• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Any known ignition switch issues on 80's R80?

Good afternoon, I am wondering if there are any known issues with the ignition switch on the R80s. The last couple of weeks my 85 R80 naked has been abruptly cutting off while riding. and in most cases restarting because I was rolling and in gear, of course some backfiring because it turned off under power. I have checked all main connections from battery to diode board,alternator, relays and plugs for corrosion. Today it cutoff while accelerating and restarted, I tried to simulate the symptoms by wiggling the key while riding and either coincidence or similar fault it cut off but going to slow to restart while moving. I disassembled the ignition switch to check for corrosion but none evident, but I did lightly sand all the contact surfaces in the switch itself. I havnt tested it yet as it is late my time. The battery is definitely good. I have noticed it only does this within 5 minutes of starting it after sitting for several hours. any ideas are definitely welcome. Ride safe

Phil B.
 
I am not an expert but something similar happened to me recently on my '78 R100/7.

First time, I was riding along and when I hit the turn signal to get on an entrance ramp (going about 50 MPH, and only 3-4 miles from home, everything failed, dash lights came on for a split second, but then restarted and all was fine. It happened so fast, I thought it was my imagination.

Second time. About 3 weeks later, same thing happened just down the block from home when I "tested" the turn signal just before coming to a stop at a stop sign. This time, same thing happened, but I was going so slowly it wouldn't restart. Turned off ignition switch, turned back on, restarted with starter, no more problems for a hundred mile trip.

Third time. I had just taken a 100 mile trip, and was 1 mile from home, stopping for a red light. Everything just died. For some reason, I took my left hand and felt up under the front left gas tank where there are some relays, and voila, dash lights came on and all was fine, until a few hundred feet down the road, when I hit the turn signal, same as first and second times, however, it would't restart as I turned off signal, but hitting rear brake, but then restarted. However going about 20 MPH I started experimenting again, now it did it whenever I turned on anything electric - including the brake light, headlight, etc. Pulled off side of the road, turned off ignition switch, turned back on, restarted with starter. and it never did it again on the way home.

After awhile, a couple of days, I removed tank and every connector under tank - especially the ones on the front left, I thoroughly cleaned and made sure were tight, and even used cable ties to tie all relays to blocks.

Never had another problem - and I have gone approx 3,000 miles since. I also used a very thin piece of plastic (like from a milk container) to cover the area to protect from moisture.

Hope this will be the case for you too.

ALSO..

THANKS so much for your service to our country!

JC
 
Hall Sender?

I have an 85 R80RT that went through a period where each day, about 10 minutes into my commute - generally on the freeway, the ignition would cut out and then pick up again. The tach would drop towards zero like a rock and then pop back up when the engine caught again. It was a flaky, temperature sensitive hall sender in the bean can. Plenty of backfires also. Cold, it was fine. Hot was fine also. Warming up, close to hot, not so good.

I put a $200 used bean can in to solve the problem - I could have changed out the sensor for cheap, but I was not a MOA member at the time and my dealer was not about to suggest the cheap option... It started happening again once the bike was good and hot a year ago or so (about 24 years on the used bean can at that point) and I was too lazy to tear into the bean can to replace the sensor. I bought a new bean can from Motorrad Electric and that solved the problem again. The M/E bean can uses electronic advance control, so that was another plus as it removed the old mechanical advance from my list of maintence items. Also, M/E uses the new style ignition module to provide the electronic advance. That new IM is riveted to the heat sink so you don't have to worry about changing out the heat sink paste every so often. If you are detecting a lazy streak here, I would not argue with you.

I got a ticket over this problem the first time as I was convinced that it was speed related (traffic would do about 80 on this stretch of the Long Beach Fwy - but not for long!). Anyway, I was doing 80 and watching the speedo and tach and failed to notice the CHP officer following me. The officer was kind of mad at me for not noticing him earlier and for not knowing that I had blown by one of his favorite hiding places. However, when I explained the situation, he knocked a few miles off my speed to save me getting a bigger ticket.

Also, if you have the original crack-o-matic Bosch coil, that could be a problem, but it tends to show up when the bike is cold. I had a couple of crack-o-matics go bad before I wised up and put in a Dyna coil. Usually, the Ohm reading across the two plug towers on the (cold) coil was off, letting me know that I had an iffy coil.
 
The bean can incident sounds similar thanks RT, now where would I get the internal sensor instead of either a used bean can or the motorrad electric replacement? I am not trying to put a lot into the bike while I am here in Germany, I have been buying items that are way more expensive in the states. I plan to restore the bike when I return to the states and I am also purchasing the new GS in February, but I want to ride this bike as long as I can until then. It is currently 70 degrees in Germany......GERMANY. The M-E replacement bean can might be a definite purchase when I disassemble to restore but, not for a month more of riding.
 
My 1984 R65 had the keyswitch where the key went in downwards, behind the instruments, rather than sideways in the headlight shell. Mine internally disintegrated, giving very similar symptoms. A new switch with 2 keys was only about $60, and solved the problem. I think the Monolevers use the same ignition switch mounting, if not the same part.
 
Hall Effect Sensor

I'll bet the our moderator Kurt has links to articles about testing and replacing the Hall Effect Sensor. There have been some recent threads about how to build a tester for the Hall Effect Sensor.

From one of those threads, I noted that the sensor is made by Honeywell and that their part # is #2AV54.

If that is still correct, you should be able to Google an online supplier. I believe that the sensor is a sub-$25 item. Oh - I just took a look with Google and it appears that Honeywell has stopped making this sensor, but that there are alternatives available. Over in the Avidrider forum, someone suggested this link:

http://www.bbautomacao.com/home_hall_effect_sensor_cyhme56.html
 
"Hall Effect Sensor" is an Oilhead thing, not relevant to Airheads.

Ignition switch is same as since 1974 or 1975--no part is ever 100% reliable but there really aren't reoccuring issues with this one.
 
"Hall Effect Sensor" is an Oilhead thing, not relevant to Airheads.

Ignition switch is same as since 1974 or 1975--no part is ever 100% reliable but there really aren't reoccuring issues with this one.

Uh, the '81-on bikes have a hall effect sensor as part of the electronic ignition system, right? Or are you being that picky since it might be called a hall effect vane position sensor???

http://robfrankham.co.uk/bike/replacing_the_hall_effect_sensor.htm

Tomato, tomahto as far as most people are concerned.
 
"Hall Effect Sensor" is an Oilhead thing, not relevant to Airheads.


Huh??? I am totally onside with MonoRT on this one...the Hall Effect Sensor (or is our
wording slightly off here?) is the heart of the electronic bean can. I too have gone to
the ME solid state advance unit for much the same reasons (except the intermittent power
loss).

To the OP....Have you had the tank off recently?? I have on a few occasions partly
removed by accident the kill switch wire harness plug. Then full turn of the handle bars
or a bump could cause the circuit to drop out (as if you hit the kill switch) and shutdown.
But when this happens, no red lights for oil press/gen voltage.
 
Glad to see we were on the same track...I think Kent has forgotten about the Airheads he owned.
 
It's all inside the bean can and not subject to the wiring degradation of the Oilheads. The years are for sure getting on, but I never gave this system a 2nd thought in the 30 years I've dealt with them.
 
I have removed the tank recently but to check all plugs and connection. it tries to cut off several times within 10 seconds, the tach drops to zero. The handlebars are never turned. Today, It lost power on the autobahn, now its messing with my safety, only did that once today. yesterday is when it did it like 5 times in a row, but that was it, ran fine the rest of the way home. It only has to last till the 1st snow or ice. Then it will be stored until restore, maybe ridden a little to keep things exercised. The Honeywell part is no longer made. I have a few other MFRs for the part, it might be a winter project.
 
Steep

01 12 11 1 244 088 IGNITION SENSOR (from 09/80) 1.31 1 $799.00

I see Max BMW has these cans for 799.00 (83 R80RT). What a bargain? I'll be knocking on wood! Seems more feasible to try Euromotoelectrics and get the:

http://www.euromotoelectrics.com/EnDuraSpark-Electronic-Ignition-System-BMW-R-70-95-p/edl-ign.htm

They also have most of your electrical gremlin replacement parts.

Also, since you're in Germany, you may want to try BEEMERBONEYARD.COM, in Ohio. They may have a used one for you.

Electrons are evil!

HH
 
On my last 1985 R80 it acted the same as the original poster, I ended up replacing the ignition switch and it never happened again in the time i owned the bike.
 
Not to hijack the thread since my beancan(s) on my 81 R80G/S and 82 R100RS are not misfiring or cutting out but the RS does have an issue with the idle hanging up at high RPM once the engine is fully warmed up. I have read here and elsewhere this is probably due to a sticky advance mechanism in the bean can. I suppose I should confirm this with a timing light but then again, a very high idle is going to show timing advance no matter what is causing it.

I've read here about maintaining the bean can but I'm assuming this means disassembly. There is a couple of great links in Kurt's sig on how to do this although what lubricant to use, how and how much seems to be up for discussion.

I've also read it's possible to lube the advance unit via the little opening cover on the side.

So what do you guys recommend I do? And yes, I'm a tad reluctant to tear the thing apart but then again, I do have a spare one to practice on. I'm not sure it was re-assembled properly by the PO though. I bought is as a spare.
 
It's all inside the bean can and not subject to the wiring degradation of the Oilheads. The years are for sure getting on, but I never gave this system a 2nd thought in the 30 years I've dealt with them.

I have had 3 of these fail over the years
 
Not to hijack the thread since my beancan(s) on my 81 R80G/S and 82 R100RS are not misfiring or cutting out but the RS does have an issue with the idle hanging up at high RPM once the engine is fully warmed up. I have read here and elsewhere this is probably due to a sticky advance mechanism in the bean can. I suppose I should confirm this with a timing light but then again, a very high idle is going to show timing advance no matter what is causing it.

I've read here about maintaining the bean can but I'm assuming this means disassembly. There is a couple of great links in Kurt's sig on how to do this although what lubricant to use, how and how much seems to be up for discussion.

I've also read it's possible to lube the advance unit via the little opening cover on the side.

So what do you guys recommend I do? And yes, I'm a tad reluctant to tear the thing apart but then again, I do have a spare one to practice on. I'm not sure it was re-assembled properly by the PO though. I bought is as a spare.

Take the little plate off the side, spray in some electric contact cleaner, slosh and dump, let it dry, then light silicone spray
 
Back
Top