ABS problems

I have a 2000 R1100RS with abs. Whenever I reach a speed of 80-85 mph my ABS lights start flashing, and of course when they are flashing the abs part is unabled. If I bring my bike to a complete stop and turn it off and restart and drive off the brakes reset and are good to go. Til I pass someone or just go a little faster than the limit. Any ideas on whats up anyone else have this problem?

skooter

Take it to a dealer where he can read any stored codes on the computer.

The sensor clearance may be off. If you've had the wheels off recently this may have affected the gap. The correct gap should be between 0.45 - 0.55 mm. If it is too high the sensor will not be able to read properly. This will show up as a code 3 (front sensor) or 4 (rear sensor). Because it is a soft code (cancells after a reset) you will need to have the problem present before you can check the codes. To check the code yourself you can follow the instructions in the Oilhead Maintenance Manual at the IBMWR web site. The information you need starts on page 71 of that article. I have checked codes on my ABS this way and the proceedure works fine. If you don't feel comfortable doing this yourself, then by all means have a qualified shop do it for you.

Curious it only happens at higher speeds. Do you have the stock tire sizes on both the front and rear? A size difference 'can' cause that same symptom. If either wheel is traveling a shorter distance for a period of time, it will set a fault.

Mick

problem solved

Thanks for your replies and advice. My tires are the correct size so I don't think that was the problem, however I started having the problem after I mounted new tires. Go figure.
Today I check the clearances on the ABS sensors and found the rear sensor gap much more than the max. recommended. The maxim is .022in and I was able to slide in .030in feeler gage. I took off the rear brake caliper and pulled of the sensor and removed one of the two shimes . Took a little trip to the local BMW dealer (to buy an oil filter) about 80 miles away and had no more problems with the ABS lights blinking. Even got it into triple digits once and everything worked like it should.

I'm new at this forum stuff but sure look like a good way to get a lot of different ideas and such.

Did you check the sensor gap while rotating the wheel? Those toothed gears seem to be quite out-of-round sometimes. Usually just loosening the rear brake caliper and pushing it down fixes the problem, no shim changes required.

We've seen a different failure mode too. My wife had the blinking light problem with her '96 R1100RS while crossing Nevada one summer. Sensor gap was checked and appeared to be fine, but one or two cells in the battery were low on water. She filled the cells, and all was fine for the rest of the trip.

I had same problem on my 98 R1100RS. I could make ABS fault at will with hard acceleration from 80 and above. Turned out to be the sensor gap, once adjusted never had the fault again.

i had a bad tail light bulb connection that would flash the brake failure on the dash. didn't do it all the time.i could pull over turn bike off then restart and it wouldn't do it.changed bulb and made sure it was tight .wasnt in the brakes.just a thought