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Starting difficulty

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MN246

MN246

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Joined
Sep 23, 2024
Messages
95
Location
Kansas City
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Bike
R18B
Lately, my bike (2022 bagger) will crank but not start occasionally. It so far has always started immediately on the second attempt. I've never had any issues with the bike except for recently having to replace the battery. Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
Bad connection maybe. Ever since fuel injection became commonplace, hard starting has not been a fuel problem.
 
You are not alone here, this has happened before to some owners. Below is an example.
https://www.r18forums.com/threads/hard-starting.2257/
Do a search as I remember some owners reported that the issue went away as mysteriously as it appeared. I believe it was to do with the way you switched off the bike if I recall correctly. Rather than kill the ignition with the red emergency switch, try switching off with the small power switch.
Keep us updated.
 
You're definitely not alone... My Bagger goes through this same issue every now and then...where it always starts on the 2nd attempt.

Try committing to holding the Start button a little longer, when starting the bike initially.

I always shut down my bike via the red start-kill switch, vs the ON-OFF switch; I treat the ON-OFF switch similar to past bikes which use to have a key type ignition switch.

Replacing the Start button is a lot cheaper, than replacing an entire key core and such. Everytime an electrical circuit under load is broken, a slight corona or spark takes place as the two conductors separate - ultimately breaking the circuit. The earlier mentioned corona effect, actually pits the contact surface; think along the lines of inspecting an older engine that used points as part of the ignition system... The contacts always looked pitted and burnt..

I'm not sure what the fix is; I have personally noticed that my bike seems to miss starting on the first attempt, when sitting overnight for a day or two, and NOT sitting with the battery trickle charger plugged in (happened this weekend - 1st time in a long time, and it wasn't on the trickle charger)

However, when my bike is on the trickle charger, it always starts on the first attempt.. I always plug my bike in for the most part, after each weekend ride...
 
About 2 months ago (might have been YouTube) a mechanic said to always turn off the R18 with the red kill switch.
Then after a brief pause, power down the system.
I had never done it this way. Went straight to the system power thinking kill switch was for some sort of emergency.
So now I’m using the red kill to stop rpm.
 
I have found that even right off the charger, if my lights are on because I forgot to turn them off, (and I ride with high beam on during daylight), then it will be sluggish. Turn all the lights off and she roars to life.
 
OK, I have never used the kill switch on my R18B or K1600GTL in the last 10 years. Actually, don't think I have ever used the kill switch or very few times in the over 40 years I have owned/rode bikes. I do remember a few times after powering on my K1600GTL and hitting the start button and nothing.... But never at least so far with my R18B. I guess I need to start using the kill switch to shutoff my bikes, especially if I am causing damage to my power switches.
 
You see, the manual on the R18B at least, call for switching on and off the ignition using the power button. In reality the kill switch is meant to be used as an emergency switch off. I never use it, always use the power button and I don’t have any issues. I do from time to time squirt a bit of ACF-50 in all my switches, wonder wheel, underneath the mud guards, chassis, and other key components to prevent corrosion, etc. I think it is down to personal preferences and what one believes to be the best/correct procedure. Maybe the use of electric lubricants do help prevent false contacts and other gremlins.
 
Anibal said:
You see, the manual on the R18B at least, call for switching on and off the ignition using the power button. In reality the kill switch is meant to be used as an emergency switch off. I never use it, always use the power button and I don’t have any issues. I do from time to time squirt a bit of ACF-50 in all my switches, wonder wheel, underneath the mud guards, chassis, and other key components to prevent corrosion, etc. I think it is down to personal preferences and what one believes to be the best/correct procedure. Maybe the use of electric lubricants do help prevent false contacts and other gremlins.
Click to expand...
I had no idea that BMW refers to the RED Start-Stop switch, as the " Emergency-off switch"; I guess I'll try using the ON-OFF switch as explained in the owners manual...

I'm thinking, the R18 not starting on the 1st try is more related to whether or not that battery is at 100% charge or not; again, my bikes seems to start 100% when sitting on the trickle charger, and also seems to start on the 2nd attempt, when sitting for a few days and not maintained on the charger... (My personal observation.)

Screenshot_20250806-063256.png
 
Hi Scott, it is down to personal preferences to be honest. Both switches will do the same thing. The funny thing is that in order to start the engine, one has to press the clutch and red start/stop button, so you can’t be blamed for thinking that using the same button to stop the engine is the logical choice. I am not an electrician or engineer , so I would not know if by killing the engine using the red start button/stop button there may be some straight current left behind in the circuit that has something to do with the failure to crank the engine at the first attempt but not at the second. Maybe a connection is left open or something that corrects itself on the second attempt? God knows.
 
When I watched the guy on YouTube scold us riders for not using the red kill switch to turn off the bike, it was news to me.
He spoke with authority, so I began turning off the bike his way.
Now I’m thinking he was just blowing smoke.
Hopefully both methods are equally damaging to the bike.
 
BER18 100 said:
When I watched the guy on YouTube scold us riders for not using the red kill switch to turn off the bike, it was news to me.
He spoke with authority, so I began turning off the bike his way.
Now I’m thinking he was just blowing smoke.
Hopefully both methods are equally damaging to the bike.
Click to expand...
Despite what the owners manual states; I still stand behind the logic of using the Emergency-Off Switch, vs the (what I would think, to be the more expensive component) ON-OFF switch, if replacement is needed...

I'm so confused at this point...

I'm going to keep leaving my bike on its trickle charger and smile every time my bike starts on the first attempt..
:)
 
Trickle chargers/battery tenders are a daily must for bikes with big displays.
My R18 has minimal electrical charging needs due to Speedo only.
 
For whatever it is worth ... I have never used the 'Kill' aka 'Emergency' switch, only the black on/off button ... I also have never ever used a trickle charger ... I do plug the bike into a good ol' fashioned charger when I use my GS-911 and had no starting problems because of this ... not that I can tell ... I seem to have to push the starter button multiple times once a year, usually when the weather changes and then I reset the 'Learned Values' and the problem goes away until (at least to my observation) the weather changes again (major season change, not short term change) ... but maybe that is just me ;)
 
Thank you everyone for the input. I appreciate all the suggestions. On every bike I've ever owned, I've always used the key to shut the bike off. I always did this so I didn't kill the motor and then forget to remove the key and walk away with the keys in the ignition. The R18 is my first bike with a fob, so that strategy doesn't work now. Up until now, I've always used the master power switch to shut the bike off. After reading some of the comments I figured I'd give the other method a try.

Now I've been using the red switch to kill the engine and then hitting the power button to shut down the electrical system. While it's only been a couple of days, I haven't had a repeat of the failure to start. That may quite possibly be a complete coincidence, so I'm not putting any value in that being the fix. I'll continue doing it that way and see if I have the issue again. I really don't like using the kill switch, because it is possible to walk away from the bike with the electrical system still powered on and run the battery down. I suppose the bike may shut itself down when the fob gets far enough away. I haven't tested that.

At any rate, I'll continue to use the kill switch for now. Whatever happens or doesn't happen I'll update the thread in a week or so with results. It was occurring almost every day, so it shouldn't take long to see if the new process is having an impact. Thanks again for the advice.
 
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