Good thing to check out - I think that these bikes can be sensitive to low voltage from battery - I've kept mine charged - and it's fine. I've just prayed the inside of the right combi switch with contact cleaner - am waiting to hear of Motorworks have a replacement switch - and if so will give that a go
K1300 GT 2009: Intermittent failure to start (Start-up Check sequence doesn't complete)
Hi
Be grateful for any thoughts.
3 separate occasions in the last 12 months (once in the garage and twice whilst out) I have ridden the bike, turned the ignition off and then the bike won't start. Switch the ignition on and the data on the screen comes on, but there is no sound from fuel pump and the 'CHECK' doesn't appear on the dash. It won't then start. After some time, the fault resolves and it goes though the complete check sequence and starts. The first time it happened (May 2020) it was at home - was considering what to do and a few days later tried it again and it started. The second time (Sept 2020), I phone recovery service - we disconnected battery, cleared ECU and muttered about modern electronics - still the same. I was in process of being recovered home when the breakdown truck broke down! I got on the back and tried the bike again - and it worked - I rode home, leaving the breakdown truck to be recovered! May 2021 (this week) - same again - same process - just before loading the bike onto the breakdown truck - tried ignition again (I'd already tried it numerous times whilst waiting) - it worked - and I rode home.
So, really intermittent fault - but very disruptive and obviously can't have any confidence in the bike getting me where I'm headed
Have just used a Motoscan and the only 2 trouble codes (which haven't shown before) are in the Instrument Cluster - they are:
CAN bus out of order
930F
No CAN message (from DME)
931F
Any ideas what the fault codes mean / what the solution might be?
Thanks - and apologies for the rambling question!
![Font Screenshot Electronic device Electric blue Sky]()
Be grateful for any thoughts.
3 separate occasions in the last 12 months (once in the garage and twice whilst out) I have ridden the bike, turned the ignition off and then the bike won't start. Switch the ignition on and the data on the screen comes on, but there is no sound from fuel pump and the 'CHECK' doesn't appear on the dash. It won't then start. After some time, the fault resolves and it goes though the complete check sequence and starts. The first time it happened (May 2020) it was at home - was considering what to do and a few days later tried it again and it started. The second time (Sept 2020), I phone recovery service - we disconnected battery, cleared ECU and muttered about modern electronics - still the same. I was in process of being recovered home when the breakdown truck broke down! I got on the back and tried the bike again - and it worked - I rode home, leaving the breakdown truck to be recovered! May 2021 (this week) - same again - same process - just before loading the bike onto the breakdown truck - tried ignition again (I'd already tried it numerous times whilst waiting) - it worked - and I rode home.
So, really intermittent fault - but very disruptive and obviously can't have any confidence in the bike getting me where I'm headed
Have just used a Motoscan and the only 2 trouble codes (which haven't shown before) are in the Instrument Cluster - they are:
CAN bus out of order
930F
No CAN message (from DME)
931F
Any ideas what the fault codes mean / what the solution might be?
Thanks - and apologies for the rambling question!
21 - 40 of 42 Posts
its super tiny - between the throttle cable inputs - straight upwards from the bottom - edited post above - that screw lets u split the bottom off to release the kill switch fastening.... see below
I thought I had a better pic... its almost hidden by the throttle cable and the wiring...
part from post link below
E) Next, the tricky element is the need to get at the right bar grip retaining bolt, which is situated under the engine kill switch. Using a tiny x torx screw driver on the right bar, remove the one screw holding the switch gear together, now split the lower switch side away from the bar (side facing the rider first), this allows you to reach the second screw fastening the kill switch to the bar (is well hidden directly at the bottom with your screw driver between the throttle cables), this allows the kills switch to be wriggled away allowing you to remove the grip retaining bolt.
www.k-bikes.com
I thought I had a better pic... its almost hidden by the throttle cable and the wiring...
part from post link below
E) Next, the tricky element is the need to get at the right bar grip retaining bolt, which is situated under the engine kill switch. Using a tiny x torx screw driver on the right bar, remove the one screw holding the switch gear together, now split the lower switch side away from the bar (side facing the rider first), this allows you to reach the second screw fastening the kill switch to the bar (is well hidden directly at the bottom with your screw driver between the throttle cables), this allows the kills switch to be wriggled away allowing you to remove the grip retaining bolt.
Project wider
The K1300GT bars are much too narrow, however the design under the skin isn’t normal so it doesn’t appear a straight forward job to fit anything wider. The bars have an unusual rubber mounting system that means the handlebar grips actually bolt on to a light weight tube which then fits over a...
www.k-bikes.com
(this is lengthy but very informative, and could well be a root problem cause for other models as well as mine)
After this happened to me (as recounted above), I contacted my BMW service agent in Surrey,UK, to be told that it could well be the r/h/s control switch, as they had a bad reputation. A pal with me contacted BMW in France, and another contacted them in Holland. We got all sorts of suggestions, from the key fob to the starter, & one even telling me it must be control fuses behind the side panels, but there are no fuses on his model of K1300GT! (it even says that in the bikes owners manual) Its all in the electronics and ECU. So the suggestion was to change the r/h/s control switch or the ECU. My dilemma was getting the parts in France! There had to be another option.....
Well I took the switch apart, as one of you guys suggested, and there are 2 wiring looms coming in, with plug-in connectors. The 2-wire goes to the throttle position sensor, the other (approx 5-wire) to the control switches. Careful as you take it apart as it needs to go back quite precisely, and its well crammed in there. The 2 screws holding it all in place are torx T9, & you need one as thin as possible (but no more than 100mm long) to go up into the screw hole! As it looked like the cable sleeve had pulled out slightly from the switch body, this could have been pulling on the cables, and pulled the throttle position sensor out of alignment. Anyway, I took the lead connectors apart, checked for any corrosion(none) and re-assembled it all. Switched on and BINGO!......I not only got action from the start switch, but more info coming up on the dash instrument cluster than I had seen before, like service interval reminder, & CHECK showed that the ECU was now reading all relative info from everywhere. The bike was given a run all afternoon, and it didn't glitch once. Interestingly, having re-established the throttle pos. sensor, the trip counter 1 zero'd, the average speed counter changed, fuel mpg improved, & I'm sure there was some other improvement. I was very relieved to have fathomed it, and saved myself an emergency breakdown & repatriation call-out from France. However, the next day, after packing for my return trip, as I was about to leave, I said my farewells, and it failed again! Same problem! I took it all apart again, & in haste lost one of the damn screws!......but fiddled again with the wires & plugs & got it started, stuck a cable tie around the r/h/switch to keep it together, and got moving. I got back home, but the moral of the story here is - 1. don't go any long distance without a torx T9 screwdriver in your toolkit, 2. don't rely on any BMW dealer or breakdown man to be helpful & resolve your problem, 3. don't rush out and buy either a r/h/s control switch body (c. £176) or ECU (c. £450-500).
My belief is that the wires are all crammed in too tight, and they become pinched. The trick is to re-assemble the switch so none of the cables are snagged or crushed. You do need to also loosen off the r/h/s brake lever assembly and the top of the throttle control, to freely access & remove the r/h/s control switch which of course comes apart in 2 halves.
It is thoroughly annoying to me that so few BMW dealerships & engineers are aware of this issue, and steer you towards parts replacement & hefty labour bills. This area of control issue should definitely be featured in the BMW Troubleshooting Guide as a Go-To point, as it affects so much, and creates so many issues with the bike. If anyone fits a new switch body, it MUST go back without pinching any cables, and don't put a screw through them either!
Good luck folks.
After this happened to me (as recounted above), I contacted my BMW service agent in Surrey,UK, to be told that it could well be the r/h/s control switch, as they had a bad reputation. A pal with me contacted BMW in France, and another contacted them in Holland. We got all sorts of suggestions, from the key fob to the starter, & one even telling me it must be control fuses behind the side panels, but there are no fuses on his model of K1300GT! (it even says that in the bikes owners manual) Its all in the electronics and ECU. So the suggestion was to change the r/h/s control switch or the ECU. My dilemma was getting the parts in France! There had to be another option.....
Well I took the switch apart, as one of you guys suggested, and there are 2 wiring looms coming in, with plug-in connectors. The 2-wire goes to the throttle position sensor, the other (approx 5-wire) to the control switches. Careful as you take it apart as it needs to go back quite precisely, and its well crammed in there. The 2 screws holding it all in place are torx T9, & you need one as thin as possible (but no more than 100mm long) to go up into the screw hole! As it looked like the cable sleeve had pulled out slightly from the switch body, this could have been pulling on the cables, and pulled the throttle position sensor out of alignment. Anyway, I took the lead connectors apart, checked for any corrosion(none) and re-assembled it all. Switched on and BINGO!......I not only got action from the start switch, but more info coming up on the dash instrument cluster than I had seen before, like service interval reminder, & CHECK showed that the ECU was now reading all relative info from everywhere. The bike was given a run all afternoon, and it didn't glitch once. Interestingly, having re-established the throttle pos. sensor, the trip counter 1 zero'd, the average speed counter changed, fuel mpg improved, & I'm sure there was some other improvement. I was very relieved to have fathomed it, and saved myself an emergency breakdown & repatriation call-out from France. However, the next day, after packing for my return trip, as I was about to leave, I said my farewells, and it failed again! Same problem! I took it all apart again, & in haste lost one of the damn screws!......but fiddled again with the wires & plugs & got it started, stuck a cable tie around the r/h/switch to keep it together, and got moving. I got back home, but the moral of the story here is - 1. don't go any long distance without a torx T9 screwdriver in your toolkit, 2. don't rely on any BMW dealer or breakdown man to be helpful & resolve your problem, 3. don't rush out and buy either a r/h/s control switch body (c. £176) or ECU (c. £450-500).
My belief is that the wires are all crammed in too tight, and they become pinched. The trick is to re-assemble the switch so none of the cables are snagged or crushed. You do need to also loosen off the r/h/s brake lever assembly and the top of the throttle control, to freely access & remove the r/h/s control switch which of course comes apart in 2 halves.
It is thoroughly annoying to me that so few BMW dealerships & engineers are aware of this issue, and steer you towards parts replacement & hefty labour bills. This area of control issue should definitely be featured in the BMW Troubleshooting Guide as a Go-To point, as it affects so much, and creates so many issues with the bike. If anyone fits a new switch body, it MUST go back without pinching any cables, and don't put a screw through them either!
Good luck folks.
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