BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

anyone know how and willing to share the info? preferably with pics?

THE SWITCH SIMPLY NEEDS TO BE SHORTED OR JUMPED BY WIRING THE TO LEADS, (WIRES GOING TO THE SWITCH),TOGETHER. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO DO THIS BUT, THERE YOU HAVE IT.

Yes, thanks. I found some detailed instructions on the F650 FAQ site.

I have a very short inseam. It would be nice to be able to start up without having to first up the stand. Sometimes just kicking up the stand can be tricky, e.g. on a sloped shoulder.

I have a better way. On my last bike, a Suzuki VX-800, I disabled the sidestand ignition kill relay by jumping the load terminals and removing the relay. No more engine dying when you forget the stand is down and put it into 1st gear. In it's place I installed a normally open relay activating a 12volt 102 db piazo alarm from Radio Shack. The compact, very loud electronic alarm tone pulses on/off and is easily heard over the engine, traffic and street noises even with your helmet on. That stupid OEM system needed relay power for the ignition to work. Any troubles or fuzzy relay terminals would have the engine either not run or run poorly. I didn't like that, but needed the safety of not riding away with the sidestand down, so the conversion from engine kill to loud alarm saved my time, starting system and sanity.

I have yet to dig into the Beemer's electrical system and make the same conversion again - - - it's on my To-Do list this year.

TOMCAT wrote:THE SWITCH SIMPLY NEEDS TO BE SHORTED OR JUMPED BY WIRING THE TO LEADS, (WIRES GOING TO THE SWITCH),TOGETHER. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO DO THIS BUT, THERE YOU HAVE IT.

I did it so my bike could warm up while resting on the side stand. It's not always possible to park a bike on the centerstand due to soft ground surface, incline, etc. BMW should design the system so the bike shuts off if placed in gear with the sidestand down.

GeoffJ wrote: I did it so my bike could warm up while resting on the side stand. It's not always possible to park a bike on the centerstand due to soft ground surface, incline, etc. BMW should design the system so the bike shuts off if placed in gear with the sidestand down.

The 1150's can be started or warmed up wtih the sidestand down, as long as the bike is in neutral. The only time the kill switch kicks in is if you are in gear with the sidestand down. Works perfectly as is, so I'm not sure what all of the fuss is about. I routinely stop in neutral, put the sidestand down and get off my bike to open my garage door.

yes what he said!

same on the rockster. sidestand only kills if the bike is in gear, not neutral. i often use the sidestand to shutoff when i pull up into my space.

For those too young to have riden street bikes without side stand kill switches, you may not know how worrysome it was riding off & then wondering about the stand, is it up or down?

A down side stand was responsible for many a rider losing the bike on a curve. The side stand kill switch is probably one of the best safety advances along with better brakes & tires.

It only took one side stand mistake to ruin your day.

I bit a guard rail on a '73 RD350 because the side stand was down. You aint had fun till you try to turn left at 55 and the bike jumps up and when you try to slow down the front end dives so the side stand hits the ground again and up you go again to the right. I didn't know what had a hold of me. Lucky it was a four lane and I was in the fast lane so I had some room to slow down. I stopped against the guard rail and lost my balance and as the bike fell to the right I tried to "lay" the bike on the ground and rubbed by right forearm against the rail and cut my arm open in two places. Bleed like a stuck pig. A passerby picked me up but made me wait till he retrieved a sheet from his trunk to hold on my are to stop the bleeding. When I got to the hospital I had to wait 2 hours because they were working on another biker who "fell on the Interstate in just a tank top" and "skinned". When I try to put my bike in gear now and the bike dies because the side stand is down I give a little grin. The first time I found out the bike would stop with the stand down was a Ace hardware. I was having a Bmw key blank cut and the 18 year old was telling me his grandfather had two BMWs, one for himself and one for him. As I tried to leave and the bike kept dying on me when I put it in gear. He came out and told me I had to put up the side stand or it would keep dying when place in gear. I felt like a fool but a happy one.

All good comments. I'm going to try CycleRob's suggestion. I picked up a piezo alarm buzzer at Radio Shack last night and I'm going to see if I can wire it in so it sounds while the kickstand is down, to prevent ride off.

cmack wrote:

GeoffJ wrote: I did it so my bike could warm up while resting on the side stand. It's not always possible to park a bike on the centerstand due to soft ground surface, incline, etc. BMW should design the system so the bike shuts off if placed in gear with the sidestand down.

The 1150's can be started or warmed up wtih the sidestand down, as long as the bike is in neutral. The only time the kill switch kicks in is if you are in gear with the sidestand down. Works perfectly as is, so I'm not sure what all of the fuss is about. I routinely stop in neutral, put the sidestand down and get off my bike to open my garage door.

My '96 R1100R cannot be started when the side stand is lowered. That's why I took the switch out of the circuit.

they changed the circuit when they released the R1150R