Oh dear,where did it all go wrong?......it all seems to be going down the same crappy road as the modern motor car..don't even sneeze in case a sensor or electrical component is going to have a hissy fit and **** everything up..
Then some half wit decides to use components that need programming to the vehicle or have the information input to it via the dealer specific equipment that downloadeds it from BMW....or audi,vw,mercedes etc for that matter,...high command back in Germany..
It gets even worse when some of he dealers try and tell you how wonderful all this equipment is,ok sometimes it can be bang on correct,but ive seen on quite a few occasions you may as well ask the dog....bark 4 times for crank sensor,bark 8 times for abs control relay....and then sometimes for absolute comedy you get....undocumented code?....It was possible to something with fuel injection and abs that never realy went that wrong....but it's very bad for economy and its much better to churn out this junk that's finished or unviable to fix it once its 4 years old,to ensure the sale of new vehicles..:helpsmilie:...this may seem a bit negative about certain German machinery....but my experiences with the French vehicles I wouldn't even be allowed to post as I may get into trouble...fuu...........d.....sh.......e..

Yup........ That's why I ride a 20 year old Honda :smartass:

You've got no excuses for not getting to work on that then..ha ha..no warning lights flashing up saying..... achtung do not ride or sky will fall in...

I took my bike out yesterday. The red triangle light didn't come on at all - even when I used the front brake (which worked fine) UNTIL the very last corner coming home then it came on again even though the brake felt fine.

HOWEVER, I'm still having trouble finding neutral. What I've noticed is that when I turn the bike on, after it's been cold overnight, it won't find neutral. So, I kick it up and down until it finds a gear, then to find neutral I need to pull the clutch in, kick down to neutral and keep my foot on the pedal. Then the computer registers neutral but if I take my foot off the gear lever it loses neutral. Weird.

The worst car I ever had was the only one with electronics was a Volvo estate. It had a habit of stopping completely, and I had to wait a minute then restart it. Twice it did this to me on the northbound M5 M6 interchange. After months of calls to Volvo who denied this could happen they put me through to the engineers. The first thing he said was "What we usually do for this is equip the card with a card with 17 LED,s connected. when it stops just write down those that are lit and those that aren't".
I thought about it and have to say there was no appeal to sit 5 lanes out parked on the M5/M6 junction writing down details of LED's. so I part exchanged it for a non electronic Citroen diesel XM estate. Best car I ever had.
The Volvo also had a warning light that came on every time I switched it on. It was a picture of what looked to me to be a butterfly. Sometime after I got rid of it I mentioned this mysterious light to a Volvo owner. It turns out that it was the warning light for the lights. Bit silly as they were wired to come on with the ignition with no way to turn them off. As an aside the bulb holders failed often as they were really only meant for intermittent use, not to be on always. I really don't want a vehicle with electronics, but It may just have to happen. I had hoped to buy a mid 90-'s Mercedes non electronic diesel estate but they were nearly all destroyed by the scrappage scheme. How is it green to scrap cars that were good for another 10-20 years ???

Hi,
This sounds like a gear potentiometer (or what ever it is called).
At least in 2005 model it is on the back of the gearbox, just behind a swing arm.
It is black box and there is one connector. Try to take that connector out and use contact cleaner.

Yup.. Almost certainly the sensor on that year of bike.

It would not create the ABS fault though...

I would disconnect the battery, wait about 15 min and then hook it back up. If the error goes away, cool beans. If it comes back on when you apply the brake, better get it checked.

By this point...I'd disconnect the battery,pour ten litres of fuel over it,flash the terminals then walk off and claim on the insurance..:oops2:

The plot thickens. I used my bike today and - no red triangle. However it still wouldn't recognise neutral unless I pushed down on the pedal. I rode to work and got off the bike with it on the side stand and within a few seconds it cut out. Weird, it has never done that before.

Come on man.. How many times do people have to tell you..

You've got a dodgy gear sensor. It's not a big job to change. Takes about an hour and the sensor is about £90 I think.


As for the ABS issue. I think that is also probably a sensor. They go on/off before they finally give up. Unless it was just dirty and the dirt has cleared.

As for the "disconnect the battery" advice. I don't think that will work. Fault's are stored in the BMSKP which has it's own battery.

Yeah, I know that, but I was now wondering why the bike suddenly decided to cut out agter being put on teh side stand.

Anyway, it took my ten minutes to find neutral this morning (I seemed to be able to kick through the gears without holding the clutch in, which isn't right) so I'm going to have to get it fixed.

Thanks for all the comments and help. I'll try to remember to post back here when I've got it fixed.

If your gear sensor is faulty, the bike won't run AT ALL if it any time it thinks it is in gear at the same time as the side stand being down.

With the faulty sensor, the bike thinks you're in gear even when you're in neutral.

The ONLY time a BMW will run with the side stand down is if the dash is showing the green 'N' light OR the clutch is pulled in..


It's a safety feature and cuts the ignition circuit.

You still riding your beast on Alaska plates? I've finally got rid of my flashing and steady brake/ABS red lights which I had learnt to live with over the last few years plus assorted other spurious amber warnings. After the moto had 2 years in the Americas under a kick the tyres and change the oil service regime I put the bike into the BMW dealer in Dundee for a good sorting, they ended up changing most of the electrical loom and then showed me the loom, lots of places where the insulation had been rubbed away by chafing and now I can dispose of the pieces of bodge tape that I had been using to obscure the offending lights. Mind you, the moto has now done over 330,000k so yours which is 1yr younger than mine might be suffering also from the same problem. Ride safe.

I had to get UK plates when I imported it back into the UK. Done 90,000 miles so it could be anything really. Better get a professional to look at it.

Cheers

Dom