Immobiliser removal - F650GS
 

I've recently picked up a 2004 650GS which I am very pleased with. One thing puzzled me - the toolkit was in the useful little stash space in the tailpiece, when the manual showed it being located under the seat. I thought there was no room under the seat until I read a post on F650.co.uk showing where it should be. In the place where the toolkit should go, there is a little black box which I am sure is the immobiliser black box (fitted shortly after purchase by the original owner). It's a Meta M53T.

This is yet another reason to get rid of the damn thing. I don't like immobilisers anyway for a lot of reasons, but this one is spectacularly inconvenient for the rider. To get the bike operational, you first have to tap the brake pedal, then wipe the little fob thing against an area of the dash. Only then can you put the key in and start it. Of course, if you didn't tap the brake hard enough, or wiped the fob in slightly the wrong place, it won't start, and it's back to square one. It's driving me mad already, and I've only had the bike a couple of days.

Anyway, rambling as usual, I need to remove the immobiliser. If I had a circuit diagram, or a copy of the installation instructions, my wiring and soldering skills are good enough to let me attempt it. Of course, it's impossible to find these on the web, both for security reasons and because the M53T is now discontinued. Can anyone help with this? I have (or will have) the V5 in my name, and I have the installation certificate and invoice from when it was fitted, so I can prove it's a genuine case and not some scrote trying to fix a stolen bike.

I'm tempted to find a BMW dealer (none near here) and get them to reinstate the original wiring. The hazard switch on the bars has been removed to make way for the immobiliser LED, which is a shame. It might be easier and more reliable to get a dealer to do the job (if they will), but as someone who tries to all his own work on bike, it goes against the grain a bit.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

A few years ago I had to remove a Meta M357T from my Honda Dominator. It was misbehaving a lot and threatening to permanently disable the bike.

I ended up at Abacus Alarms, who sell documentation for various alarms. I bought the installation manual, with which I was able to remove it.

I just looked at their website - couldn't see the M53T listed. But maybe contact them, here:
Contact Us

Cheers

Very helpful, thank you. I've been told (since I posted the above) that it's fairly easy to remove, just trace the wires to where they cut into the bike's harness, remove and resolder the original wires. If that's all it is, I can do it. But I have a sneaking suspicion that it won't be that easy. A circuit diagram (or install instructions) would help. Next day off, I will have good look at the installation and see if it is DIY-able. If not, I will follow up your suggestion. Much appreciated.

The M53T is discontinued, which is probably why it doesn't appear on the website.

You don't mention the previous owner: what paperwork etc does s/he have for the Meta??

So, I've done a bit of googling and come up with these:-

Meta Alarm Removal - ::. UKGSer.com .::
That one says it is easy to remove a Meta alarm - just one wire? - but they don't say which Meta is being removed.


meta alarm manual - Page 4 - Workshop - Visordown
That one is potentially very useful; it has the phone no and email address for "bikealarm man" who is offering to provide advice about how to deal with alarms :clap:

South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum • View topic - Meta Alarm Removal
And a bit of banter on the subject that might convince you to get a professional installer to remove it - I don't think you need a BMW dealer for this by the way; big bucks bills from them!!

I hope this helps.

Dave, thanks for these.

The bike came with the installation certificate and original invoice for fitting, and a photocopied page of instructions which repeated what the seller had told me about how to start the bike. I think the installing firm have gone out of business. Can't find them on the web, anyway. I have these bits of paper, plus a spare fob and the plastic thing with the code on, so it should be OK to convince anyone I haven't stolen the bike.

I had found Bikealarmman in various threads, but the latest I saw was from 2005 or so, and I wasn't sure he was still around. But I see he's been around so I might give him a call.

Those threads are useful - I found one of them in a search but not the others, perhaps because I was searching for the specific alarm M53T and some mentions are generic. Anyway, plenty to go at there. I'm off work next weekend, so I will have a go then.

It helps a lot, and thank you for taking the time to reply. From what I read, removing the alarm should be within my abilities. Famous last words ...

Well, I emailed bikealarmman, and he was very helpful. He was a director of Target Technology when the bike had the immobiliser fitted there in 2004. Small world. Two things he said were:

The M53T has no hidden 'features' that might make it difficult to remove the immobiliser. It is simply a matter of cutting the unit out of the harness and remaking some connections that were cut on installation. That's a relief, and I'm pretty sure I can do that myself. Pete (bikealarmman) offered to talk me through it on the phone, but I said I would try it myself first.

The second thing was that a faulty immobiliser may well be causing some odd symptoms I have been having with the indicators. (Failing to work, very slow flashing, or variation in speed.)

I have a few days off work now, so I will be tearing into it with a multimeter and soldering iron as soon as I finish all the household jobs that SWMBO has lined up for me.

Bad form to reply to your own posts, but an update:

The immobiliser is now gone. Very straightforward - 2 wires to cut where they were T'd into the loom, and three places to reconnect original wires cut by the installer. I needed to patch some new pieces in because the installer had cut lengths out of the harness to keep the overall lengths the same, but otherwise easy-peasy.

Took me about three hours, of which probably half that time was taking off the panels and air filter assembly (for the first time, Haynes book in hand) to get at the wiring.

Thanks to everyone for the advice and observations, and especially to bikealarmman for taking the time to answer a complete stranger's emails.

Happy ending
 

It might be bad form but at least the thread is completed, more or less - i.e. did this fix the issue with your indicators? (well OK, that is in a different thread, but you thought the two problems could be linked).

I've always thought it good protocol to post an update to a thread if something is resolved, for the benefit of future searchers if nothing else.

As it turns out, the immobiliser wasn't connected to the indicator circuit at all. I suspect dirty switch contacts for that one. The flasher switch started playing up too, and a bit of fiddling with contact cleaner seems to have cured that, and perhaps the indicators too. They're working OK for the moment, but with an intermittent problem that's no guarantee. However, I am putting it down as 'fixed' for the time being :)