[Wazza]

On May 27th I totaled my '05 in a pretty serious accident just outside Sacramento. I was 8 days into an 11-day trip -- which had been GREAT up until that point. I broke my femur and pretty much shattered the right pelvis. A 10-hour surgery and 11 days in ICU -- plus another 6 days in a home that was provided for us by friends -- preceeded a friend arranging for a private jet to fly my family out to CA to pick me up and bring me home for rehab.

I found LT #4 (previously had a '99 and an '01) in the garage of a forum member in Pittsburgh, and my youngest son graciously flew up and rode her home. He had a bit of an adventure with a flat tire in Columbus, OH, but the BMW community rallied and had him fixed up, fed, housed and on his way again for a Saddlesore to make it home to TX.

On Monday, 4 months to the day after the accident, I rode again for the first time. Got in 123 miles, one for each day I was unable to ride. It was a simple RTE, but it felt sooooo good. I cannot tell y'all how good it feels to be back in the saddle. So what did I do to my LT today? Rode her for the third day in a row!
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Wow, talk about getting back in the saddle. Good for you. If that had happened to me I don't know if I would have ridden again. So what year did you get as a replacement.

 

[Wazza]

I've already posted this picture over in the other forum but why not throw it up here as well.
This shot was taken on Mt. Cootha which is a mountain or in US terms a big hill in Brisbane which you can see in the background. I was born here and have lived here all my life, pretty nice place to be really. When I'm not going for longer rides I usually head up here most Sundays to do a few circuits of the mountain which has a nice winding road that comes back on itself. The mountain is part of a national park but also is home to all our local TV stations who have their studios and transmission towers up there. It's a good way to keep your road craft up in the twisty stuff when your not spending as much time in the saddle as you'd like. It's hard to ride far these days when you never know when the next snap lockdown will be.

 

[Wazza]

Today after work I removed all of the paint sealer and bug debris and then used my clay mitt on the body panels.

I love that color Dave, very classy. That front guard though, it's not an LT one is it?

 

[Wazza]

The front mud guard broke & I replaced it with one from a R1150RT. The R1150 is one piece & flexible it won't break.

It looks good though, if you didn't know the LT you wouldn't notice the difference.

 

[Wazza]

I was going to take the beast out for a ride today but she wanted me to clean out the storage unit instead.

 

[Wazza]

I just replaced the battery in my 05 for the second time in 6 months. I replaced it 6 months ago with the exact same make and model that came with the bike. I went to start it last week and nothing. I put it on charge and went down 3 hours later to check on it. I found a puddle of acid under the bike so I removed the battery and pored water down through the battery box. I found a crack in the bottom of the battery.

 

[Wazza]

I shed a brief tear as I wandered into the garage and cleaned off a shelf I hadn't visited in months. On it, I found 'My other car is a K1200LT' sticker. I sold my 2000 this past September, and have had a few 'moments'
The sticker is still here-I'll send it to someone if you share an address. 262-893-6006 text please and I'll respond quickly.

Get another one Dave, come on you know you want one. 😉

 

[Wazza]

Yes, you're right. I read every for sale ad

Ha ha that's how I ended up here.

 

[Wazza]

I got some new parts in the shifting leg! My second total knee replacement, right one in 2012. View attachment 177375

I saw a link and clicked on it and now I have a pain in my left knee.
Just so you don't feel alone with your gory pictures here's one of mine. A little mishap in 2009.

 

[Wazza]

Today didn't end up how I thought it would.
I think I actually get a perverse sense of fun doing little jobs like this. Started having trouble with my LCD and thought I should remove the dash to inspect it.
LT's are a bit like onions. Working on an LT is like peeling an onion. So many layers to get to what you need and at the end of the day they both make you cry.

All I wanted was the dash and three hours later I had it.

 

[Wazza]

Just DO NOT TOUCH the inside of the clear cover with your fingers when you get it off there is a coating on there that will get trashed.

Yes I wondered about that. It's anti fog isn't it?

 

[Wazza]

It seems that every time I pull this bike down I find something that makes the journey worth the extra effort. I found that I had to remove the handlebars to remove the shroud around the dashboard.
In doing that I found that both handlebar clamps were only finger tight.
It's also the first time I have had the mirrors off. In the past I have always just left them on. They had been screwed on from inside and I found the reason for that was because the front clip point on the mirrors were both broken.

 

[Wazza]

You should have ridden it home rather than driving it home. 😁

Oh I don't know mate, I think these LT's are just cars missing two wheels. 😆

 

[Wazza]

Hi all ! I'm in Redcliffe (just North of Brisbane) in Australia. Recently picked up this 03 with 67,000kms on it. Just finished stripping it, removed the alarm / immobiliser, CD stacker, GPS off Noah's Ark and the CD/radio in the stingray. Also topped up the rear shock oil and fully serviced the bike. This website and youtube has been so useful and helpful. So to all of the long term members of the forum a massive thanks ! I am missing a piece of trim on the RHS fairing - silver piece that is under the black 'bumper' guard. If anyone in AUS has a spare or knows where I can find one please let me know. Cheers - Shieldsy

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Hi Shieldsy, nice looking 03. I live in Brisbane , we should get together some time.
I don't have a spare and actually my right side chrome piece is cracked. I can tell you that BMW at Breakfast Creek quoted me $248.30 ex Germany. The quote was from late last year so it me be different now but that should be close.

 

[Wazza]

Well I finally got the bike all buttoned up again after fixing the instrument cluster. I checked all the fluids, especially the ABS reservoirs. All looked good.
I haven't ridden for about 3 months due to family issues, the weather, and having to fix the instruments.
So off I go today for just a short ride to the next village of Samford. It's only a few minutes down the road. I usually like to ride out there to get the Sunday paper and other small items ( like six packs).
On the way back on a flat section of road doing about 80 KPH the dreaded red triangle came up accompanied by the brake fail flashing fast. I tried the brakes and they were still there but after a while became the weak and scary excuse for residual braking that BMW thinks is fair enough. I was only a few minutes from home so I rode carefully home and parked it.
I put it up on the stand and with the engine still off I turned the ignition on. I head the usual sound of the ABS activate. I tried the front brake and heard the ABS motor whirring away, all good.
I then tried the foot brake and no sound. I turned it off and left it. Came back later and now I have the sound of both circuits working. I have full levels in all reservoirs.
On the way back home I stopped the bike and restarted it. The drive away test was all good but again a few minutes later without touching brakes at all the fail lights came back up in the same pattern.
Solid triangle with brake fail flashing at what I assume is 4 flashes per second. ( At least one brake circuit (front, rear , or both ) is operating in residual braking function mode.
It is exactly 12 months since I last flushed the system. I have checked the moisture content and the Dot 4 in the ABS module is showing signs of high moisture content.
My plan at the moment is to jack the connection to the ABS and clean the contact pins. I will also flush the system as it is due. With any luck I'll be back in business.
I had this happen a year ago and after flushing the system it was good up until now.
If these bikes didn't ride so great we would push them over a cliff.

 

[Wazza]

Double check the brake switch set up at the pedal. This system does funny things if that switch is signaling "brake lights" without any pressure at the ABS unit can cause a fault as well. You should be able to move the pedal quite a bit before the lever on the switch makes (or rather breaks) the connection.

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Thanks for the tip John. I did check it and the travel on the switch was fine. I flushed the system and I found the fluid very badly contaminated with water. I did the same flush exactly 12 months ago.

 

[Wazza]

I had the same thing in both hands, trapezia bone essentially gone. The procedure was arthroplasty, they remove (what's left) of the trapezia bone and harvest part of a tendon to use to secure the base of the thumb. Then ball up the remaining tendon and place it in the pocket where the bone was.

Had the right hand done in June of 2016 and went very well. I had the left hand done in July of 2021. I was still working when I had the first one done. Post op you are in a wrap and brace for 10-15 days then stiches removed and a hard cast is worn for 3 weeks. Very glad I finally had the second one done. Depending what you do for work will help you decide. I did mostly office type work so it was easy for me.

John just wondering what causes that kind of injury. It wouldn't be excessive LT wrenching would it ?

 

[Wazza]

Not surprising with all the bloody rain we've all had on the east coast (Oz) over the last few months!

Yes I've formed an opinion that the drain on the ABS system has the effect of allowing moisture to be absorbed into the ABS reservoirs. When you consider that in 12 months my bike had only done 2,540 gentle kilometers I find it amazing that they put these systems on a bike. It's a bit like betting your life on a WW2 vintage army surplus parachute every time you ride. I'm seriously thinking about deleting mine.

 

[Wazza]

I have been doing an ABS delete after battling with it for long enough. Shieldsy67 supplied me with his spare by-pass kit so the fun began.

It's crazy that I can now strip the bike down to this state in just on one hour. I'm starting to treat it as a competition to see if I can better my time.

This useless lump weighs 5 KGS. Not too easy to get out from between the frame rails, It took me almost as much time as it did to strip the bike.

I pulled the blue relay to disarm the ABS brake fail light but the warning triangle still went off like a frog in a sock. I had to clip the brown red wire for pin 9 in the ABS plug and that put an end to the flashing.

Rear by-pass tube in place and blead. Went pretty easy. The front circuit is also plumbed up and I will be bleeding that tomorrow, I need some new tubing for my vacuum bleeder. I have always had a problem with the front lever where if you pull it in while bleeding the circuit it doesn't want to spring back out. It's fine once you get it blead but it would take way too long to do it just by the lever.

No more martini's with the bike. I guess I'll just keep the funnel as a souvenir.

I'm looking forwards to riding the LT without the anxiety of ABS failure.

 

[Wazza]

99+% of the time ABS is just added weight. However, those few times you need it, you really need it and there is no substitute. No human can react as fast as ABS.

I put a lot of thought into what I did when I removed mine. I didn't really want to do it but a new unit for $4,000 wasn't going to be attractive. I can probably fix my old unit myself but at the end of the day these ABS units have always been a ticking timebomb. You never know if or when you will suddenly find your self hours away from home and at what altitude. I had mine fail at the top of a mountain one day. The thought of getting that bike back down was not a good thought. I got lucky that day. For me the choice became clear. Persist with a brake system that suddenly doesn't work or go to a simple system that I need to be bit more careful with but will never let me down.