R1200GSA erratic idle, misfire, pre-ignition, detonation, ping, knock and stall

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CandyMan_ZA

Pack Dog
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
169
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Location
Cape Town
Bike
BMW R1200GS Adventure
Hi guys, I see similar topics on this has been discussed here with various remedies being suggested. I thought I would start a new thread with my experience as it differs slightly, please excuse me if anything is duplicated elsewhere. BMW seem to think this is isolated and I am "the only one experiencing this".

I purchased a new 2011 R1200GS Adventure from Hamman Motorrad on the 3rd of November 2011. When I brought it in for the 1 000km service a couple of days later I mentioned to them that it was “backfiring but without the noise” as I was not sure what was happening at the time. I later learnt this was “pre-ignition” (or detonation) and "pinging" (or knocking). Occasionally the motorcycle would in fact stall on this pre-ignition. I was left in a dangerous situation when this happened while I was about to pull away at a traffic light, a truck behind me almost drove into me. I had on occasions also experienced where on a throttle blip before I downshift a gear it would pre-ignite and stall the motor, however as I merely would release the clutch the engine would restart as a result of the forward motion. Should this happen on a mountain pass on a wet road surface while approaching a corner it could end with disastrous results. It was also very noticeable when riding in traffic and blipping the throttle to alert motorists of my presence, or when riding technical obstacles and having to feather the clutch and throttle.

I have had the motorcycle back with them to investigate and remedy this problem many times. They have updated MOSS software, synced the throttle bodies, adjusted the cams manually and with the tool, tested the knock sensor, tested the lamda sensor, tested the cam position sensor, and most recently the cam chain tensioners were replaced. The problem persists.

I have previously owned a 2004 and a 2007 R1200GS and neither displayed these symptoms.

Should this pre-ignition continue for prolonged periods I am sure it will result in long term damage to the engine, eg. burnt valves and/or piston and this could be post the 2 year warrantee period.

In this video clip you can hear the engine response to a throttle blip. I blip the throttle when I downshift or just before I engage gear and release the clutch when I pull off. On occasions the engine will knock, ping or even stall. Here I try and demonstrate how the engine responds, listen carefully.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty4fGRF86gc

Also, since the 10 000km service the fuel consumption has gone up somewhat. The HUD indicator now displays an average of 6.5l/100km’s, it was 5.9l/100km's before. I did 429km’s (with 9km’s remaining) on a full tank. My second tank went onto reserve at 389km’s and indicated 55km’s remaining. While riding very conservatively on my 3rd tank I went onto reserve at around 440km's with 43km's remaining. I could get almost 600km’s on a tank previously. I suspect a fuel map that made the run richer was installed with the software update.

I was able to simulate something interesting yesterday for the first time. This after it again stalled as I was about to pull away at a traffic light, and again I was almost driven over by the vehicle behind me. This is the second time this has happened to me. Below is a video clip where I can demonstrate to you what happens if I twist the throttle very slightly off idle. I was able to replicate this a few times to some colleagues at work. I did turn the ignition off and on to reset the computer and it still behaved the same. Listen carefully to the engine idle while watching the rev counter, you will hear the erratic 'fast idle' and pre-ignition (and ping/knock) and then it stalled. I did not change the throttle position nor touch any switches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-8ELUYGie4&feature=youtu.be

On occasions as I am standing at a traffic light in neutral I have slight pressure applied to the throttle, very slight, and then I notice the erratic idle and knock start, as I think the engine is about to stall my instinct says to me to give the throttle a quick twist and then the engine stalls.

I have escalated this matter with BMW SA and BMW Germany and await their response. If you also experience this or know of anyone that is please let me know.

Thank you
Kevin
/\/¯¯¯¯¯\/\
R1200GS-WP

EDIT: As there has been a lot of talk and very useful information shared across these forums I am referencing them here as well fyi

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=305695
https://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=753622
https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=100479.0
https://bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/2011-r1200gsa-misfire-or-stall
 
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