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Most miles on a 1250...and mech troubles

5K views 37 replies 11 participants last post by  nh1200c 
#1 ·
How many miles have you got on your 1250 eng and have you had any mechanical troubles?
 
#4 ·
7300 miles. Only mechanical annoyance is if I haven’t ridden it in a few days is that when I go to start it, it wont start immediately. After a few revolutions of the motor I stop and then reapply the start button and it turns on. One thread mentioned recalibration of the throttle by turning the bike on and slowly opening the throttle until it stops. Turn the bike off and back on then it fires up on the first attempt. My explanation of that is more of a summary than an exact procedure. Outside of that I am very pleased.
 
#6 ·
7300 miles. Only mechanical annoyance is if I haven’t ridden it in a few days is that when I go to start it, it wont start immediately. After a few revolutions of the motor I stop and then reapply the start button and it turns on. One thread mentioned recalibration of the throttle by turning the bike on and slowly opening the throttle until it stops. Turn the bike off and back on then it fires up on the first attempt. My explanation of that is more of a summary than an exact procedure. Outside of that I am very pleased.
That would be the procedure IF you had any of the pre-wethead bikes! The wethead 1200 boxers as well as the 1250s have ride-by-wire throttle, and that procedure won't do a thing for it! ;) Just an FYI, the older bikes uses cables to turn a throttle positioner which can lose it's "home" position, especially when the battery had been disconnected, and that procedure re-establishes the home position for the positioner.

I suspect that your issue with the slow start after sitting has more to do with the condition of your battery. Keep a good trickle-charger connected, when you are not riding, and the battery should have plenty of juice to spin-up quicker to start your bike right away.
 
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#5 ·
14,800 miles no issues. Well, no issues besides I have to keep putting gas in it and bought a set of tires. For me it's been a slow year for both mileage and tires, only wore out one set so far.
 
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#9 ·
This thread started asking for info about mileage and problems on the 1250. It ends with an asshat trying to show everyone how long his dick is. In fairness the first guy mentioned a possible problem, and a rumored solution that he had tried and the Numero Uno Troll sweeps in with his knowledge of all things and proceeds to belittle that guy. Then a third guy comes along to defend the first from the bullying behavior of God’s Gift to All Things Knowable by saying he had used the rumored solution with success himself. Mr. “It Makes Me Feel Superior To Everyone When I Belittle Others” starts insulting the third guy.

Hey @PadG, after my 2019 was rebuilt from the deer strike, I picked up my bike from the BMW Master Tech that did all the work. Stopped to fill it with gas and noticed something wrong with the throttle. I swung back by the dealership. Can you guess how the tech solved the problem in less than 60 seconds? Maybe it is VooDoo. Maybe there is something else going on. Maybe you are mistaken. Regardless what would it have hurt for the guy with the problem to try that solution? If it worked then great, if not he would keep looking. If you had just made your recommendation without first insulting the guy, he might have gone on to check his battery. Maybe someone else would recommend that he make sure his ground cables are tight. When the easy stuff was exhausted with no joy, maybe a new solution would be mentioned, tested, and discovered to work. Oh and just because it is not in the manual does not mean it is not true. Spline lubes are still not in the manual nor is a requirement to change the coolant every 4 years.

Learn some civility. Or go to Facebook.
 
#11 ·
I wish one of you guys would show me from the BMW Repair DVD where this procedure is described, and the method for using it?

I have NEVER seen it called out in any reference material for the LC motor.

I have performed a calibration with my Power Commander with autotune on my GS and have used a GS-911 to calibrate the throttle position, but neither are LC related electronics.

So if one of you can show me some printed material on the subject I would appreciate it.
 
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#13 ·
I have never seen it written down nor did I believe it would work but, for whatever reason, it did. No booster plug. Or any of that other stuff. As for clutch fluid, I did swap it out on my 2008 after 180,000 miles. You are right that it was probably not needed but it was easy and inexpensive. I agree that we have carried lots of maintenance tasks with us into the future. Don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing.

As to the inexplicable fix, I also find the shift calibration procedure on the SAP to be a bit suspect but that proves to be valid too. My guess is that it all has more to do with computer programming than mechanics. Kind of like pressing and holding the turn signal cancel switch to disable the auxiliary lights. YRMV. I think you missed the point or maybe you too get off on insulting people you know diddly about.
 
#18 ·
I was going to ignore them, which is what I usually do with trolls and obvious AH. OTOH, ignoring them also send the wrong message, especially in this case, and so, thanks for stepping in and allowing me to get the technical record straight anyway.
 
#24 ·
@PadG based on your comments above, I see what you are getting at, but hook your GS-911 up and watch real time values. I did this afternoon to verify. Even before cranking, the throttle position is sending a value. Now, this could be like Schrodingers Cat in that the act of hooking up the GS-911 influences the observed outcome (powers up a usually unpowered system). Your comments about Placebos notwithstanding, the mechanic that did that to my bike has never steered me wrong before and would have gladly told me I was imagining shit before he behaved as you implied. That was back in April and I have had no repeat of the symptoms. Just over 7,000 miles ago.
 
#25 ·
... Even before cranking, the throttle position is sending a value. Now, this could be like Schrodingers Cat in that the act of hooking up the GS-911 influences the observed outcome (powers up a usually unpowered system). ...
James it shouldn't be a Schrödinger's Cat as this is a bus system, and likely everything on the bus (which the GS-911 is monitoring) being sent from or sent to the XBMSO1 Engine Controller. The controllers are shouting into the woods (so to speak) and whoever is listening for them gets the messages.

As soon as I get the time I'm going to put my GS-911 on my bike and try this very simple experiment.

1) First, record the serial number and firmware version of the XBMSO1 controller as well as it's manufacturing date. Then, as you have done, prior to engine start monitor the values for the throttle valve servo and twist-grip positioning just to get a baseline as my bike is running fine and has had no issues (that I have noticed) at all. Then, start the bike and let it idle until the fan starts - then take some masking tape and mark how far you need to twist the throttle to get, say, 2000 RPM so that we can check that a bit later.

2) Now, turn off the bike and use the procedure that folks have reported with one modification - with the bike ignition on but engine off, rotate the throttle from zero to (let's say) about 75-80% of full throttle and then back to zero. Now turn ignition off again. (The intent here of course is to see if we can make the engine controller significantly change its calibration values with this protocol.)

Then I want to restart the bike and look for a couple of things -

1) Are there any error codes already thrown for throttle positioning (or any other system) prior to start?
2) Are the values before start (from the GS-911 reading) the same or different from the baseline? and finally
3) Is the throttle more or less sensitive than prior to the attempt at "recalibration". Does the same amount of rotation on the throttle result in the same 2000 RPM that it did before the test?

Just something to try...

Larry
 
#26 ·
I will say again I do not believe that procedure did anything to your throttle.

I will say I have played with TP settings since my 05 Road Glide. Once you start running fueling devices you learn this makes or breaks a smooth running bike.

I agree that there are sensors in the system looking for various settings. In this case it is voltage. That is how TP is controlled and seen by the computer. I am also saying there is a range that will accept and allow the next control to proceed.

My position is you can not change the initial value without a GS-911 or in my case a Power Commander V with Auto Tune or the Mother Ships "Tentacle Of Life" in the dealers computer.

I have a LCD screen that shows me up to 8 things concerning fueling. I have it set to4, TP, L/R AFR, and RPM. This allows me to make sure the maps I use are doing what I expect them. I am real fat AFR when I jump on it and at 2700 RPM I am running 14.2 to conserve gas at cruising RPM and TP. When cold my TP is off like 1-2% but as soon as the engine kicks the idle down it is a 0%.

Someone has proven to me and you and can look it up, in the RT manuals under starting it says if it is cold to crack the throttle a bit. This includes the 1250 RT. NOWHERE can I find it in any GS LC manual. I looked up a 17 RT manual and a 2019 RT and it says the same. My 17.5 GS or the 1250 GS do not mention this.

Again I believe you can sacrifice a chicken and light cheap rum on fire and you will have just as much chance changing your throttle position with that procedure.

 
#31 ·
I have a 2019 1250RT with 8k miles and never have a problem starting. The Operators manual says to simply push the start switch and it should start. The other thing I do is give it a little throttle at the same time as hitting the start button and engine turning over. It always starts within 2 seconds whether engine cold or not. That’s my 2 cents.
 
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#35 · (Edited)
OK, we have been pussy-footing around the issue long enough, and I have wasted enough of my time on the subject, and so let me sum it up:

1. I had proposed that there are other factors that can, and will create hard starting, and naming one. No-one has responded with useful technical driven data or comments. No issue for me, it's your bike, and you should do whatever you wish.

2. I had provided indisputable evident that the subject procedure is indeed a BMW procedure to basically re-calibrate a certain component of the prior generation generation bikes. Some of you seem to miss the fact, or decide to ignore that the specific component is NOT present, nor needed in our generation of ride-by-wire throttle.

3. Lee was very instrumental in getting everybody to agree that, the procedure mentioned in #2 is not present anywhere in any of BMW documents for our generation of bikes. You guys seem to miss, or decided to ignore this fact! IF that was important enough to be in the prior generation's rider manual, why isn't it in ours??? IF that procedure will solve some issues, it would have been there!

Lastly, with all of the above factual contributions, and some of you guys, in particular the troll, decides to pick on me, while NONE of you (of course I don't mean you, Lee) have provided even a tiny factoid or technical-based opinion on the subject!!! ZERO contribution!! Saying that the procedure "might" do something to the computer is totally, and absolutely meaningless, unless you are able to take an intelligent stab at "what" specifically in the computer or programming that might cause the problem, AND "how" the procedure might fix the problem!!!! Apparently none of you are capable of that!

As I said, I am just wasting my time here, because it seems that some of you guys rather believe in FM instead of FACTS! I am not going to respond to anymore posts on this subject, unless the post contains some meaningful facts or real data!

Oh, yeah, I am fairly sure that you guys probably don't know what FM is! It's an abbreviation that I often use, in jest, whenever I helped somebody (usually computer related). FM is abbreviated for, in polite company, "Flippin' Magic"! ;)
 
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