[Drakba]

Ok guys. This is a question for anyone from New York.

I picked up a used K1200LT. When I start it up, I get the annoying "Brake Failure" light flashing until I start moving the bike forward. (A totally moronic idea, since it is telling you your breaks won't work, and you can't verify that until you need them, but I digress.)

I have owned several brands of bikes before, and none have every done this as a normal test routine.

There are NO BMW repair shops within 150 miles from my home.

Do you think a regular bike repair shop that does Asian and American bikes know about this, or do you think I would fail inspection because no other manufacturer does this?

Many thanks for your thoughts...

Paul

 

[beets]

Normal. That is the ABS computer checking the wheel sensors. If the ABS fails, this light will come on telling you the ABS is not working.

 

[Kra961]

Nothing to repair its doing what its supposed to do, its normal behavior.

You've owned several brands of bikes before without ABS this bike has ABS

 

[RonKMiller]

As pointed out, this is how it is supposed to work! Read your owner's manual. :deal:

Some brands use a timer to cancel the brake/ABS check function, others work only when it is put in gear and rolling. Not sure why that qualifies as "moronic."

You've probably got a REAL issue if it doesn't go out when in gear - to the tune of $2K.

 

[C-A-D]

It really would be nice if the ABS-lights wouldn't flash until something really is broken. Wouldn't it? That is just not the way Helmut has built the beast. The reason perhaps being that those bloody lights tell quite a lot with their blinking in the different phases from turning the power on until you start riding.

So BMW-Günther has designed it to operate like that... But Hey - consider yourself driving a very fancy & scientific machine needing a lot more attention than average car. You really do know ABS being functional when those lights stop blinking.... And you feel having done something important watching and checking them to stop...

 

[loser]

I think what the "orig poster" meant was that if a state inspection station/non BMW shop is not familiar with this feature of the LT....they will think it has a faulty brake system and it will not pass the state inspection.

 

[Drakba]

As pointed out, this is how it is supposed to work! Read your owner's manual. :deal:

Some brands use a timer to cancel the brake check function, others work only when it is put in gear. Not sure why that qualifies as "moronic."

You've probably got a REAL issue if it doesn't go out when in gear - to the tune of $2K.

Well, it qualifies as 'moronic' since there is no way to know if the breaks are really working, until you TRY to use them. To keep blinking the dang light until your moving makes the brake failure light worthless!

Lets explore that:

Scenario 1: Brakes working: Brake failure light blinks until you start moving. Phew! The light went out now that I am moving, it's a good thing, since I will need them to stop this beast! :rotf:

Scenario 2: Brakes NOT working: Brake failure light blinks, I ignore, since this is NORMAL. I pull out in traffic, and need to stop, but, geee whiz, no breaks! It would have been really useful if I had an actual warning that the brakes didn't work before I started moving! <<<BANG>>> :eek2:



:b2topic: Anyways, my point was not to reopen this can of worms, but simply to gather input of other NYS riders, would a normal, non-bmw bike shop know this? Is this typical on other touring bikes the the wing?

Paul


P.S. The bike didn't come with a owner's manual btw.... It would have been real useful if it did....

 

[C-A-D]

Well, it qualifies as 'moronic' since there is no way to know if the breaks are really working, until you TRY to use them. To keep blinking the dang light until your moving makes the brake failure light worthless!

Lets explore that:

Scenario 1: Brakes working: Brake failure light blinks until you start moving. Phew! The light went out now that I am moving, it's a good thing, since I will need them to stop this beast! :rotf:

Scenario 2: Brakes NOT working: Brake failure light blinks, I ignore, since this is NORMAL. I pull out in traffic, and need to stop, but, geee whiz, no breaks! It would have been really useful if I had an actual warning that the brakes didn't work before I started moving! <<<BANG>>> :eek2:



:b2topic: Anyways, my point was not to reopen this can of worms, but simply to gather input of other NYS riders, would a normal, non-bmw bike shop know this? Is this typical on other touring bikes the the wing?

Paul


P.S. The bike didn't come with a owner's manual btw.... It would have been real useful if it did....

Stop being a ****on. The light will stop immediately the bike starts rolling if everything is AOK. If not yoy know and have time to stop it safely.

 

[Kra961]

If your bike moves more then a few feet and the light keeps blinking then you know you have a problem.

I would rather have it blink to let me know that the system is active as opposed to it not blinking and having utterly no idea if I have brakes or not.

Also the Search function here is a wonderful replacement for the missing manual.

 

[JPSpen]

And just so you know.. There is no such thing as no brakes.. No power brakes maybe.. NO ABS maybe but never, NEVER, No brakes...

You'll be able to stop just fine...

And you'll be able to educate the knucklehead at the state inspection station by rolling the bike about ten feet...You'll also hear the "chirp, chirp" as the ABS pump self tests..
The reason for the roll out is to test the wheel sensors...

Remember, Stupid is as stupid does....:wave

Please feel free to spend some time here learning something about your bike...Questions politely asked are usually answered quickly. Disparaging remarks even more so...


John

 

[deanwoolsey]

Blinking together is part of the self-test sequence. Wig-wag indicates a failure in the system. I'm surprised you didn't notice this or have it explained on your test ride.

 

[RonKMiller]

Scenario 1: Brakes working: Brake failure light blinks until you start moving. Phew! The light went out now that I am moving, it's a good thing, since I will need them to stop this beast!

:rotf:

Scenario 2: Brakes NOT working: Brake failure light blinks, I ignore, since this is NORMAL. I pull out in traffic, and need to stop, but, geee whiz, no breaks!

I think you're confused as to what is actually going on here. If you look carefully you'll see the check lights are imprinted with "ABS" - NOT "Brake failure".

Depending on what year you have (since you didn't mention it in your post) there are two possible scenarios that can happen with an LT and loss of ABS.

1. The earlier model's brakes will work absolutely great - even without ABS assistance. It takes a lot of "whoa boy" to have ABS engage. In 240K of riding LT's I've only had them engage TWICE - once when a cager pulled out in front of me on pavement, and once on gravel. I have - and still do - go out twice a year and practice panic braking. It's probably the most neglected and yet most important skill any motorcyclist can obtain. There's no substitute for muscle memory.

2. Later model's brakes will still work, but not nearly up to snuff if the ABS fails since I'm pretty sure the power assist feature is lost as well. This may have been purposely engineered to keep you from riding without full braking power.

As John mentioned, the rollout/flashing is to test the sensors to make sure they are reporting correctly and within the design parameters. I would much rather have an active versus passive test, and apparently that is exactly what was on the mind of the engineers when they built it.

I think it's brilliant - and especially so considering the technology was placed on this particular bike starting in 1999 - and engineered several years prior to that. I can't recall ANY full sized touring bike that had this feature back then. Very clever if you ask me!

Buy a manual. Read it.

You'll feel like a genius when you explain to your buddies (and the safety Nazis) how sophisticated your BMW's ABS system really is.

 

[MarinPhil]

Why bother 'splaining to OP. Obviously he just wants to bellyache and complain about his "breaks". Should have bought a Honda. RTFM!!!!!

 

[RonKMiller]

Why bother 'splaining to OP. Obviously he just wants to bellyache and complain about his "breaks". Should have bought a Honda. RTFM!!!!!

LOL, just trying to help a brother out.

But..... apparently it isn't sinking it very well since he asked the exact same question on April 10th - but apparently didn't like the answer either and retorted:

"What bonehead engineer in Germany thought it would be a good idea to flash Brake Failure, until you started to move a bike? Eeesh....."

Probably caused by lack of O2. :crazy:

 

[Drakba]

LOL, just trying to help a brother out.

But..... apparently it isn't sinking it very well since he asked the exact same question on April 10th - but apparently didn't like the answer either and retorted:

"What bonehead engineer in Germany thought it would be a good idea to flash Brake Failure, until you started to move a bike? Eeesh....."

Probably caused by lack of O2. :crazy:

Actually, it did sink in. If you took the time to read my entire post, I had asked about the DANG NYS INSPECTION!!!!!

I understand the stupid dang light! And no, IT DOES NOT BLINK ABS AT ALL, JUST THE DANG "BREAK FAILURE" LIGHT!

My god, get off your high horse people, I didn't call your mother a whore, I just commented, (and still believe) that if the system is doing a self test, it should say TEST, not a red, blinking "BRAKE FAILURE" light!

Again, for those of you who are O2 deprived, to be very clear, "I NEVER MENTIONED *ANYTHING ABOUT ABS LIGHTS*!!!!!

anyways, if anyone would be kind enough to answer my ACTUAL QUESTION IN THE POST, I was asking if any NYS bikers had any trouble getting their bike inspected by a non-BMW dealer. That was all.

Damn, say one critical thing about your beloved bike, and people flip out! Its a bike, not a religion!

 

[David13]

The RT does the same thing.
Nothing to fix on it. Your other motorcycle mechanics may, or may not know that the BMW behaves like that.
I'm not from New York. I don't know about inspections. We sure don't have any inspections here. We don't need none.
Here, you just get on your bike and ride.
Then the abs light goes out. If all is well.
dc

 

[johnbaker15]

Paul,

Don't know about NY, but in Mass I have never had an issue getting an inspection at a Suzuki dealership. I suggest you go get an inspection and if necessary educate the inspector. Sorry I don't live in NY, so that is the best advice I have.

On another note, you are old enough to have learned that being new to any group sarcasm in a typed message is usually counter productive.

 

[jzeiler]

He is right Ron, The later bikes say "Brake Failure" not "ABS Warning" on the dash. Our other LT brothers out on Long Island don't have a problem at their inspection stations. Maybe ride out there next time.

Oops, Buffalo is a bit far to run to LI for an inspection, but then that's what the LT was made for - long road trips. Enjoy.

 

[Drakba]

Thank you guys. That was all I was asking. Did any NY riders have problems getting NYS inspections from non-bmw dealers.

I was just trying to avoid headaches. Didn't mean to start a flame war, and certainly not with the senior members of the forum.

Thank you to the guys that were polite enough to actually answer my question, and not just flame me for part of the message.

Paul

 

[jzeiler]

Welcome back to normalcy Paul. Give Rob (RVB1019) a PM shout and he can give you the low down from the Long Island perspective. I felt your pain as I had auto inspection issues in Texas once - 'ain't no fun.