would be about the wiring. I don't know if this wire was designed originally to carry the current for both the brake and tail lights simultaneously. I don't know if there is a possibility of overloading anything here. Hopefully our hero Sweatmark sees the activity here and has some thoughts about this. But I think he might be playing with the new F800... :lol:
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sweatmark
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by sweatmark »

<edited>

Glad the info is proving useful.

If you want the tail lamp filament powered when key is in IGN position and unaffected by brake switch operation:

(1) simply connect the Fuse 2 GRAY-BLACK wire to the tail lamp wire, and use same Fuse 2 wire as power supply to the relay and series brake switch circuit, omitting the tail lamp's connection to relay; or

(2) there's an appropriate IGN-ON wire in the ABS harness that will do the job - the corresponding circuit isn't fused locally, but some folks view a light bulb as a fuse by proxy.

I put both the tail and brake filaments on the 5-pin relay because they could share the dedicated Fuse 2 circuit, and because I like the idea of that poor relay switching back and forth. I didn't see much difference in conspicuity between brake light alone and brake+tail considering the respective filament wattage. To get serious attention while stopping, you might want some LEDs and/or flashing circuit.

When back at a computer instead of BlackBerry, will confirm which wire in ABS harness is IGN 12v hot.

Follow-up: Confirmed that the small gauge GREEN wire is 12vdc hot when key switch is ON position. There is no fuse shown in the BMW wiring diagrams for this circuit, which is is why I prefer to use the GRAY-BLACK wire in the iABS harness that's powered through Fuse 2. Fuse 2 OE spec is 4 amp, which easily handles the combined load of tail+brake lamp filaments.


I'm finally trying another stab at the Rockster's speedo circuit, a problem you don't have worry about with an R1150RT, Roadster, or regular GS due to provision for regular speedometer drive on front wheel. Will report findings ASAP... the bike is tank-less right now, occupying Mrs. Sweatmark's car's spot in the garage, so pressure is on!
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by Jvelask »

Well, thanks for the replies. Just to let you know that, after connecting the 5 pin relay (12v, 30Amp, 3.5 euros) the system works perfectly, and I have got tail and brake lights working fine. The connections in the Sweatmark diagram were very precise, and all the cable colours are as described. For solving de "off tail light while braking" issue, I just added a cable bridge between pin 30 (grey/black+yellow/black) and pin 87 (grey/white tail lamp), more or less as Sweatmark suggested. Now the power to the tail light runs at the same time through the relay and through the bridge, which is redundant, but ok; when brakes are pressed, it only runs through the bridge. This is a picture of the whole thing, the bridge is that green and yellow gross section cable:

Image

Now I have permanent tail light (when lights switch is On or P), and brake light on demand. The permanent tail light is somehow important, because it gives light to the bike legal plate, and because the "on and off" thing may have caused trouble at the time of the periodical technical inspection (every two years for a bike of this age here in Spain, and they of course check that the brake light works properly).

I'm just waiting for the pipeline parts to arrive in order to finish the job, I hope not to have much trouble bleeding the brakes without that wonderful bleeding pump called servo. You will hear from me in no time.
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Re: R1150R ABS-ectomy

Post by Jvelask »

I just finished the ABSectomy to my R1150RT, and my brand new conventional brakes are working just fine. I would recomend this procedure to anyone in trouble with the servo or iABS, of course at their own risk. I Published a post in my usual BMW forum, I'm afraid it is in Spanish as I don't feel like translating myself, but I hope some of you like to practice a second language:

http://www.bmwmotos.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y ... 1252766645

By the way, in the post I aknowledge some folks in this and other forums for the help provided in this "no turning back" kind of project.

Regards
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Re: R1150R iABS-ectomy BMW Integrated ABS Removal

Post by sweatmark »

bump

FYI - I'm placing the basic How To info within this thread's beginning message. Solved the speedometer issue for Rockster, R1100S, and any other BMW bikes that rely on ABS wheel sensor as source for speedometer signal. I've even reduced the cost of the "iABS-ectomy" Integrated ABS Removal by five bucks!
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Re: R1150R iABS-ectomy BMW Integrated ABS Removal

Post by torvil »

Hi I'm in the middle of abs removal and as stated the hardware is very simplebrake pipe relocation etc. I have been sent a kit which includes non abs
brake switches which I'm told I must use on my r1150rt. Can you tell me if when I use them, will the wiring task be the same as this job or do I have to cut into separate wires to route to the five pin relay. I'm also told that there are no issues with the rear tail lamp or brake failure warning lamps on the dash, can anyone confirm this?
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Re: R1150R iABS-ectomy BMW Integrated ABS Removal

Post by sweatmark »

I have been sent a kit which includes non abs brake switches which I'm told I must use on my r1150rt. Can you tell me if when I use them, will the wiring task be the same as this job or do I have to cut into separate wires to route to the five pin relay. I'm also told that there are no issues with the rear tail lamp or brake failure warning lamps on the dash, can anyone confirm this?
Was not aware of a "kit" for R1150** Integrated ABS (iABS) removal. Interesting.

I must respectfully disagree with the idea that non-ABS brake switches are required for the ABS removal conversion. In fact, this thread contains confirmation from two R1150RT owners who removed iABS and retained the original ABS-spec brake switches. The application of a 5-pin relay for the brake lamp circuit makes the re-use of original brake switches possible, cheap, and easy.

Similarly, whoever told you that there are no issues with tail or warning lamps is incorrect. The circuits for rear tail lamp and the ABS warning lights are included in the wiring bundle that connects to the iABS controller. The iABS controller circuit board contains the relays that activate these circuits, so removing the iABS means thoselamps/lights will not function correctly without modification.

That is, unless your "kit" contains the necessary re-wiring parts and instructions to resolve the above problems.

The good news is that your bike uses a conventional speedometer driver on the front wheel, so you don't have to worry about speedo signal generation.

PM me if you want to talk through the needed wiring changes for brake/tail/warning lights. You can also sell back those expensive non-ABS brake switches.
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Re: R1150R iABS-ectomy BMW Integrated ABS Removal

Post by Jvelask »

I copy here an answer to a private message from Torvil, in case it is useful to anyone:

Tony, I will try to answer your questions, sorry the explanation was only in Spanish. First of all, you will find almost no difference between powered brakes and traditional brakes, in terms of braking effectiveness. In fact, as you probably know, BMW has discontinued the manufacturing of bikes with servo, I believe because of an overwhelming number of failure reports. Anyway, the only difference is that after ABS removal, you of course don’t have ABS –which may be considered a big issue, though I think it is not so bad-, and, as your brakes are not anymore “integral”, you have to re-learn to brake as with any traditional bike, applying pressure to both brakes at the same time, slightly more on front brakes. That way, your bike will stop perfectly. Keep in mind that the modification doesn’t affect to the “brake pads and discs” part of the system, only to hydraulic circuits, so the braking power is exactly the same.

Regarding the electric part, which is the hardest part of the whole operation, the “five pin relay” solution by Sweatmark was the best I could find after an extensive research: everything you need is in there, you only have to make the proper connections. My only contribution is a “bridge cable” that will maintain lightened the tail light while the brakes are in operation. The five pin relay can be bought for very little money at any automotive spare parts shop. You need to strip the maze of cables that went to the removed ABS unit, cut some of them and connect them as follows:

- Thin Brown cable (not to be confused with gross Brown or Brown/black: to pin 85 in the relay.
- Grey/White (tail light): to and end of the bridge cable, and both to pin 87.
- Grey/yellow: to pin 87 a.
- White/blue: to pin 86.
- White/yellow: bond to yellow/green and isolate them.
- Yellow/black: bond to grey/black and to the other end of bridge cable, and all together to pin 30.

Obviously, all the mentioned cables have to be peeled off and fixed to a “faston” connector, which will be inserted in each pin. In the picture shown in post “Absectomia”, the gross yellow/green cable (the one I had at hand at that time) is the “bridge”, whose function is to keep the tail light on at the times in which the relay diverts the current to the brake light.
When you mention that you “have been sent non abs brake switches”, I suppose you are referring to some kind of banjo bolts that will send a signal to tail lamp when they feel pressure from the hydraulic circuits. This has nothing to do with the Sweatmark solution, and I believe that would complicate a matter that is otherwise fairly simple: all the wiring is in there, you just have to make the proper connections. The only added element is the five pin relay.

By the way, the last step is to remove and keep in a safe place the ABS relay from the fuse box; is the blue one, the second in the front row starting for right. After that, you will not hear the “arming” sound of the ABS when turning on the key, and will not have any brake failure warning signal anymore, as the abs unit has been removed (you could keep the unit in place and disconnected after performing the bypass, but it would be only dead weight for the bike).

I hope this answer all your doubts, otherwise please feel free to contact again.
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Re: R1150R iABS-ectomy BMW Integrated ABS Removal

Post by sweatmark »

Tony - sent you an email with attachments for reference, but I see Jvalask has provided good info based on his successful R1150RT xABS project.

It's time for me to edit the info at beginning of this topic, and include some additional info.

As I've just written to Tony, the simplest brake/tail lamp wiring is done as follows:
xABS Brake Switch Circuit - Description

The brake switches used for BMW Integrated ABS (iABS) systems on R1150** bikes work as follows: when the hand or foot lever is depressed, the corresponding brake switch circuit OPENS, stopping current flow. The brake switches are wired to iABS controller board contained within the iABS servo module under fuel tank.

These brake switches can be re-used to operate brake lamp when the iABS controller is removed. The idea is to connect the brake switches in series, so that current flows through the switches when in resting position. The brake switch current is used to power a relay coil (pins 85&86), which holds the relay switch in OPEN position (pin 87) until one of the brake switches is activated.

The activated brake switch opens the series brake switch circuit and stops current flow to relay coil (no power across pins 85&86), which moves the relay to CLOSED (powered) position for the 87A pin. Power to the 87A pin is used to illuminate the brake lamp.

Relay pin 30/51 is connected to +12VDC bike power through Fuse 2 for protection of the tail/brake circuit. Both the tail lamp and brake switch series circuit are also connected to pin 30/51 to supply bike power and simplify the wiring.

Use female crimp connectors to connect the relay pins and circuit wiring.
If you crimp/solder the three wires (Fuse 2 supply, tail lamp, and supply to brake switch series) together into a female connector, then you avoid the need for "jumper".


Also, you will need to remove the blue BMW relay in your R1150RT fuse box that powers the ABS warning lamp - see attached pics. The iABS controller supplies power to the blue relay, which works like the 87A pin on 5-pin automotive relay... when the relay's coil is powered, the relay output is turned OFF... when the relay's coil loses power, then the relay output is turned ON and illuminates the ABS fault warning lamp. That's why the lamp is lit when the iABS controller stops working, or when it is removed!

If you did not already have a 5-pin relay, then you could use the removed blue BMW relay to control your brake lamp! I will make this change myself when I complete the xABS project, which includes fixing the Rockster speedometer problem (which you don't have with R1150RT).
And here's something I will change when I next dig into the bike: I will use that original blue BMW relay instead of a 5-pin, because it does exactly what we need for the brake lamp switch. My original 5-pin relay has worked great for 2 seasons now, but re-using that blue BMW relay will be philosophically satisfying.

Will also add protection diode to prevent issues with relay collapse spike, in honor of CycleRob.
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Re: R1150R iABS-ectomy BMW Integrated ABS Removal

Post by speedtrickle »

Hi people, feel like a bit of a fraud really as I actually own a GS. I've been searching for any info on an ABS-ectomy for the 06 1200GS and wondered if anyone might have experience or knowledge that would allow me to be free of the 'curse'. The bike in question is non-servo which is probably a good start. I think I have the hydraulic bit under control but obviously thats when it became clear about the lack of brake light etc,etc. I like the idea of junking the abs unit and employing the relay as described here. Thanks and thanks for having me.
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