Engine dies on RH turns

[DanielBanting]

Hello, my name is Daniel Banting. I am relatively new to this forum. I posed a question relating to an issue that I am having with my bike in one of the other sections but this one seems more appropriate. Sorry for the confusion.

I have owned a 96 R850R for the last year or so. It has been a great bike and has not given me a single moment of trouble until very recently. When I turn the bars sharp to the right as in a low speed parking lot manouver the engine will cut out. When the engine dies the idiot lights go out and will remain out until I return the bars 3/4 of the way to center. Then it will restart no poblem. I have tried to duplicate the problem by wriggling the wiring harness under the steering head but cannot recreate the problem. I am fairly mechanical but am totally inept when it comes to anything electrical. Changing a bulb would be about the limit of my abilities. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can best diagnose and remedy the issue?

Thank you for your time and suggestions,
Daniel Bantng
Ontario Canada

[MotorradMike]

Hi Daniel:

You may have a 'mechanical' problem here.
My guess is that a wire has fatigued and broken where it is flexed sharply as you turn the bars. (an 'open circuit' as opposed to a 'short circuit')

I'm not sure what this bike looks like but if you remove all the easy to get off fairing bits and look up from below as an assistant turns the bars you can isolate 1 or 2 likely places. Then remove any tape, ty-wraps etc and look for a wire just barely held together by its insulation.

Hope that helps.
BTW I live near Brockville, Ontario.

[rgeoffrt]

This sounds like a negative ground problem?

Not an expert by any measurement, but the lights going out and engine shutting off is indicative of losing the circuit, ie negative lead to the battery or ground.

HTH,

[kgadley01]

sounds like a short in your wiring. check all the wires that move or something touches when you turn your bars.

[GSfornow]

I was thinking that your problem was in the wiring to the kill switch but on my '99 GS the instrument lights stay on when the kill switch is off. So I'm thinking that is not the problem. More likely perhaps is the ignition switch (if yours is also on the handle bars). I would try gently pulling on the different wiring harness that move when you turn the handlebars. I recently had a problem with horn wiring and eventually found a broken wire in the harness after narrowing down the likely touble area with a tester and then unwraping the harness. I was suprised BMW REALLY uses small gauge wires, they must carry the intended load but maybe because of their small size don't stand up to flexing well. A wiring diagram in the owners manual would also be most helpful.

[MrCrab]

Daniel - I had a similar problem on my 2000 R1100R, but it died on left had turns. It turned out to be a broken wire at the steering head. Look on the left side of the steering head and find the wires coming down from the ignition. You will probably see a group of several wires in a black sleeve that has a zip-tie to the frame. The problem was that the zip-tie was too tight and when the bars were turned the wires were flexed too much and one of them eventually broke.

Cut the sleeve open and if you don't see the broken wire try flexing each one with the engine running until you find the broken one. I spliced mine, re-wrapped the group of wires in electrical tape, and left the zip-tie off so the problem would not come back.

Good luck.