1992 K75S -- wont start after police tow. no green neutral TT nor gear indicator

[jeks]

new to motos, bmws, moa & everything here. hate to introduce myself with a problem but I'm desperate for some help getting my brick flying.

Bought my bike mid November, I live in NYC, tried to take advantage of some 'Free Parking' to save $ over winter for gear. Moto had been sitting on covered sidewalk near my work for about 3 weeks prior, in the company of about 30 other bikes. While i was away on vacation last week, just my luck the NYPD decided that was the day to sweep up all the bikes. I got back saturday excited to pick up my bike and found an empty space.

Went to the impound lot, found my bike, blew all the money i was saving for a nice helmet on bail, and drove the bike home (5 miles/20mins) Everything seemed 'OK' until i went to park. As i was backing in to the curb, i noticed the gear indicator was blank. jammed my foot on the gearshift a few times, nothing happened. then i noticed the 'battery' light was also on bright red. turned moto off.

Now the bike won't start and i can't get neutral green light even tho seems in neutral. gear indicator blank. pressing starter does nothing, even with clutch pulled in. lights, hi beams, turn signals, horn all working. based on brightness of headlight, seems like battery 'OK' (will try later tonight with battery tender plugged in if i can find enough extension cord ;-))

i get no green neutral telltale, and nothing at all in gear indicator. battery light not on now when key is on.

i did notice one wire seems disconnected pointing out the front near the steering lock on the left side, looks like it was previously connected somewhere?

hoping and praying this is something a total novice like me can fix as i've blown my budget on parking tickets and impound fees.

prior to this the bike has been flawless in the 600 miles i've ridden it since purchase. has been to dealer for new tires, fork seals, and new oil/trans/coolant/brake fluids. battery has been tended religiously by prior owner and is about a year old.

any help graciously appreciated.

and look forward to meet any other NYC K bike aficionados

[Omega Man]

Can't help you on this one, but I can say "Welcome to the forum".
There are some members, probably on later, that should be able to get you figured out.
Good luck.
Gary

[ted]

Is there a color code on the loose wire? Coming out of a bundle? Is it bare at the end or does it have a connector? Pics always help

[timtyler]

The battery tender produces enough power to slowly charge a battery, not enough juice to even help start a bike.

Try pulling in the clutch while you're starting the bike.

Your best bet might be to charge the battery.

Lots of electrical troubleshooting tips here http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/bvogel/...ont-start1.htm

[98lee]

If you have access to a volt meter, check the battery voltage. Key off, Positive to positive terminal of battery negative to the bolt where the ground wire bolts to transmission just above shift lever.

Do same test with key on, then while pushing starter button in neutral with clutch in.

Get back to us with results.

Colors of the loose wires and pictures could help as Ted suggested.

The only non-sheathed single wires in that area that I can think of are the horn wires 1 green, 1 brown. Does the horn work.

[jeks]

thanks for the tips

regarding the wire, it is black and bare at the end, no connector. due to the timing i thought perhaps it got loosened when they were picking up the bike and finally fell away when i was turning the bars to back up. i got the idea to look for a loose wire from the clutch reading on the forums here, but i can see the cable referenced is not this small loose wire i am looking at. i will take a pic in the morning.

i don't have a battery voltage meter, but I can pull the battery and charge it upstairs (assuming i can figure out how to take the battery out) looking at battery after reading other threads on here from non starting k75's.

the horn and turn signals work, the lights seem bright and strong.

[Omega Man]

There is a DIY/Tech library as a sub-forum http://forums.forums.bmwmoa.orgdispl...Y-Tech-Library that may help.
OM

[JamesInCA]

Your green neutral light and gear indicator are both fed by the same set of wires coming off the back of the transmission, gathered into the wiring harness, and plugging into the back of the instrument pod. So the green light and blank gear indicator tell us that either the transmission gear position indicator switch (TGPI) or the wiring connector at the instrument pod is bad. More often it's the latter.

The starter button gets power when the ignition is on, and either the clutch is pulled in or the neutral light is on. With no neutral light, the starter button can only get power from the clutch switch. If the clutch switch is also bad (very common), you will therefore be unable to start the bike. If you have been in the habit of starting the bike in neutral, you might not have noticed that the clutch switch is bad.

If someone can remind us where the clutch switch connector is, it's very easy to check. It has two prongs; with the bike off, just hook up a multimeter in continuity mode and pull the clutch lever. Or turn the bike on, and check for voltage between both prongs and ground, with and without lever pulled in, and you'll see whether it's switching on and off. I'll poke around tonight and see what I can find, but someone here will remember where that plug is. (My formerly running K75 is gone, and I know the parts bike no longer has this, as it went onto the running bike.)

In summary, chances are that you need to clean your instrument pod connector, and replace your clutch switch. In the short term, if clutch switch failure can be confirmed, there's a workaround involving cutting the wire at the back of the dead switch and twisting the two internal wires together. But no sense in doing that until confirming the switch is dead.

[JamesInCA]

Also, the electronic instrument cluster as a whole is notoriously sensitive to water. If it got wet during its stay in the impound yard you may have a bucket of other things in there to clear up, but aside from the failed neutral light interfering with starting, none of them will cause the bike not to run.

[jeks]

thanks for all your help i'm feeling a little better. hope i can get it going by thursday morning for street cleaning.

based on the link from omega man and the feedback from james in ca i'm def looking for an electrical connection issue around the clutch ground switch and the TGIP switch.

is it possible that they pulled something loose when picking up the bike with a crane? (i wasn't there obviously to see how they lifted it)

still not sure how/why it worked from the police station to my apartment but i guess i am glad it died here instead of over there. regardless i hope this is soon behind me and my brick is soon back on the road.

[98lee]

To remove battery:

Remove both side/battery covers.

Remove seat

Remove tool tray lid. Empty contents of tool tray.

There should be a 2" x 8" cover over the ECU on the leftside under the tool tray. It pulls straight out. That should expose the large plug (about 1" x 5") for the ECU.

Inside the tool tray left hand side about 3/4 of the way back is a 5/16" hole. Stick a screwdriver in the hole about 3/4" in and push the tip towards the rear. This will release the spring clip that holds the ECU plug in place. While holding clip towards the rear, pull out on the rear of the ECU plug (the end with the wires). The front is held in place with a hook. Once the rear is pulled sufficiently out, you can unhook the front. There MIGHT be a tiewrap on the wire to the frame that MAY need cutting.

Lift rear of tool tray and ECU up, disengaging from 2 rear rubber snubbers. Pull towards rear to disengage from 2 front snubbers. Set tray and ECU aside. Search for snubbers that fell off during tray removal.


Disconnect NEGATIVE battery cable FIRST!!! And move cable clear of battery. Then disconnect positive cable. Remove hold down screws and clamp.

Remove battery.



Always remove negative battery cable first when removing a battery and connect the negative cable LAST when replacing a battery! That way if, when you are wrenching on the positive cable, you should accidentally ground the wrench to the frame, there will not be a completed circuit causing a BIG short. If the wrench hits the frame while you are on the negative terminal, it makes no difference, since the frame is negative.

When reinstalling the ECU plug, hook the front of the plug then hold the rear (right hand side) of the ECU with one hand while pushing the connector in until you hear the distinct click of the spring clip.


If you can, take your battery to a car parts store and have them do a Load Test. Most stores will do it for free.

Just noticed other responses that were written over the past half hour while I was writing this, eating dinner, answering the phone etc.

[98lee]

If someone can remind us where the clutch switch connector is, it's very easy to check. It has two prongs; with the bike off, just hook up a multimeter in continuity mode and pull the clutch lever. Or turn the bike on, and check for voltage between both prongs and ground, with and without lever pulled in, and you'll see whether it's switching on and off. I'll poke around tonight and see what I can find, but someone here will remember where that plug is.

Not really that easy to get to. The connector for the clutch switch is underneath the tank along the left frame rail just to the rear of the ignition control box and in front of the large left control (headlight, horn, turn) connector. The tank needs to be removed to access it.

[dieselyoda]

is it possible that they pulled something loose when picking up the bike with a crane? (i wasn't there obviously to see how they lifted it)

They didn't pick the bike up with anything. They dragged it onto a flatdeck. Before I got too involved with big problems, make sure your that you can lock and unlock the steering head easily.

Your girl got treated like a criminal. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that they tried jamming a flathead into the ignition switch to see if the steering head would unlock.

[98lee]

They didn't pick the bike up with anything. They dragged it onto a flatdeck. Before I got too involved with big problems, make sure your that you can lock and unlock the steering head easily.

Your girl got treated like a criminal. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that they tried jamming a flathead into the ignition switch to see if the steering head would unlock.

Steering head lock is separate from ignition switch on K75.

[98lee]

Does your headlight go out when you hit the starter button with the clutch in?