Those electric gremlins again

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Good afternoon everyone,

I've got a little story to tell, and some advice to ask for.
I took my 1000S to the Nurburgring (the old circuit, which is open to the public) last Sunday, but I am not going to talk about the track. It was a fairly cold and very foggy, humid day, so much so that the circuit, which was supposed to open a 9am, remained closed until about 2pm.
During this period I left the bike in the car park, taking it for a brief spin on the nearby roads on two occasions (I thought there was a bike dealer in the vicinity and I wanted to buy some chain oil, as the can I had brought with me had run out of lubricant).
Around 2pm I took the bike again to go and warm up the tyres on the nearby road to Adenau, as the fog had lifted a bit and the circuit was getting ready to open. I did about three miles then stopped for a pee in a field. The important point here is not that I prefer to piss in a field than in a dirty toilet, but that the bike started and was up to this momente working fine.

At this point, disaster struck. Call of nature done, I swung my leg over the saddle, put the key in the injection, wait for the dials to finish their ballet and pushed the starter button.
Click went the bike, then the instruments died.
The top three lights in the display came on very very faint, barely flickering, and they stayed lit even when I removed the key from the barrel. Then a code, 354, appeared on the display for a few seconds, after which everything went dark with a whirr like a resetting relais.

Twice more I tried to start the bike, with the same result.

I pushed to a nearby garage, where we proceeded to do the following:

- measure voltage at battery poles: ~12.5
- connect battery to emergency starter (one of those big yellow boxex with a switch and two jump cables). Bike fires up, but as soon as black connector from the box is taken out, it dies. This was done twice, with identical result.
- all visible earth points checked and found solid
- battery connected to battery charger for ten minutes.
- tried again to start the bike. Instruments flick on, but when starter button is pressed a CLICK is heard and the everything, display included, goes dark.
- after a few attempts, situation worsens. Display would not light up and dials will stay still even if key is put in the barrel, in the ON position. It was as if someone had cut the wires.

I decided then to push the bike to the hotel (mostly downhill), and call the rescue service from there. I would not have liked the idea to wait for the recovery truck on teh side of the road, not to mention the shame of showing everyone my bike had broke down.

Recovery man took about two hours to come. In the meantime weather had improved, sky had cleared and a slight ventilation was present.

When the recovery guy asked me to show what the problem was, I put the key in the barrel, turned to ON, pressed the starter button and...the bike FIRED UP first time.

We tried again, many times, and every time the bloody thing started on the button. And the same she did next day, when she took me over 400 miles back home in London.

So, I now have the task to find out what might have happened. I know the starter switch has already been flagged up as particularly delicate in humid conditions, so I am going to open the plastic casing and give a generous spray.

I think it will also be a good idea to check all the connections, but apart from the obvious ones I can find under the saddle, are there any others I should consider ? what should I be looking for when searching for the cause of the misbehaviour ? I understand these are very basic questions, but I am ready to admit I am mechanically inept, and I don't trust myself with even the most basic task. For the same reason, moving the starter switch to a different position is beyond my (no-existent) abilites (although I might ask my dealer to have a look at doing it).

Your advice and comprehension is greatly accepted. Thanks a lot,

Ride Safe.

[m4panther]

I have had the same problem In the past. If it happens again try a "hard reset" by completely disconnecting the battery for a few minutes. Those gremlins are in the computer. . Who knows what causes this crap maybe the computer might have been offended by your public pissing

[DAVID THOMPSON]

moisture on the pencil coils can make the confuzer go nuts
as they do not fire correct
a hard reset sounds like a good place to start
dave

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

thanks for your replies guys,

I had the coils greased shortly after buying the bike, as I knew they are a weak spot in humid conditions.
What still puzzled me is that the problem occoured after the bike had run for a few miles. If it refused to start the first time, when I took it after hours parked in the fog, it would have been bad but maybe understandable. But after a couple of miles, small distance though it is, I would expect no trace of dampness to remain around the engine and under the tank (the engine temperature was already at the normal operational level).


Ride Safe,