Electrical issues after installing peg lowering kit

GregSun · 02-04-2007, 04:55 PM

I really hope this is just coincidence, but I'm hoping someone here might be able to help diagnose what's going on.

Today I installed a suburban machinery peg lowering kit today on my 2000 R1100S. When I fired up the bike for a test ride, my warning and indicator lights are behaving oddly. An hour earlier, they were all working just fine. Here's what the warning lights are doing:[list=1][*]the right ABS light doesn't light at all. During the power-up/test cycle when the ignition is turned on, just the left light blinks -- so I can't tell if there's a fault (e.g. alternating lights) or normal operation (both lights blinking in unison). When I started driving down the driveway, I heard the ABS kick in, so I assume it's functioning. The ABS also activated during breaking down a steep hill in my neighborhood which happens all the time.
[*]the neutral light doesn't light at all.
[*]the battery light is glowing about 1/2 bright, and when I apply the front or rear brakes, it lights up at full intensity.[/list=1]
Any ideas on what could cause this behavior?

wswartzwel · 07:00 PM

Check for pinched wires going to the rear brake switch, or damaged rear brake light switch... Does the rear brake pedal actuate the brake light properly?

GregSun · 02-04-2007, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Check for pinched wires going to the rear brake switch, or damaged rear brake light switch... Does the rear brake pedal actuate the brake light properly?

Good question, and nope - rear brake light looks like it's on when I turn the ignition on. Damn. Probably a short -- and I was so careful about not letting the right foot peg assembly dangle by any fragile wires.

Is there a way to remove the rear brake switch from the whole equation without throwing off any ABS sensoring equipment?

wood-d · 02-05-2007, 02:29 AM

Eilenberger's Law #3 - look where you last worked.
http://eilenberger.net/laws.htm

I doubt you'd have a short caused by dangling wires. I also doubt you damaged the switch.

Before you go removing things, do some troubleshooting first.

My first guess is that you have a mechanical interference, caused by the installation, that is causing the brakes to be on all the time.

I'm familiar with the installation for these and I could see how you could introduce a mechanical interference.

wswartzwel · 02-05-2007, 04:50 AM

On all the time is not a short (fuse would blow) As wood-d stated check your work. The pedal has a micro switch on the back side, perhaps you need to adjust something so the little lever on the switch is depressed when the brake is off.

This is important to correct before riding. If the pedal is not returning properly, brake fluid may not be able to return from the caliper to the master cylinder when you release the brake... and the rear brakes will not release, causing the rear wheel to lock.

ErricZ · 02-05-2007, 06:23 AM

The Peg Lowering kit should have an adjustable screw (the Surburban kit does). To fix the brake light issue, you probably need to just shorten the length screw between the nipples on the linkage.

Make sure you didn't pull of any other wires, such as the Neutral indicator swtich and the ABS sensor.

ErricZ · 02-05-2007, 06:36 AM

GregSun · 02-05-2007, 02:37 PM

The wire coming from the rear brake switch (#15 in the post above) was definitely pinched and had some exposed wires. So I removed the whole right peg assembly and cut the switch free. At this point the system *should* be reading as if the brake pedal is not being touched.

When I turn the ignition on however, I'm getting the same behavior. My next step was to check the fuses -- which I've never done before. Do I really need to pull the side panels to check the fuses?

Also - is it possible that I've somehow fried something by this simple switch shorting out?

JonyRR · 02-05-2007, 03:16 PM

'pull the side panels to check the fuses?'

look right under the LH side fairing panel by the instrument cluster. I believe that's where the main fuses are even on an ABS model (mine is non-abs).

having a bare hot and a bare ground wire touch causes what's known as a 'dead short'. USUALLY this JUST blows the fuze.
With the quirky ABS modules on these, knows how the module was affected.

At worst, you can yard all that ABS kaka out and relocate it onto the workbench.....where it belongs.

good luck

wswartzwel · 02-05-2007, 04:09 PM

I am not 100% sure about your year model, but many of the BMW ABS systems require you to step on the brake to allow the system to verify everything is working properly... Fix the Brake Switch Properly.

squall_line · 02-06-2007, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wswartzwel
I am not 100% sure about your year model, but many of the BMW ABS systems require you to step on the brake to allow the system to verify everything is working properly... Fix the Brake Switch Properly.

IIRC, this was done away with some time around '97 or so, when they went to ABS II. The only bike I ever had to do that with was my '93 K1100LT with the rather dangerous ABS I setup.

R111S · R111S's Garage

I'd stop riding it and start pulling the plastic body panels off. From your description it may be that you have some part of the wire harness that got very hot and caused some circuits to short together because of melted wire insulation.

Threre are a very few circuits that run unprotected by a fuse. My '94 BMW R100GS/PD had a harness "Meltdown" failure that cause some strange things to happen with lights and such. I had to rebuild a melted section of the harness under the fairing wire by wire to get it right again.

Look over all the wire harness...under the tank too. If you see anything that looks the least bit burnt or melted you'll have found your problem.