My 2017 XR died in Freiburg on the Friday evening of our tour of Vosges and the Black Forest 😥, 50 yards from our hotel. With some assistance I pushed it to the hotel.
We had just done a quick blast on the Autobahn (180kph) to Freiburg and it was then into slow moving traffic in the city, the IN AIR was reading 35°C, the coolant temperature went up 103°C, then 107°C which it has never done before. I noticed the fan wasn't blowing hot air over me as it usually does. Then the bike started to run erratically, a D-ESA error came up on the dash then it died and wouldn't restart, no starter, dim lights - - - on the speed display, then nothing at all.
After a couple of beers and a think, it seemed likely I had run out of electricity. Off with the seat - I'd fitted a Shido lithium battery in 2021 and pressing the test button showed 1 blue light, our thought was correct - no electricity - and no jump leads (I'll pack a set for the next trip!).
Saturday morning meant a 20 min walk to a bike shop for a new battery (lead acid this time) and to the electrical shop opposite the hotel for a €15 multimeter. Battery installed and bike started - yes! Volts at the battery terminals? - 12.1V, Ah! not good, no charging of the new battery, old one was probably fine.
Three possibilities emerged from the collective brain:
1. A corrode or bad connector
2. Regulator/rectifier fried
3. Stator fried
My crew chief Vern reckoned it's option 3, fingers crossed it's not that!
The new battery got the bike to
BMW Motorradzentrum Freiburg just before they closed at 1pm on Saturday. They promised to look at it first thing Monday morning. I went back at 9am on Monday, 15 minutes later and the results were in - it was Option 3 the stator had fried itself
, Vern was right - damn. The bike's done 96,000 miles (155,000 Km) so I'm living on borrowed time with some components!
A new stator would be with them at 1pm the same day and they said they would have it done by 5pm. And it was all done, even though I'm sure the workshop would have been fully booked up. So I was able to continue with the remaining 5 days of the tour. Excellent service from Marco and his team at Motorradzentrum.
I can't think about how much it cost, it's too painful! Let's just say the stator and magnet come as a set, and that ain't cheap!! Yes they could have got me a Chinese stator for €150 from eBay with a two day wait for delivery + a day for fitting. I could have called the breakdown recovery and done the rest of the tour in a hire car (been there, seen it, done it. It's not fun when you're at the Calais ferry terminal as a foot passenger with all the bike gear! Or wondering where your bike actually is!).
