My 1991 K75 RT as a piece of nicely cut wood attached under the rear fender ??

As I removed my owners manual from the compartment in the rear fender storage space I noticed a black box held up in place with a piece of wood . I'll attach a photo . I don't see any wood in the part of my repair manuals that shows the rear fender storage and brake/tailight . It's mounted very professionall done .

That's part of the ABS "brain box", which was, at one time, held with some foam/rubber. I'm imaging the rubber/foam deteriorated and a previous owner prevented the box from bouncing around with his/her woodworking skills.

drneo66 said:

That's part of the ABS "brain box", which was, at one time, held with some foam/rubber. I'm imaging the rubber/foam deteriorated and a previous owner prevented the box from bouncing around with his/her woodworking skills.

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Sounds like why the previous owner put it there. Foam would have provided more vibration dampening for the electronics inside.

A word of warning, the two screws that hold the bracket in place should never be replaced with longer screws, as longer screws will contact the abs computer and eat there way into the computer over the miles and kill it.

98lee said:

Foam would have provided more vibration dampening for the electronics inside.

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Oddly, both pieces of foam are still available from BMW, part numbers:34 52 1 459 789 and 34 52 1 459 868. Looks like they are ~$21 total - with today's wood prices and the time it took to make the holder, that's a steal!

There is no overestimating the cheapness of a BMW owner.


Obviously scrap wood.

Thank you all for your helpfull replies . But I have 1 more question.

This is my first bike with ABS , I've riden since 1970, and wondering what the difference is . I think at times I'd want my wheels to lock up. I guess on wet roads I'd rather have the abs. I rode many miles in rain and never had my bike slide. I guess I'm kinda carefull.
I read that if my ABS is faulty , it reverts to standard braking , which is ok with me . Has anyone become familiar with this ?

You are correct. If the ABS has a failure, you will still have standard braking. But a skidding tire does not stop as well as a tire at the limit of adhesion and is not as controlable.

ABS is valuable in emergency/panic situations (like when that deer jumps out in front of you) where your initial reaction is to grab all the brake you can and your brain hasn’t had time to think about modulating the brakes. It’s also valuable in low traction situations.

If it is not working correctly, there are many things that are fairly easily fixed. Others may cost a few hundred bucks to fix. But if you have ABS, you should look into making it work (as in everything else on a bike).

xcaret said:

This is my first bike with ABS , I've riden since 1970, and wondering what the difference is . I think at times I'd want my wheels to lock up. I guess on wet roads I'd rather have the abs. I rode many miles in rain and never had my bike slide. I guess I'm kinda carefull.
I read that if my ABS is faulty , it reverts to standard braking , which is ok with me . Has anyone become familiar with this ?

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It has saved my bacon at least twice, both times in wet, low traction environments.

The newer versions are even better, to the point that Lee makes, you can stop faster with ABS than not, even on gravel.

Do not make the decision to not to fix ABS before you KNOW what is wrong with it and what it will take to fix it. And I don’t mean taking it to the dealer. That could cost more than the bike is worth. Tell us the symptoms and do a few tests and we can help.

Thanks My ABS is working fne

I was asking why my brake light flashed 3 times before staying on . After speaking to the previous owner I found he had added a gadget to the brakelight plugin that caused that. I was wondering if that was the cause of my red dash lite with the triangle printed on it ,staying on,and flashing.
Today, I removed it and no more brake light flashing. I don't know if that will cause my dash light to go out because I removed the 2 wheels today, and am getting new tires mounted. Tomorrow I'll go for a ride and see .
Thanks for all the advise .

It sounds like you have a Kisan Tailblazer bulb. I have them on all my bikes. I would put it back on, if I were you. A lot of protection with no downside.

If bulb monitoring light goes out when you release the brakes, it's working properly for a Tailblazer.