Another failed ABS issue:

[fallingpines]

Hi, I read about other folks ABS problems before only lightly interested, but now it's my turn. On my 04 R1150R, everything worked fine one day, the next day the ABS light blinks 4x speed, general warning light goes off after a few seconds, there is no servo whine when I apply the brakes, the bike starts but brakes stay in manual mode. I have a 3 year old Odyssey battery that I keep on the Battery Tender when not riding, and I had a BMW shop service the brakes 3 years ago ($!). What my bike is doing that I haven't heard others doing however is that the brake light stays lit without applying the brakes. I have heard possible issues with corrosion in the fuse box, bad brake switches, and low fluid in the ABS module. Any bets as to what the cause most likely is? I sure hate to have a dealer work on my bike, it's just not natural.

[fallingpines]

hmmm, as I re-read my own post I decided to check my brake switches. Just seemed too odd that the brake light stayed on. As it turns out, my GS hand guard on the throttle side had rotated just enough to hold the brake lever in activating the brake light and disabling the whole sha-bang. Adjusted the guard, lever back to rest position, brake light off, whining servo back on, all good. Whew.

[macx]

I apologize for not having any suggestions as to your problem, but just an observation about
bleeding the ABS.

Altho I am an experienced wrencher, I let the dealer do it the first time after I got my bike summer of 08
(it's an 04) after finding this forum and reading all the cautionary tales about how touchy that job is.
This is my first BMW and didn't want to muck that system up. I did do all the other "normal" type tuneup
stuff.

Well, you are most definitely right about the ($!). I figured if a dealer mech can do it with no real
special tools, so can I. So I bit my lip and paid Beemerboneyard $40 for that plastic funnel, read the
how to article here http://home.mindspring.com/~jabrooks/ (if you haven't seen that site,
scroll down a ways it's on the left side) a couple times, once while looking at the stuff on the bike.

Followed the instructions after sort of condensing the info down to the essentials, no big deal at all.
Just pay attn to the little stuff like pull the brake lever slowly when the cover is off the
reservoir, and be sure not to let the fluid level get below the little ring inside the ABS unit while
you're bleeding - in other words, keep the funnel full at least so you can see it in the funnel, and it
does drop fast once it gets in the stem.

I took the calipers off and pushed them back after sucking some of the fluid out of the reservoir
with my baster, and blocked them with some scrap wood pieces.

Whole thing less than an hour first time thru and with careful and repeated checks in the instructions.
Was really nice to keep those long green rectangles in MY wallet instead of donating that many
of them to the dealer for that simple of a job.

http://www.mediafire.com/?1sn7h6uv0yroejr

And now after having done it so slowly and carefully once, and become familiar with the procedure,
I'm not in the least intimidated by it.

[fallingpines]

thanks MacX,
I'm with you about taking care of my bike myself whenever possible, actually in the 35 or so years of owning, wrenching, and riding, having my brake work done at a dealer was the first time anyone ever wrenched on any bike of mine. I will buy the Bone Yard funnel and jump into this myself as soon as I can stand not riding for a couple of days, I can't wait, really.