Clearing ABS-I (and possibly II) Faults

By Richard Paton
April 1998

Well, I’ve now tried disconnecting the battery for over 1/2 hour … the ABS control unit must have some sort of non volatile storage inside. It looks like the only option for resetting the fault code is to go to the dealer to have the codes read out …

If you do *not* need to reset the ABS, follow the instructions below to save yourself much moolah later on.

1. Save this email
2. Add a 20 cm piece of wire, stripped at both ends, to your tool kit.

If you do not know whether you need to reset:

1. Stop.
2. Turn off ignition.
3. Turn on ignition. If both ABS lights flash together, you are OK. If the lights flash alternately, you need to reset your ABS.
4. If, having reset your ABS, the lights still flash alternately, you need to see your dealer.

If you do need to reset the ABS, follow the instructions below:

1. Remove rider and pillion seats. Turn ignition off.
2. Locate wire that runs under the rider’s seat up the middle of the rear mudguard, looking like it is going to disappear under the tool kit.
3. Pull said bit of wire out from under toolkit. Exclaim “Well, I’ll be buggered” when you see that the ‘plug’ it plugs into is merely a blank.
4. Unplug blank.
5. Insert one end of 20 cm wire into the middle socket hole of the above wire.
6. Ground the other end firmly to a metal bolt in the area (and keep grounded).
7. Turn on ignition. Note that the two ABS lights flash alternately.
8. Hold ABS button down for 8 seconds. The bottom ABS light will stay on, and the top one off.
9. Release the ABS button. If you have successfully reset the ABS, both ABS lights will come on. If you have failed to count to 8, or your ground is not good, the top ABS light will stay off.
10. Turn ignition off, put wire back in your tool kit, reconnect and stow blanking plug, and send cheque for half what your dealer would have charged you for this service to a charity of your choice (preferably me).

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ABS-I Reset Instructions

By Jim Johnson
June 2001

Following is the sequence which allowed me to reset the ABS-I system on my 1990 K100LT:

Providing you know for sure that nothing is wrong with the ABS-I system, here is a method to reset it for this particular bike.

Symptoms:

Battery was out of circuit (dead) for more than a few hours. Upon inserting new battery and starting, ABS-I lights would not go out. *Both lights flashed simultaneously* Punching the ABS switch would cause both lights to stop flashing but remain on.

Tools:

1. Approximately 1 foot of wire with an alligator clip on one end.
2. Ignition keys.
3. Cold beer.

Procedure:

1. Remove right side cover.
2. Locate 3 pin terminal tied to upper frame member.
3. Remove dead end blank from 3 pin terminal.
4. Plug bare end of wire into middle socket on terminal.
5. Ground alligator clip firmly to engine.
6. Press ABS switch and hold.
7. While holding ABS switch, turn ignition switch on and hold for a count of 20.
8. Turn ignition switch off.
9. Remove wire, reinstall dead end blank, snug everything up and replace side cover.
10. Place wire with tool kit for possible future use.
11. Stand back, drink beer and say. “Well, I’ll be damned!!”
12. Start bike and drive away happy!! ;-}

Kudos on this method are varied. Previous posting for clearing ABS faults by Richard Paton were generally correct but were not right for my bike. David Strauss of the /2 list serve (yes, i have a /2 also!) provided details more specific to this bike.

Caution!!! this is for an operable ABS-I system. Please refer to other instructions on this page if your symptoms are other than those above!

Cheers!!