Watch your screws

E Zurcher

Registered
A friend had some problems with his BMW K1200. Seems an airbox screw fell out and lodged itself between the wiring harness and the frame steering head. After a while, it dead shorted the harness to the frame and smoked the entire harness. Every wire on that bike goes through this one harness and BMW quoted him 1200 bucks for the harness replacement alone, not including labor. Not to mention the possibility of fried components, ECU, etc. He found a used harness on e-bay and a replacement control module for 100 bucks each. We cut out as much of the old harness as possible and wired in the new where we could. We couldn't get the rest of it in without removing the ABS pump and we knew there was special tools and procedures to replace it so that's where we stopped and he brought it to the dealer for the rest.

Yesterday he rang my doorbell with a huge smile on his face and his bike idling in the driveway. BMW had finished the job, reflashed his control units and got him running again. We saved a few hundred bucks in labor by doing what we did and much more in parts. In the end it only cost him 600 bucks at the dealer and 800 bucks total. Shout out to BMW, Albuquerque for helping him out and letting us do some of the work.
 
I treat my bike like a airplane, if I loose a screw or nut or anything, it's grounded until I find the missing part. Last week I lost one of the battery terminal bolts putting a battery tender lead on. I looked all over for that thing down in the abyss of the engine bay but could not find it. Finally found it with a flashlight and mirror and was able to get it out. My fear is that something like you mentioned above would happen.
 
that sucks and $1200 for a new harness? lesson learned after that and i would thread lock every damn bolt i could find on that bike.
 
He had no clue it was missing until it shorted. The dealer also discovered his fuel level sensor was bad or fried and they quoted a ridiculous price to replace it. Made me decide to never buy a BMW.
 
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