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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 18 Mar 2012
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: South Africa
Posts: 5
Failed fuel pump controller

hi, my wife and I are travelling around south America on our 1200 GS and yesterday our electronic fuel pump controller died. I managed a work around and our bike works.
Any ideas on how to get a new fuel pump controller in South America or how long our fix will last.
Thanks
Andrew
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  #2  
Old 18 Mar 2012
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,342
Bad luck Andrew- I had 3 of those FPC go on mine.....
My bypass was still good after 700 ish miles when I found a dealership.

Best advice I was given is to 'rest' your bike (fuel pump) every few hours.
I fitted mine with as fuse and a switch as I had mine wired direct to the battery.
Your fuel consumption will go up and you'll get some interesting back firing out of your exhaust !

Spare one? DHL probably from a BMW dealership if you are going that route, you might want to order 2- fit one and have a spare IMHO.
BMW Battersea (London) are quite adept at doing this.
Else you can try Motorworks here
£87.28 from them each
While you are at it, you might want a couple of final drive seals...
Bonne chance
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  #3  
Old 19 Mar 2012
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: St Andrews
Posts: 662
I had the same problem with my 1200GS for the 2nd time in Zambia, did the by-pass trick and carried on with my wanderings for another 14,000 miles only replacing the unit with a 2nd hand one from Motorworks after I returned to the UK. In addition to making and fitting the by-pass I taped a plastic bag around the cover working on the logic of no control unit means no heat generated and I really wanted to keep water out. Interestingly enough, the bike seemed to run fairly normally and I didn't find any noticeable increase in fuel consumption. I would advise all 1200GS owners to make a by-pass and put it in their travelling spares kit, now I do albeit a case of better late than never. Ride safe.
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Mike is riding the twisty road in the sky

Last edited by maja; 19 Mar 2012 at 14:34. Reason: missed a bit
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  #4  
Old 23 Mar 2012
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Location: South Africa
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Thanks a lot for the tips and sharing your problem. I managed to find a site called motorcycle info.co.uk and Andy the webmaster had 2 methods on the workaround.
The first was a direct fly cable to the battery - inherently not cool, but ok.
The second, which I had to use involved tapping into the sensor unit of the FPC thereby bypassing the FPC, this has worked like a dream; no issues with the fuel consumption actually!
We are planning to get one while on the trip. I have also heard that as in Maja's case, you can keep on riding!
Thanks for the replies!
Andrew
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