BMW G650X Issue Log (xCountry, xChallenge, xMoto)

2009 XChallenge
4,514 miles
ABS: No
Aug. 02, 2009
Mods: nothing electrical related
Failure: Was at the local Cycle Gear shop to grab some supplies, went out to start the bike, dash lights come on, but not enough battery to crank the engine. Attempts to bump start fail. Pull battery, tried to charge at the shop, but no amount of charging will get the bike to crank.
Resolution: Pulled a Yausa battery off the shelf at the shop, installed, fired right up, no problems in the 1 week since that time.

Let me hold my breath about BMW reimbursing me for the battery :-/ I am amazed that it happened to me at a bike shop instead of the middle of nowhere, so yay for small victories.

No reimb. I asked when I was stranded second time. The road service will come if you are 1,000 miles away but they will not pay for the fix. Stupid economy to my POV.

I couldn't find my BMW cross country info, so I had to use my Progressive Insurance. It pays the first $75 of a tow. I had to eat the additional $160.

Not to hijack this thread, but how do we actually get BMW road service? I tried searching on my Blackberry and couldn't even find a 800 number.

Also, my battery is definitely shot. It reads 12.7v until a load is put on and then drops down to 3v.

You should have gotten a card with the super secret BMW number mailed to you within a few days of purchase. I bought an 1150 once and got the super secret card / number 2 years later.

I still haven't gotten my card for the bike purchase I made earlier this year, lol. But, last month when I had a electrical issue with my bike, the service manager gave me the road side assistance number. Told me call them to set up a time to have my bike picked up at my house, and hauled to the shop. All the BMW RSA people needed was the last seven characters in my vin number. Worked like a charm. A bike specific truck showed up right on time. Zero charge to me.

Thanks for the help. FYI - it looks like the number for BMW Roadside Assistance is 877-680-2176. I wish I had been able to search better on my blackberry as apparently they have a $500 credit toward the tow (and probably would have secured my bike better so it wouldn't fall while being towed).

Needless to say, I will put that number in my wallet (at least until my super secret card arrives).

End Hijack.

Model: xchallenge
Year: 2007
ABS: Yes
Mileage at time of issue: 5,007 mi.
Date of occurrence: 08/06/09
Modifications (if any): Powerlet GPS plug
Description of Failure(s): Battery completely dead after overnight in a hotel. The battery had been replaced by MaxBMW prior to me starting my cross-country trip on 7/17/09. It lasted 3 weeks and 5k miles and gave up the ghost. BMW roadside assistance towed it in a covered trailer 250 mi. to Brown motorworks in Pomona, CA. No charge and no hassle, thank God!
Resolution (if any): BMW dealer just received the Yuasa replacement batteries and put one in for me, covered under warranty.
Reference Thread: N/A

DON'T bet your life on it........Here's my nightmare

Well, I'll find out later this week. The nearest dealer is 50 miles away and won't let me just swap out the battery (even though the old one is sitting on my workbench). So I will need to have BMW roadside assistance tow my bike 50 miles to swap a battery! Rules is rules I guess, but this borders on ridiculous. I'm half inclined to buy a spare battery and ride there. At least i won't have to sit around waiting for a tow . . .

Just charge the old one

The manner of the failure prevents it from accepting a charge. As soon as you remove it from the charger, it falls to like 4 volts.

Ouch...Mine charged right up. The service department said to make sure the stock battery was installed when I brought it back (I never did, waste of too much time)....I didn't ask but I'm sure he was alluding to a warranty issues

Weird. Well, when mine failed close to home, the dealer was ok with me bringing the battery in alone w/o the bike. He gave me a new one. When it failed far far away, Roadside said I can't bring a new battery to the bike but instead must have the tow service. Seemed like a huge waste of resources to me. I was going to drive up with my daughter, put the battery in and then ride home while she (now 16!!!) drives the truck. That is, I was willing to do it 100% on my own fuel, trouble, etc.

Corporations can be so damn stupid sometimes.

For sure! Of course BMW corporate won't pay the Roadside guys for just sitting in the shop....When you sift through all the BS it's all about money.

I prefer to just chock the cost of a new battery as a riding expense and they can keep their paws off it.......I just had my Xcountry at a local Yamaha shop to put new TKC-80s on and when I got home the license plate was missing. When I called and they said they couldn't help me. I spent the whole day getting a police report and standing in line at the DMV.

Do not rely on BMW roadside if you do you will be sorry.


My 1200 let me down 20 miles outside a major metro area of over a million people. Their response? Sorry we do not have a contractor in that area with the proper equipment to recover that vehicle.

Huh? What if I was out in BFE?


You are pretty much just on your own.


Oh BTW My XCH has about 3000K on it original battery. GPS wired directly to the battery.

Otherwise all stock, no problems.

Model: xChallenge
Year: 2007
ABS: No
Mileage at time of issue: 1,012 - 2,503(currnet)
Date of occurrence: Regularly
Modifications (if any): mechanical/electrical - Foam filter, removed air box cover, full Remus system, removed side stand switch, adjusted clutch, removed charcaol canaster, R&G Tail Tiddy
Description of Failure(s): Bike shuts off when, (20% of the time), coming to a quick stop
Resolution (if any): None thus far (dealer's 80 miles away)
Reference Thread: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10103919#post10103919

I'm going to try and get some time off and drag it down to the dealer, but I much rater fix it myself...

Hey douchebag i had that happen to me a few times and i have the exact same mods,minus the sidestand switch mod. it only happened to me when it was cold though, like below 50f. i just chalked it up to the mods making it a little lean right off idle in cold conditions. i haven't had it happen since like march though. i know this is no help but just wanted you to know i had it happen and it hasn't been a problem since the temp went up.

Hey Douchebag!


I got nothing, I just wated to say it.

Carry on.

i'm done posting on here, every time i do some old ass has to make a snide remark or something. i just said i had a similar problem and told my experiences and details, thats what this thread is for correct?. if anything your post is more worthless than mine.

sorry to waste a post guys thanks for the info you've given me later.

Are you upset with me? For saying that?

I was not picking on you BTW, I was ripping the other guy for having a creative/funny screen name.