# G650 X is stalling



## rgarden (Sep 10, 2009)

New member, Hi. Lifelong rider, but new to BMW bikes. Anyone else having chronic trouble with stalling? Dealer says it's the battery not providing enough juice to the electronics package. Thought the beemers were bulletproof, but now it seems that my bike is a PC on two wheels and the computer is a fragile flower that will fold up at the slightest problem, like a drop in voltage or a sensor off calibration. The bike is a 2009 G650 XCountry; not one of the best sellers, so not much information out there. But I didn't need the motorcycle version of a Hummer. Any thoughts?

KC in Costa Mesa


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## Tabbie (Oct 21, 2008)

When does it stall?


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## 3beemers (Nov 1, 2008)

Have many BMWs, more motorcycles than cars, I was also shocked when my 08 K1200S stalled, not just once and not just mine but other owner/riders as well. Try researching at k1200s.com and there may be a chance that they also covered your bike there. The worst part of the stalling is when I am in the low gear, in traffic or near a stop light, or splitting lane during heavy traffic in the 10 freeway approaching the 605 in the afternoon. That's how my k1200s is, I am not sure about your bike stalling. Ride safe.


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## LadyX (Sep 18, 2009)

Hi rgarden. I'm new too. Just signed up today because I have the same stalling problem with my 2007 Xcountry and am looking for others with a common problem. I bought my bike as a demo with 500 miles on it in May 2008. I live in Wisconsin so I don't ride all year long but I've managed to put 10k miles on it so far. Stalling was evident last season but it was so intermittent that it wasn't worth complaining about. But, this year it's gotten way worse! Every so often it actually starts and stays running the first time but most often I have to restart it 2-5 times before it will stay running on its own. It's under warranty (although not for much longer) and so far my local dealer has reinstalled the computer's software and replaced the battery with a new Yuasa. I think that's a global upgrade from BMW for all X bikes but don't quote me. Ask your dealer about it to be sure. But, either way, that hasn't solved my problem. I found a few people on advrider.com and bmwxplor.com with the same problem. My local dealer just told me yesterday that there's nothing they can do -- the bike is just cold-blooded. I refuse to accept that. There is definitely an issue with these bikes -- BMW just hasn't figured it out yet. More people need to make some noise. There's a guy in Houston who said he's been to all three of his local BMW dealers and they haven't been able to fix it. He's considering the lemon law. I'm going to check to see if I qualify.

Any others with this problem... please share your story with the community.

Thanks,
Christine


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## 3beemers (Nov 1, 2008)

Unlike old style BMW motorcycles: dry clutch, separate engine oil from transmission oil, engine with crankcase - these late model BMW's (at least my k1200s) have no crankcase, engine and transmission share the same oil, no heavy flywheel, clutch immersed in oil, oil is located in a separate tank (under the seat). This is a design to enhance performance and lower the center of gravity of the engine for better ride balance. It looks like because of this design, when a rider shut the throttle, there is a tendency for the engine to totally shut off (because of lack of flywheel). To compensate for that and to avoid the total shut off of my engine, I really pay attention to the rpm of the engine particularly in the low gears. It would not want to be idling in third or second gear. It's got to be 1st gear and higher rpm as much as possible. With that in mind, it has been pretty safe ride.

Good luck and ride safe.


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## bronsin (Sep 16, 2009)

My 2001 F650 Dakar did the same thing. When it stalled at a light it then would not idle although it would start if you revved it up. Turn the key to off and restart and...ran like a watch. Dealer had it several times with no luck. See if the key thing does any good...


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## lild (Sep 11, 2007)

when i got my bike last yr. about a month in, my bike began to run funny, and stalled a few time while driveing, at 55 mph. and then had problems strating it. well i found out that the batt. is the kind you need to maintain, like adding water to it. unforunately i didn't know that. the water level got to low and damage the batt. at first i filled it and tried to charge with a batt. tender, but it adventually gave out. so i went to adavance spent 50 bucks and got a maitiance free batt.. she's hasn't had that problem since. 
so i say look at the battery, check the levels in it. these bikes aren't like a car, the alt's won't keep them running.


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## xcountry (Sep 28, 2009)

here's the email i just sent bmw:I would like to inform you that i have had a problem with my brand new bmw g650 xcountry 2009. I bought it in orlando in november 2008 but have it serviced at eurocycles in odessa florida closer to where i live. In May it started stalling when the engine was cold. Never when engine warm. I took it to the local bmw dealership in odessa fl. and they said that they "reprogrammed cip w/ update" and that it now worked. the next morning, when the engine was cold, it stalled again. and now it usually requires four or five starts to idle without stalling. sometimes nursing the throttle seems to help after several starts. sometimes it makes it stall. i took it back the dealership a week ago. just got a call from them today and was told it may be an ethanol problem.that i should nurse the throttle until the engine is warm. as i had already told them, giving it gas makes it stall too. sometimes, not very often it starts ok but you really have to wait for the engine to warm up whereas for the first 5 months of ownership of the bike i never had any problem using the same gas and not waiting very long for the engine to warm up. i guess the dealership now expects me to go and get my bike, but it is not fixed. I am at a loss and don't know what to do. should i undertake the procedure to have it purchased back. the dealership said they got in touch with you about my problem but there was no solution. 
i would like to add that i bought a bmw because of the reputation for reliability and service. i sincerely hope you can suggest something helpful.the bike is still new. only1575 miles on it.

i sent this message on the 17 sept. been in touch by phone with motorrad usa about a refund. they have not made a decision yet and the bike keeps stalling!!!


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## xcountry (Sep 28, 2009)

dear christine,
have the same problem as you. keeps stalling when engine cold. since may. took it to the dealer june 6 2009. again in september. no fix. the bike has only 1800 miles on it. decided to ask for refund on september 17. no definite answer yet. i'll keep you informed. what are you going to do?
good luck, serge


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## LadyX (Sep 18, 2009)

Hey, Serge!

Well, another Wisconsin dealer seemed to have some success with replacing the ECU in an Xcountry they sold to one of their customers -- and they got authorization to replace the ECU in another x bike -- so I requested that mine get replaced too. My bike's been in the shop since last Thursday. When I dropped it off they told me about a new theory that the stalling problem could also be caused by the gas in the US. I'm in no rush to get the bike back. I miss it but I'd rather wait a few extra days than get it back without the problem being resolved. Good luck with getting a refund. What are you going to get to replace the Xcountry?


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## xcountry (Sep 28, 2009)

*xcountry*

hi Christine!

Motorrad requested i took the bike back to the dealership for another attempt at repair before "escalating" my case, as they put it. i'm starting to think i'm being taken for a ride, although the image is not very appropriate since riding my bike is becoming more and more of a problem. it refused to fire up two mornings in a row, i had to call Road Assistance to take it to the dealershop October 3rd. I'm waiting now, hoping they will repair a problem that haven't fixed during their first two attempts. I am getting very upset. I feel they're just stalling for time in order not to refund a bike under warranty. keep me informed on your problem. 
They also put the blame on gas. Motorrad said the shop was going to analyse the gas in my tank. They are trying to put the blame on another party but i think that if you mean to sell a vehicle that will have to run on e10 (gas with up to 10% ethanol) you adapt it to its market environment, don't you think?
I am not considering another purchase until i get a refund. but i am still hoping they'll fix it though. I really like the bike.
Serge.


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## turtleflats (Oct 11, 2009)

*Stalling too...*

New member here as well...Joined so I could throw in my two-bits on the G650 XCountry engine stall issue.

My bike (2008 G650 XCountry) is my only ride, so reliability is a real issue. Currently I've run up 20k miles without too many headaches...Starter Switch, Muffler failure, and this issue of stalling when cold.

My dealer, here in Colorado, has a top-notch mechanic (Nikki / Yes, a girl) who's as baffled about this stalling thing as the rest of us. I'm pretty confident she's being a straight-shooter when she says that the engineering geeks at BMW say, "That's just the way it is...get used to it." For the bucks, I expected more of an answer. Notwithstanding all that, here's my take:

This single-cylinder motor has a four (4) inch piston and a flywheel that has no substantial weight. As with almost all bikes, there will be a little bit of "stumble" as the engine goes through the start sequence. Because of the single-cylinder, the size of the bore, the absence of mass at the flywheel...any hiccup that causes an ignition sequence failure on the power-stroke, will stop crankshaft rotation immediately, and I mean right now.

At first, the abrupt cessation of engine rotation gave me real concern. When I factored in the factors I cite above, I became a little more relaxed.

On my end, I went through the $ 135.00 factory repair manual (Yes, I gotta real one) for clues, but came up with nothing.

Aside for this annoyance, I think these Rotax Beemer-Bikes are the finest signle-cylinder bikes made.

Hope that helps a little. If anyone has questions about this or XCountry mods, just drop me an email. turtleflats at comcast dot net

Oh yes, Greetings to All.

Take care, happy riding.

R


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## LadyX (Sep 18, 2009)

The ECU was replaced in my bike and I picked it up on Thursday 10/1. It ran fine that day, didn't ride it on Friday, and ran fine again on Saturday. Sunday, however, was a bad, bad day! Went out for a ride and it stalled once in the morning (uh-oh). Rode about 90 miles and stopped for lunch (about an hour). When I started it after lunch it stalled three times -- the first time it made a loud screech but the other two times it just quietly died. It continued to stall (when cold) throughout the day. The worst episode was after stopping for dinner on the way home. I had to restart it 6 times! Very frustrating! 

The very nice service manager at the dealership called to follow up the following week and I told him it was back to stalling. Not sure what to do now so I'm randomly calling dealerships around the country hoping someone has a fix for this. Not all of the G650X bikes seem to have this problem -- some of them run just fine -- in fact, on occasion mine actually starts fine the first time and stays running! So what is different about the ones that continually (and sometimes intermittently) stall??? That is the million dollar question....


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## xcountry (Sep 28, 2009)

*under warranty?*

hey Christine,
is your bike under warranty? I personally gave up. i have the same issue as yours as you know. it's even getting worse. it stalled a couple of times while riding it. i was coming out of a gas station after a refill and found myself in the middle of the street, stalled! good thing there was no traffic. it seems to get worse on colder days, even though it hasn't gotten real cold down here in Florida. (down to 60 for a couple of days)
so i sent Bmw a certified letter on October 9th requesting a refund and i am quite determined to get it even if it means going to court.
Last time i went to pick up the bike at the dealership early in the morning the service manager was warming up the bike to make sure the engine was warm when i started the bike (like yours my bike keeps stalling when the engine is cold). they wrote on the repair order form that the fuel in the tank smelled old. unfortunately for them, i have proof of purchase of new gas the day before i took it in. since i haven't put on a lot of mileage since i purchased it in november they are blaming the problem on the fact that i don't ride the bike often enough. I just got tired of being blamed for the problem--not riding the bike enough, using the wrong kind of gas, using "old smelling"gas, not knowing how to "nurse" the throttle to start it. the last recommendations on the repair order are for me to: "ride the motorcycle", "keep the battery charged", "keep fuel fresh". they've been trying to put the blame on me and this is what made me decide to ask for a refund and not to have to deal with them anymore once the case is closed.
good luck to you, and keep me informed


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## LadyX (Sep 18, 2009)

Hey, Serge. I haven't been on this site for a couple weeks or I would have replied sooner. Got your private message today and replied right away. For anyone else out there with the same problem, the Milwaukee BMW dealer gave me some fuel system cleaner to try. I put 2 oz. in my 2 gal. tank but have only rode twice on this tank of gas so far -- about 25 miles each time. It's probably too early to tell but so far it's the same, if not worse. The weather in Wisconsin in getting colder now but today it's above 50 so I'm going out riding. I have also started video taping the starting/stalling episodes as documentation. Another BMW dealer said they have a customer that put an after market tailpipe (less restrictive) on their X bike and it solved their stalling problem -- but I ran this past yet another dealer (I have called all around the country) and they said if the tailpipe was too restrictive it would stall whether it was hot or cold. I'm almost willing to try it though, since it worked for somebody else. 

The manager at the Milwaukee dealership and the regional service rep said they are will to "work with me" on the stalling issue, beyond the warranty expiration in February 2010. I'm not giving up but am losing hope that the corporate engineers will resolve this issue for all of us struggling with it. I think too small of a percentage of the X bikes are affected for them to spend a lot of time troubleshooting it. One thing I do know is that I refuse to accept that this is normal! 

Sadly, I don't enjoy riding my bike as much as I used to -- just knowing that I'm going to have to struggle through 5-6 starts before it stays running is a real bummer. Going to motorcycle events is also kind of embarrassing because no one else's bike stalls like this and then people look at me like... is it the bike, or is it her???? Ugh! I hate that! Plus, it does no justice to the BMW brand. Still frustrated. Anyone who can solve this problem will be my hero!!!


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## atothemfnk (Nov 11, 2009)

Hi All, just signed up so i could chime in with my experience on my 2009 G 650 X country. I have had issues pretty much since i bought it a year ago. Regarding the stalling issue...they have replaced the battery twice, they updated the software on the CPU, they tried using a bigger flywheel (from a Dakaar) and then ultimately replaced the CPU on it. The new CPU has pretty much stopped the stalling issue. However, they left the bigger flywheel on when they were throwing parts at it and that ended up loosening and then i started smelling burning and loud rock like noises in the engine when it started. they then replaced the original flywheel and that symptom has stopped.  The latest issue i am having which they can not wrap their fingers around is that now it starts up but when i stop (after 10-20 minutes) for gas, store etc and then try to restart it the ignition churns but it wont fire up. i then wait for 10 minutes or so and it fires up. just the other day i was in a rush to get to work and found myself push starting a $9K bike through the chevron lot after re-fueling...quite embarrasing as you can imagine but got it after 3 tries! took it in for service yesterday and of course they found nothing wrong with it. I have BMW customer service in the loop on all my problems and just keep logging my issues and bothering the service dept. i love the bike but get very frustrated when i consider that i too bought a BMW on the premise that it was reliable and reputable. Glad to have the warranty and roadside assistance too as i have used it 4 times now. All issues have been warrantied and BMW even paid my 6K service out of good faith. oh, unrelated to my stalling and starting issues, my side stand D ring loop broke off at the weld points...they replaced (warrantied) that too recently. guess that is what you get when they are now making them in china? i certainly expected more though regardless...all i can say is to keep nagging customer service and your dealer/service dept. gald i found this forum as i thought i was alone. good luck all.


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## slinkee (Nov 18, 2009)

Hello all! So glad to find this forum as I have had this stalling issue (along with other problems) with my X Country. Nice to know I'm not alone, but OMG this is so frustrating!!! I have owned quite a few bikes, but this is my first BMW and so far I've had constant problems. I bought mine in May 2009 and so far have had it in twice for a fuel leak, a new exhaust (mine is rusting out already, still waiting on the new one to come in) and a couple times for this stalling problem. It's been in the shop for almost three weeks this time, and I just got a call from the service manager today. He said BMW has confirmed this is a problem and is working on a fix.... but no idea when that will be! They said to use low octane gas in the meantime, although I had tried this previously and it do any good. He said I could come pick it up, but I said just hold on to it because I don't feel safe riding it like this and I don't want to cause damage to the engine in the long run (it runs really rough even after it warms up). So I am indefinitely stuck making payments on a bike I can't even ride for who knows how long  The first time they "fixed" it they did the ECU update thing, it ran WONDERFUL the whole way home. The next day, back to it's old ways. I contacted BMW customer service to let them know about all my problems, they said they would get back to me by Friday (Nov 20th). I will post the responses when I hear back - good luck everyone and thanks for the posts! Hopefully we will all get this resolved


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## victj (Nov 22, 2009)

*Proud owner of a 2007 BMW G650X moto? Actually... not too proud and happy either.*

I'm too glad found this forum like many others. But I'm just wondering, thus BMW knows about this forum at all. Maybe, they ought to read this to understand the frustation we all having. I just bought my 2007 G650X moto yesterday. I bought it used with only 270 miles in it. Almost brand new. I was so happy to finally see the bike with my own eyes after waiting for about a week or so for it.

Anyway, when i first start the bike, it failed to start. I called up my friend and asked him what's possibly wrong with the bike. This friend of mine is a bike collecter and a rider and a bike mechanic with more than 30 years of experience. After letting him hear, thru phone, the click-click sound from the bike when starting it, he told me that the battery is dead. Darn! I just spent quite a fortune for this bike to find out that the batt is dead. It makes sense to me, since this bike has been sitting in the warehouse, god knows for how long, maybe a year or more.

So, I went to the nearest motorcycle shop the next day and get myself a new OEM batt ($175). Put it on and try to turn it on again but still NO Luck. I had make sure that this new batt is charged and checked for its juice. I'm so confused and I called up BMW dealer, explain them about the problem. They said, they don't think it's the batt problem anymore. It might be something else. So, they told me to bring it in for them to check it. Since it's still under warranty, i'm with glad called the roadside assistance. After waiting about an hour and a half, finally the tow-truck arrived to haul my bike away.

I wasted 2 days of my time calling a few of my great motorcyclist enthusiast friends and BMW dealer to help me solve this mystery of STALLING problem (after changing new batt too), only to find out that the bike was no good. Pretty disappointed, since this bike is fairly new with only 270 miles. I'll have to wait till Monday, then they'll start to check on my bike. 

I don't know what am I gonna tell them to do on the bike. I'll probably follow some pointers from you guys on this forum, to change the CPU and ECU. It's like asking them to give me a brand new bike. We'll see what the dealer told me. I hope they will not start blaming me. I'll be so pissed if they do. I'll let you guys know on the update.

Let's hope that BMW Engineers will read this forum and start making better bikes.


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## victj (Nov 22, 2009)

*My bike is fixed now, problem was with fuel pump.*



victj said:


> I'm too glad found this forum like many others. But I'm just wondering, thus BMW knows about this forum at all. Maybe, they ought to read this to understand the frustation we all having. I just bought my 2007 G650X moto yesterday. I bought it used with only 270 miles in it. Almost brand new. I was so happy to finally see the bike with my own eyes after waiting for about a week or so for it.
> 
> Anyway, when i first start the bike, it failed to start. I called up my friend and asked him what's possibly wrong with the bike. This friend of mine is a bike collecter and a rider and a bike mechanic with more than 30 years of experience. After letting him hear, thru phone, the click-click sound from the bike when starting it, he told me that the battery is dead. Darn! I just spent quite a fortune for this bike to find out that the batt is dead. It makes sense to me, since this bike has been sitting in the warehouse, god knows for how long, maybe a year or more.
> 
> ...


Update on the bike: 
BMW Warranty is pretty good! They found out that the problem of not able to start is due to the fuel pump defective or clogged up. Make sense, since the bike been sitting unused in a warehouse for maybe a year or so. And also there were fuel inside the bike. That'll definitely could clogged up the fuel line going to the engine.

Anyway, after they replaced it for FREE becoz of the warranty, my bike runs great for about 2 weeks now. Hope it'll be trouble-free for quite a while. :eeps:


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## jpdegembe (Oct 30, 2010)

*G 650 X Country - stalling*

Last week after as I just finished to fill up the gas tank my 2009 G 650 X Country will not restart. After few attemps and even tried to push start it but no luck; being under warranty I called BMW assistance and right away they sent a tow truck. I have been riding bike for more than 20 years so back at home I tried to understand what was going on as the bike is nearly new just 2K miles. But this bike is like a computer on wheel so there is not a lot you can do (even to access the battery requires some expertises). I called BMW again and they advise me to take it to the dealer (they arranged another tow truck).
When the bike arrived at the dealer and after explaining the story to the sercive department they did not looked too concerned, as guess what; it started right away. They kept the bike over a week as they wanted to do few tests and few rides . Today I went to the dealer and spent some time with the sercice team which explained that here in the mid west (IL) as we have ethanol in the fuel it affects the injector. So they recommended me to use Techron every 1K to clean up the injector. the fact that the bike started right away at the shop is probably because during transportation it was shaken so loosed the injector. Also they did few recalls; the battery was on the list as well as a roller and cable mount. But apparently this issue of bike stalling / not starting is most probably linked to the "bad" gas we get around here (not as good as the one we see in Europe). So I will see over the next couple of weeks what is happening now that I have Techron in the gas and also they really recommeded me to use good gas and Shell is among the best from what they are saying. 
Hope this may help few of you with a similar issue as it can be very frustrating.
I have to say BMW and the dealer (Cycle Werks in Barrington) have been great and really tried their best to get this resolved.


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