2014 R1200R Dark White

[DarkWhiteRider]

Hi everyone,
I took delivery of a new R12R Dark White about 9 months ago. The bike has been spot on from day one.

Last weekend the bike stalled at a traffic light and wouldn't start after that. Efforts to jump start it failed.
Finally the battery was removed and it had to be charged for abt 1.5 hrs before the bike could start.

The weekend before I had taken it on a inter city 400 km ride and it was ok. In between that weekend and last weekend I had also ridden it on several intra city rides with no issues.

Does anyone have any experience with the battery suddenly failing.

Thanks.

[peels]

not like THAT. the day it failed, did it start ok?

is the battery OK after the "charging for 1.5hrs"? I would check the charging system! maybe you had a loose wire or something for awhile? doesn't make sense to me.

or did you replace the battery?

[roger l]

I bought a 2008 R1200R in December 2010. The bike had 1200 miles on it. I was riding the bike home from work in June of 2011 in stop and go traffic I stalled the bike in traffic and the bike did not start back up. The computer screen was blank. I trailered the bike to the dealer because it was still under the 3 year warranty. The dealer checked the bike and found the battery was bad. The battery only has a 2 year warranty so I paid dealer prices for a new battery. The bike started fine the morning and the evening that the battery failed. I think that the battery was bad because the previous owner let the bike sit. I just replaced that battery this spring. Sitting on the side of the read with a dead battery is no fun. The older bikes you could jump start them but not the new bikes with computers.

Thanks
Roger L

[peels]

Yeah newer machines need that battery.

Learned that hard way with an EFI atv. then, a couple weeks ago, my Boat battery ate it. A fellow boater loaned me his battery to get it started, and said: "just start it, swap em, and bring my battery back" I was like "will it run?" still had the atv incident fresh in memory... lol but it worked, saved my bacon. (carbs dont need battery power lol)

[Caol]

The older bikes you could jump start them but not the new bikes with computers.

Thanks
Roger L

I ride a fast (black w/pinstripes) 2007 and had the embarrassing moment of leaving the key on, while going for lunch, and not noticing the headlight and driving lights were all on. There was a little battery left, but not enough to spin the starter. Fortunately the pick-up truck driver parked next to me came out at the same time and had a set of jumper cables. I popped the seat off the bike, hooked the jumpers to the appropriate battery posts and spun it up. No problem at all. I've since had to jump start one other time, too long off the charger and I was in a hurry. I used an Eliminator battery box and, again, no problem. You've got to be careful to keep your polarity correct and I disconnect as quickly as possible after start-up.

My old K75 on the other hand, you couldn't jump start, because you had to disconnect the computer for the fuel injection system to get at the battery! So you had to run pigtails off the battery to where you could get at them with the seat still on the bike.

Kyle

[roger l]

When I said jump start I meant push start.
My first bike was a Honda 650 VLX. I was going on my first motorcycle trip with some friends. We were leaving in the afternoon and I packed the bike the night before. I rode the bike to work packed to see how it handled. I rode home from work to eat lunch before we left. I left the key on and when I came out from eating lunch and getting ready to go the battery was dead. My house has a walk out basement so the driveway goes down hill. I pushed the loaded bike up the driveway and coasted down and popped the clutch to start the bike. It took (2) times up and down the hill to start the bike. I could not have done that with the R1200R.


Roger L

[peels]

When I said jump start I meant push start.
My first bike was a Honda 650 VLX. I was going on my first motorcycle trip with some friends. We were leaving in the afternoon and I packed the bike the night before. I rode the bike to work packed to see how it handled. I rode home from work to eat lunch before we left. I left the key on and when I came out from eating lunch and getting ready to go the battery was dead. My house has a walk out basement so the driveway goes down hill. I pushed the loaded bike up the driveway and coasted down and popped the clutch to start the bike. It took (2) times up and down the hill to start the bike. I could not have done that with the R1200R.


Roger L

I rode a 78 suzuki gs1000 on a bad battery for a month, push starting it everywhere LOL

I learned that...the hard way, you could not do this so easily with the 1150.

[Caol]

Ah!

Yup, no battery, no startee!

I did manage, once, to get my K75 started, rolling down a hill, but there was still some battery left. I could hear the fuel pump come to pressure but there wasn't enough to crank the engine.

All my other bikes had start levers!

Kyle

[DarkWhiteRider]

Thanks everyone for your sharing your experiences.

The R12R is not easy to push start. Several other R12R owners have told me the same thing.

As my bike is only 10 months old, the BMW dealer has filed a warranty claim. The alternator was fine and cables were not loose.
Now waiting for BMW importer to approve the claim.

Regards…
DWR

[Antoine31]

I also have a 2014 Dark White, which I love. When I went to pick it up from the dealer, however, he told me that the bike had come with a bad battery and that they replaced it. Maybe something like that happened with yours?

[darkwhite]

There is an open BMW recall on some AGM batteries.check bmwmotorcycles.com/recall

[Evan]

I can find no further information about this recall on the web...Do you have more information?

[mogu83]

Early on (2007) their were problems with the batteries in the new bikes, but I think it was handled as a dealer courtesy type deal instead of a general recall.

[darkwhite]

All I have is a post card from my dealer.MAX BMW about the battery and the wed site, put ion your vin to see any open recalls, otherwise caller your shop.