Thanks for the tips but it looks like Bill is the most correct. I tried everything I could myself but without any success. It was a lot of fun riding at speed on sand and then jamming on the front brake as hard as possible though!

The nearest BMW dealer is in Windhoek, Namibia so we are going there to have the technicians use the BMW computer to open the valves in the ABS module while bleeding the brakes. Hopefully there won't be too many close encounters with elephants on the road there...

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Ekke Kok

'84 R100RT 141,000 km (Dad's!)
'89 R100GS 250,000 km (and ready for another continent)
'07 R1200GS Adventure 100,000 km (just finished Circumnavigating Asia)
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

www.ekke-audrey.ca

Hi Ekke, I was in the BMW dealer of Windhoek in 2006. It is a very small shop with somewhat limited services. I was able to get a spare rear tire for my journey northward, but the shop was not very well equipped at the time. I- and several others- have had some problems with work done at the Jungle Junction. I'm not sure whether it is better to let Chris perform work on your bike or go to the pricey KTM dealer in Nairobi- not far from the the Jungle Junction. If you can make it to Ethiopia I can provide you with information for a solid mechanic in the process of opening a KTM dealership. He's a good man and knows bikes. Chris (at JJ's) knows bikes but is busy doing many other things most of the time. Safe journey! Hook.

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"And I think to myself, what a wonderful world..." L.B. Armstrong. www.davesgreatescape.net
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Maybe Chris (nice guy BTW) is a bit outdated?

That's really weird, because I just had similar problems with my front brake. Talk about karma, but all the things I suggested worked. My problem turned out to be the banjo bolt loosening causing a weep at the bolts. Re-tightening didn't work because the crush washer was worn out. I replace the washers with what I could find which turned out to be with a slightly smaller OD but same ID. Tried heaps of things, thought the hose might have been leaking. Just couldn't get the pressure back on. So I took it into a bike shop and they replaced the washers with some they had which were nearly twice as thick and alluminium (although that shouldn't matter) and just a bit bigger overall. Same ID though. He had to re-tighten it twice but got the right crush in the end. Seems to me like there is a bit of a trick to it. I know I couldn't get the right crush and I really tightended the crap out of it. Had the lever pulled in overnight on the side stand so the cylinder is definately the highest point and it's all back. Before I brought it in I also rode down the street to let the ABS kick in, and I'm confident that's enough. BMW here don't even open the ABS valves and don't know how to do it either.

I know it's frustrating, I fiddled all easter on it and got so fed up I let someone else do it on Tuesday. Sucks being defeated eh. I'll give it a good run this weekend.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

Chris at Jungle Junction is a great mechanic. I watched him working on my bike as well as Audrey's. Like any Airhead specialist he has his opinions of course! I don't think that he is outdated, he simply doesn't have the computer necessary to do the proper work. He was sending the computers from a couple of 1200GSs down to South Africa for software updates simply because he doesn't have the equipment.

It is disappointing to hear that the Windhoek dealer isn't all that good. The next closest is in Pretoria but we don't really want to go straight south through Botswana just to loop back up to Namibia. Maybe we'll try Windhoek and if it doesn't work out we'll go down to Cape Town.

I've bled the brakes again here at the Safari Lodge camp near Victoria Falls. I hope that the fix helps for a few more days.

__________________
Ekke Kok

'84 R100RT 141,000 km (Dad's!)
'89 R100GS 250,000 km (and ready for another continent)
'07 R1200GS Adventure 100,000 km (just finished Circumnavigating Asia)
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

www.ekke-audrey.ca

Dieter at BMW in Windhoek replaced the master cylinder with a known good used one and we're away! I guess when the brake lever was bent in the fall it tweaked something inside the master cylinder. When I showed Dieter the information about using the MoDiTec he said that was used only to measure the brake pressure, not for opening any valves in the ABS module.

The bad news is that when we came back from a round trip to Swakopmund on some badly corrugated roads Audrey found that she could flat foot the bike! A blown shock. We've found a used one here in Windhoek and get it mounted on Monday. New ones are over N$8,000 (about $1,100 Cdn)! Too bad aftermarket shocks aren't easily available here... Oh well, we got 55,000 km on this last stock shock, heavily loaded on some of the roughest roads in Africa.

__________________
Ekke Kok

'84 R100RT 141,000 km (Dad's!)
'89 R100GS 250,000 km (and ready for another continent)
'07 R1200GS Adventure 100,000 km (just finished Circumnavigating Asia)
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

www.ekke-audrey.ca

Hi Ekke,

Good to hear you're back on the road, sorry to hear there was actual physical damage though. A bid concerning.
There is a thread on the Chain Gang about this diagnostics tool that is able to open the valves.

Here here is the thread on the chain gang.

Sucks about the shock as well. You good awesome milage out of it though. A lot of guys have it go at around 25k apparently. I'll be changing mine to a Wilbers before I go.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com