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ABS Front Brake

omoore3

New member
I recently purchased a 2004 R1150r with ABS. Bike is great except for two issues.
1. The front brake is extremely sensitive. At low speeds like the final roll up for a stop sign I worry that the front wheel is going to lock up. Is there an adjust? Or perhaps I don't understand ABS. If I use the foot brake w/o engaging the front brake does the ABS activate both front and rear?
2. I installed a new battery but it will lose enough charge after two weeks that it won't spin the motor fast enough to start. I leave the key in the switch. Could that be the problem? On my Porsche a number of systems will remain on if the key is in the ignition. So should I turn the switch all the way off counterclockwise?

Thanks
Oliver
 
1. I believe your bike has the infamous servo assisted brakes. Yes, they are sensitive. No, they are not adjustable. Hint: Flush the system yearly to avoid expensive problems.
2. I would, a. test your battery, and b. test your charging system. If your alternator is not putting out 13.6 volts (I believe) you have an issue. Leaving the key in makes no difference as long as its in the OFF position.

More knowledgeable minds should chime in shortly.
 
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The famous "Whizzy Brakes" as some say!

You probably do have the servo assist brakes and yes it takes a little getting used to so please take the time to figure out the do's and don'ts of them. By all means take the advice of BC1100S and get the brake system flushed and properly serviced. Its a bit of a procedure so if you aren't mechanically inclined or have second thoughts about doing it yourself it would be worth the money to have an experienced (with this particular system) BMW tech do the first brake service. It might be worth it to go to a reliable and trustworthy dealer for the initial service. I have an 04 GS Adventure with the "Whizzy Brakes and I love em, after 12 years of paying to have the brakes serviced every 1-2 years I tackled the job myself this year and found it very enlightning and it is now much less intimidating to me.

As a disclaimer here I have an extensive mechanical background, tools, multiple restorations under my belt and a nice shop so it was just a matter of learning how to do it and then doing it for me.

Now the battery issue: It would help to know what battery you installed in the bike and what trinkets (extra lights, GPS, heated gear, fuse blocks...)have been added before the problem can be addressed. One thought is the starter is drawing to many amps due to dislodged magnets, which is a known Valero starter defect from that year.

I almost returned my 6 month old Oddesy battery because it wouldn't crank my 04 GSA over at all, I checked the starter and found one of the magnets had come loose and had been loose for a while.
 
I installed a new battery but it will lose enough charge after two weeks that it won't spin the motor fast enough to start. I leave the key in the switch. Could that be the problem? On my Porsche a number of systems will remain on if the key is in the ignition. So should I turn the switch all the way off counterclockwise?

It's a long shot, but if your bike has an older Kisan Signal Minder turn signal relay replacement it could be the culprit...the older versions had a feature that allowed the 4-way flashers to work with the key off, but presented a significant key-off current drain even when the flashers aren't on.

I'll try to insert a link:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthrea...an-Signal-Minder-SM-5-R1150-Battery-Drain-Fix

If the link doesn't work do an advanced search on Kisan in this forum and look for the thread started by Roger 04.
 
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To answer your qustions; yes the brakes are linked so if you use the hand lever or the foot pedal both front and rear brakes will engage but one will engage first (I think). I always use the rear brake pedal on these bikes at slow speeds. Grabbing the front lever at slow speeds will lead to nasty surprises. These linked brakes were designed to fix a problem that does not exist and they were discontinued once BMW realized the error of their ways and a lot of riders complained. ABS, fine but linked power servo assisted brakes on a two wheel vehicle is just technology for the sake of technology and just not needed in my opinion of course. Some love em, most hate em.

To find out why your battery is draining I always disconnect the negative lead of my battery and put a meter in between the battery and the cable and set it to current mode to find out exactly how many milliamps are being consumed. The clock, ECU and ABS modules will drain a tiny amount of current. I cannot recall how much but should be under 5mA if memory serves.

Next is accessories. The clock can drain as much as 2.33mA. If you have a Garmin GPS just for example the cradle alone with no GPS in it consumes .1 mA. If you leave the GPS unit in the cradle and it is turned off that will consume an additional .75mA.

I am not sure how much a signal minder uses just sitting there connected to the bike but I do recall Roger's post finding it unacceptable so he used a relay to isolate it or wired it to a switched output so it would only use power once the bike was turned on.
 
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