Bike woes in the Sierra Nevada Spain

[austin]

Everything was going so well ....the weather had got nice and warm, the roads good and twisty, the scenery even more stunning, and the villages and their bars ever more picturesque when I went and changed the suspension setting from two- up to solo as I was out on my own briefly. The electrical gibbons did their thing and down it all went but when I needed to put it back up I got nada as they say in Spain. Nada as in not even the option to try and change the preload setting (the damping seems to cycle through ok). Looks like a software problem to me. It's booked into a BMW dealer in Almeria tomorrow for a 5minute diagnostic check so hopefully that will do it. If not, well who knows.

Ferry back is on Wednesday so we may need a plan B as with all the luggage and us both it's not going to ride very well on the solo setting. In fact I reckon it will be bottomed out almost all the time. Plan B could of course be to stay here for a few extra days while parts arrive and can be fitted.

 

[Philwhiskeydrinker]

Turn it off and back on again!
Hope you get sorted.

A few pics would be nice [emoji2]

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[The Don]

Everything was going so well ....the weather had got nice and warm, the roads good and twisty, the scenery even more stunning, and the villages and their bars ever more picturesque when I went and changed the suspension setting from two- up to solo as I was out on my own briefly. The electrical gibbons did their thing and down it all went but when I needed to put it back up I got nada as they say in Spain. Nada as in not even the option to try and change the preload setting (the damping seems to cycle through ok). Looks like a software problem to me. It's booked into a BMW dealer in Almeria tomorrow for a 5minute diagnostic check so hopefully that will do it. If not, well who knows.

Ferry back is on Wednesday so we may need a plan B as with all the luggage and us both it's not going to ride very well on the solo setting. In fact I reckon it will be bottomed out almost all the time. Plan B could of course be to stay here for a few extra days while parts arrive and can be fitted.

Plan B doesn't sound too bad at all.....


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[MooN]

I presume you've tried hitting it with a nammer...

 

[Philwhiskeydrinker]

That won't work, it'll need hitting with his wallet!

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[Lowflyer]

Try swearing

Sorry Austin my GS hasn't got no fancy doo daahs , so I'm not much help sorry.

Plan B looks attractive to me


And as a well known sour kraut would say ---

" Zees post iz useless without ze pics "

Good luck, hope tomorrow fixes it

 

[austin]

I have taken barely a dozen photos all trip. But here's some from today around the campsite.

A rare grassy pitch in Spain. Sat Nav says we are at 3700 feet. It's still warm and sunny in the day but drops quite chill at night. 4c the other week in the north of Spain.

The view from the pitch

And view from the campsite bar

 

[Hamster]

Surely there's an app for the iPhone to cure this. ( sorry, couldn't resist).
Fingers crossed its a quick fix.
Definitely plan B.

 

[austin]

Actually there is an app for android phones that would help diagnose it. You also need an electronic gizmo called a gs911.

 

[Lowflyer]

That's more like it.


You know it makes sense







To make us all green with envy

Nice one, thanks for posting

Eventually

 

[Steve T]

Bummer .

All those electronic gismo's eh!

Heres hoping it can sorted by a quick connection to the motherships computer.

Steve T

 

[austin]

I reckon (hope) it will be a software fix. I sort of double tapped the switch while also changing to neutral and coming to a stop at the same time. It just could have frozen the software. Fingers crossed.

If it's not software it's going to very expensive as Phil alluded to. I am not so sure the ESA unit can be bought separately so it's a new shock which I don't want as I have the Wilbers. Even if the ESA can be bought separately the fitting onto a Wilbers is different to a stick shock so a BMW tech may be unwilling to fit it.

I have euro breakdown cover but all they want to do is give me a hire car while they spirit the bike off to give their verdict. Repatriation will only happen if it can't be fixed and repatriation costs are less than the bikes value.

What want and I am hoping they will agree to is if it can't be fixed they will pay for Anne to fly home with some of the luggage so I can ride home on the ferry as planned. In fact we may just do that regardless of what they agree. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

 

[outrunner]

Bit of a bummer Austin, but at least it did not happen at the start of your journey.


Andy.

 

[Mervin]

have you tried disconnecting battery and letting it sit for a while , then reconnecting , It works with some of our truck problems

 

[Raymo]

All part of the Adventure Austin, just sit in the Bar while it gets fixed, if they cant fix it, Fly Anne home, then head South

 

[Lutin]

All part of the Adventure Austin, just sit in the Bar while it gets fixed, if they cant fix it, Fly Anne home, then head South

That'll be due to the fubared Sat-Nav then?

Strange why BMW saw fit to connect the ESA to the Sat-Nav.

 

[nick949]

I'm sorry Austin, but no bike should need software to manage suspension (or anything else for that matter). Hope you get it fixed though.

Luddite in Canada

 

[austin]

I partially agree nick; remote control of suspension is a great convenience but what it should have is a manual over-ride so in the event of electronic / software failure the suspension can still be adjusted. As should nearly all electronically controlled dooh-daahs.

Anyway the diagnostics weren't any real help and the language barrier made it worse. Basically I think they said they couldn't get any response from the controller and no fault codes so it's either the ZFE unit that controls the suspension is knackered or the motor on the shock is. Next slot in the workshop is 10-15 days just to have a more detailed look, then a few days for parts. Cost = astronomical although the workshop labour rates appeared to be just €40 per hour. At a BMW franchise too.

As we didn't fancy hanging around for 2+weeks I have brought the bike back to the campsite and packed all our camping gear and most of our clothes into a couple of boxes for collection by TNT on Monday: 25kgs worth of it. We have had a short trial run with the remainder and it seems perfectly rideable esoecially with all the heavy stuff up front in the tank bag or strapped to the crash bars. We will head north on Sunday. In the meantime the campsite manager is letting us stay in a bunkhouse for the same price as the camping pitch. We have it ourselves but it is a bit dreary and depressing.

 

[nick949]

Sorry to hear that it's curtailed your trip. I expect the place can be livened up with liberal doses of alcohol. Best to you both.

Nick

 

[Hamster]

Best of luck with the journey back. Hopefully it will be straight forward.