What now?!! 1998 1100RT

[mtlla70]

Me again.

Well, after the clutch bearing replacement, the bike is running well. I went away for a week and just got back on the bike for a spin. The instrument panel is being weird. In neutral, the neutral light is very dim and the battery light is occasionally on. Also, before rollaway, only one ABS light is lit.
Every time I pull in the front brake lever, the battery light comes on and the tach drops to zero. This happens at rest and while rolling at any speed. There is no loss of power or any change in performance in any way.
How might I go about diagnosing this? What should be my first investigative move..

Thanks!
N

 

[gsaddict]

I would be looking for an open ground.
Where is going to be the issue.

 

[mtlla70]

I would be looking for an open ground.
Where is going to be the issue.

Yeesh. Any hints as to where to start..? And how would I go about identifying an open ground?

 

[gsaddict]

Ground is Brown wire.
Disconnect the positive from the battery
Connect an ohmmeter with the black wire to the negative of the battery.
Then with the positive lead start measuring resistance of each brown run.
You should read less than 0.5 ohm in each case
It's a big task and will require fairing and tank removal.

 

[mtlla70]

Oh boy.
Thanks. How might something like this happen? Bike was fine, sat for a week and now this...

 

[gsaddict]

Oh boy.
Thanks. How might something like this happen? Bike was fine, sat for a week and now this...

Corrosion, that may have been going on for some time. It's 20 years old now.
Check the multi pin plug/socket assemblies as well for corrosion.

 

[mtlla70]

Corrosion, that may have been going on for some time. It's 20 years old now.
Check the multi pin plug/socket assemblies as well for corrosion.

Gotcha. Thanks!

 

[gsaddict]

I should mention that there are splices inside the harness where a feeder ground splits off to several. That may be where the problem lies.
Keeps things interesting.

 

[mtlla70]

I should mention that there are splices inside the harness where a feeder ground splits off to several. That may be where the problem lies.
Keeps things interesting.

Yikes. That doesn’t sound good...

 

[mtlla70]

I should mention that there are splices inside the harness where a feeder ground splits off to several. That may be where the problem lies.
Keeps things interesting.

I was just reading on an old thread on avrider about a “chassis ground for the instrument cluster”? Where would that be?

 

[mtlla70]

It was just a fuse!

Well, I cannot tell you how happy I am to report that it was just a fuse. I had no idea that a blown fuse would make the instrument cluster go all freaky; I had imagined it would just shut it down, so I hadn't checked it right away... anyway, I'm glad that there were a couple of spares in there, so all is good. Thanks again for the input here - I am learning a lot about my bike!

Cheers!

 

[gsaddict]

I took for granted that you had already done that!
Good news, now go ride.

 

[mtlla70]

I took for granted that you had already done that!
Good news, now go ride.

Ha! That would be a fair assumption!
I am so new to BMWs that every day is a learning opportunity!

Thanks again!

 

[lkchris]

Oh boy.
Thanks. How might something like this happen? Bike was fine, sat for a week and now this...

If is sat for a week without a battery charger connected ... there's your problem.