Last year on a trip in Namibia my buddy's R1200GSA battery failed, without warning, somewhere between Helmeringshausen and Sesriem. I towed him from there to Windhoek where the battery was replaced under warranty.
(Yes, I towed him for more than 450km... and we only crashed once.... ;D )
(Yes, if you are doing a course at Jan Staal's farm, buy a bike tow rope from him. You never know when it might come in handy... :thumleft
Since then I've heard about the same thing happening to other people and I started wondering when it was going to be my turn. That question was answered last weekend when, approximately 125km from Himeville on a bike trip around Lesotho, my R1200GSA's battery also failed without warning. Stopped the bike, took a couple of photos, got back on and.... *click*
Initally we thought it was due to a short or a loose connection, because the display of the bike and the lights flashed off and on when I turned the ignition on. Anyway, I was able to start the bike on a steep downhill in 5th gear and got the bike to Himeville where I was helped by a Yamaha dealer.
What I learnt there was the following:
1. Initially they tested the battery and found that the voltage was fine (+/- 13 volts) so we started looking at other causes for the problem. Luckily a phone call to the BMW dealer in Bethlehem confirmed that this alone does not mean much and that they must also test the amps and that the battery is probably the cause of everything. I decided to risk the R600.00 for a new battery, and after it was installed the bike started perfectly.
2. Yes, you can fit a "normal" bike battery in a R1200GSA despite the fact that the BMW battery is smaller.
3. Yamaha dealers are actually cool ;D
I was extremely happy that I was able to continue on the trip (ride report to follow soon) and will probably have to replace the "normal" battery with a BMW battery soon ???
Now here's the strange part..........
In the +/- 125km to Himeville, after the battery packed up, the odometer of the bike acted very strangely and seemed to be in fast forward. It appeared to be 10 times faster than normal, because in that time I added more than 1200km to the mileage on my bike! It also confused the hell out of the bike in terms of range, which was now measuring more than 900km on half a tank!
Has this happend to anybody else?
Do you think BMW will somehow be able to take off the extra 1200km of mileage on the bike?
(Yes, I towed him for more than 450km... and we only crashed once.... ;D )
(Yes, if you are doing a course at Jan Staal's farm, buy a bike tow rope from him. You never know when it might come in handy... :thumleft
Since then I've heard about the same thing happening to other people and I started wondering when it was going to be my turn. That question was answered last weekend when, approximately 125km from Himeville on a bike trip around Lesotho, my R1200GSA's battery also failed without warning. Stopped the bike, took a couple of photos, got back on and.... *click*
Initally we thought it was due to a short or a loose connection, because the display of the bike and the lights flashed off and on when I turned the ignition on. Anyway, I was able to start the bike on a steep downhill in 5th gear and got the bike to Himeville where I was helped by a Yamaha dealer.
What I learnt there was the following:
1. Initially they tested the battery and found that the voltage was fine (+/- 13 volts) so we started looking at other causes for the problem. Luckily a phone call to the BMW dealer in Bethlehem confirmed that this alone does not mean much and that they must also test the amps and that the battery is probably the cause of everything. I decided to risk the R600.00 for a new battery, and after it was installed the bike started perfectly.
2. Yes, you can fit a "normal" bike battery in a R1200GSA despite the fact that the BMW battery is smaller.
3. Yamaha dealers are actually cool ;D
I was extremely happy that I was able to continue on the trip (ride report to follow soon) and will probably have to replace the "normal" battery with a BMW battery soon ???
Now here's the strange part..........
In the +/- 125km to Himeville, after the battery packed up, the odometer of the bike acted very strangely and seemed to be in fast forward. It appeared to be 10 times faster than normal, because in that time I added more than 1200km to the mileage on my bike! It also confused the hell out of the bike in terms of range, which was now measuring more than 900km on half a tank!
Has this happend to anybody else?
Do you think BMW will somehow be able to take off the extra 1200km of mileage on the bike?
