Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Take out the ABS and replace with ordinary brakes.  There is just so much less that can go wrong.

Also, it seems your system is servo-assisted (or at least assisted by ABS somehow).  In my opinion a recipe for disaster - brakes should always be able to fall back on plain manual braking.  The electronics and clever tricks should enhance the braking, but not be essential to its operation.

Mr.Badger has had an ABSectomy, done by myself.  No more waiting for the system to initialise, forgetting to turn it off on dirt, forgetting that it is on when I want to lock the back wheel etc.  Now on 230k and still alive...

Thanks Charles and i hear you.But what's happened here is that the ABS light came on and one would've expected it to revert to normal brakes(as per off-road riding).

Problem is that the brakes stopped functioning completely.Are you saying that ,if one disconnects the ABS completely,it should revert to normal braking?

If so i'd happily do that to get it back on the road.Pity though as ABS has always worked perfectly till now.

Cheers

Tony

Hi Tony

No, that is not what I am saying.  I am saying it should be like that, but there are some models where the ABS pump is used, or some servo-motors, to 'assist' the brake pressure.  When the ABS fails, the brakes fail also.

It sounds like Shane is saying that the ABS wheel sensors are not detecting that the wheels are turning, so the ABS thinks they are locked and is releasing the brakes.

Anyway, when taking the ABS out, I removed the entire unit, including the brake lines to and from the ABS pump.  Then I just took the brake lines straight from the master cylinders to the calipers to restore normal braking.  Shane would be able to tell you what this entails on your GSA - mine is an old-model,  single-spark 1150 GS.

Thanks Charles for the advice 

Haven't heard from Shane at this point so guess i'll have to speak with him next week about it.

Might have to go that route as a last resort.

Cheers and thanks again

Tiny, only do this as a last resort.

rather diagnose the problem and fix that.

ill chat to SHANE, I am sure there is a fix in the either the relay, ABS sensors or the master control which is part of the ABS pump Assy.

The alternator light issue is suspiciously coincidental and may very well be in the mix.

if you do go to the extreme of an ABSectomy, then let me guide you, I did mine with no extra lines, using existing lines and only relocating the rear banjo connection from rear brake up to use to direct couple the front lines.

but rather trouble shoot it.

incidentally, you could have continued on your adventure, the high compression on your 1150 does a fine job of braking.

Rhino, I may be totally off the mark here, but I had a similar problem with my 1200GS at some stage while visiting family in a small Karoo town. I cannot remember the detail of fixing it, but it was something along these lines. During a phone call to Donford they suggested that I check the brake light contact switch (I think that is what it is called) located underneath the brake lever on the handlebar. In this case the switch worked itself loose and remained in contact with the fully released brake lever. The circuit to the stoplight therefore remained closed (the brake light remained on) and this seemed to have confused the electronics of the brake system, resulting in my case loss of brakes. Adjusting the switch position with a small Allan key sorted the problem out. 

As I've said, my comments could be totally out of place. However, for what it's worth...   

Hi again Andy/Johan,

Almost 3 weeks now and we still haven't got to the bottom of this problem.

Shane seems to have tried everything but hasn't been able to find a solution.I agree with the sentiment that we should fix the problem ,rather than carrying out an ABSectomy.Yeah Andy i'm pretty confident without brakes in the dirt,but on our freeways and streets....no thanks :-)Got to 63 so far and wouldn't mind being around a little longer.

Just had a message from Shane to say he is now on leave and only back next Wednesday.

They've established that engine management unit is working as it should but problem persists.He's now talking about looking at ABS system when he returns from leave.So that's me without a bike for a month and still none the wiser?

Have a guy (ALF) who responded via my e mail and reckons he has had a similar problem and can resolve so looks like i'm gonna have to try him?

Thanks for your response so far :-)

Tony,

The diagnostics are not that complex, and I am sure Shane has worked his way through the obvious.

Keep us informed.

OK it's sorted.

DONFORD very kindly put the pieces together and i picked the bike up and took it through to Alf at Kraaifontein who reckoned he knew what the problem might be ,and had a spare ABS control for an 1150 GSA.

By Saturday he'd rung me to say it was sorted and i picked it up yesterday.So far ABS seems to be 100% again, both on and off.

Thanks all for input