Well, the wife and I got our first "real" trip on the 2008 K1200GT this past weekend. A trip to Savannah GA and back.

The bike had about 700 miles when we left. The bike performed well, other than a few "new pilot" errors on some of the gadgets, but fortunately I had the owner's manual along.

Who'd-a-thunk the check mark next to "oil" means the oil checks OK, not "check the oil"? I guess that's kind of like "brake failure" meaning "everything checked OK"...

Anyhow, I did have one real problem, one well documented on here. After running down a fairly rough section of road, I started having "brake warning" lights, first intermittently, then constant.

Mechanically, I checked the brakes during the trip, and everything seemed to be fine. I assume it is the wear indicator wires.

Just wondering what the best approach is to this. Take it to the dealer as a warranty issue? Attempt to resolve myself (seen some suggestions to short the wires)? Ignore it?

I'm kind of annoyed at ignoring something like that on a new bike, particularly if the dash warning light is used to indicate other brake problems as well.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

The bike is still new, If you are anywhere near a dealer take it back to them. Probably a shorted sensor wire. But, Check the fluid level first. After they put new pads on my bike I cut the brake sensor wires about a inch below the connectors and spliced them together.Then removed the sensors from the brakes for use later if I ever care to. No more brake warnings for me. I just check the pad thickness from time to time and anytime I am changing tires. The check mark means your oil level is good.

I thought this was fixed on the 08's, but maybe somewhere in the model year there are still some problems. The brake sensor wire was too short and prone to breakage. It was a recall. Actually, that's wrong, not a recall, but something a little less. The fix is new brake pads which have longer/better/rerouted(?) wires. Take it in to the dealer and let them have at it.

I took mine to the dealer as a warranty issue. They were nice about it, and replaced both pairs of front brake pads. I argued that it didn't make sense to replace the wired set if the non-wired set was set to wear out without a warning light. They agreed.

I haven't had a brake light issue since the fix (29 April 2008).

Yeah, I'll go by the dealer pretty soon then. Double-check the brake fluid just to make sure it's not that before-hand also.

Just kidding a little on the various messages, although the oil one did make me stop on the side of the road and look at the manual (and the oil level) on my trip.

I was thinking about other trip-related stuff, and then when I stopped at a light this "oil (checkmark)" indicator flashed a bit. I was a little nervous because I just had the oil changed at the 600 mile service. So, I looked in the book and it meant "oil checks ok" rather than the easily misconstrued "'check' your oil".

I know I read it at some point, but I was on my way out of town!

No problem, but one of those oddities like the self-check the bike goes through when you start it. The dealer explained how you can tell when the self-check is complete. "You get the blinking 'brake failure' light... Now let me explain..."

And he did (about the ABS and not being at a fast enough speed, etc.), but still. Pretty funny stuff. "My brakes have failed and the oil needs checking... We're ready to roll!".