ABS Light on the 2009 1250S

Newbie question...

I just bought a 2009 GSF1250S, and although I was looking for a 1250SA, settled on the S because of its low kms and condition.

I noticed straight away that the 1250S has an "ABS" light on the tacho. The light comes on when I first crank her, and as I pull away the light goes out.

Can someone explain what is going on here? It seems like its a 1250SA, I'm confused.

Compliance plate and tacho images below






Cheers,

isj001 wrote:Newbie question...

I noticed straight away that the 1250S has an "ABS" light on the tacho. The light comes on when I first crank her, and as I pull away the light goes out.

That amber light you are looking at is the Fuel Injection light... which goes off when you hit about 10kph.

BCNU wrote:

isj001 wrote:Newbie question...

I noticed straight away that the 1250S has an "ABS" light on the tacho. The light comes on when I first crank her, and as I pull away the light goes out.

That amber light you are looking at is the Fuel Injection light... which goes off when you hit about 10kph.

Yeah that sounds right, strange though that the tacho is marked with an "(ABS)" next to it

isj001 wrote:Yeah that sounds right, strange though that the tacho is marked with an "(ABS)" next to it

Probably something to do with a cost saving thing... I've had a few bikes (and cars) like that where there have been references to features I didn't actually have

It works like this, as part of the post-on self-check the ABS computer looks for input from the wheel sensors. When this system detects a speed from both sensors at about 8 kph (not sure just a rough memory) the ABS completes its checks and the system is armed as indicated by extinguishing the light. In short, its cool.

Dekenai wrote:It works like this, as part of the post-on self-check the ABS computer looks for input from the wheel sensors. When this system detects a speed from both sensors at about 8 kph (not sure just a rough memory) the ABS completes its checks and the system is armed as indicated by extinguishing the light. In short, its cool.

that's what the dealer told me when I queried it on my GSX. Self testing until you over 8kph

Dekenai wrote:It works like this, as part of the post-on self-check the ABS computer looks for input from the wheel sensors. When this system detects a speed from both sensors at about 8 kph (not sure just a rough memory) the ABS completes its checks and the system is armed as indicated by extinguishing the light. In short, its cool.

That's exactly what I thought, except I have a 1250S not SA. Wondering if there are other 1250S's out there who can confirm that they have a ABS light that behaves like this, even though there should be no ABS light at all.

Just checked my 08 compliance plate for my 1250SA and it says 1250S, maybe you got a SA.

You should be able to easily tell if there are sensors at the wheel or not.

The Fi light is red from what I recall. It has no interaction with road speed (unless the speed sensor is kaput)
The non ABS that I rode Oh so long ago did not have a light at all.
It appears to me that you may have an ABS model.
Couple of easy ways to check:
*Ride more than about 20 kph on any surface in a quiet street or carpark and jam you foot on the back brake pedal to try and lock up the back wheel. If the brake pedal shudders but the back wheel does not lock up until you've slowed almost to a stop - you have ABS
*There is a sticker on the front mudguard that says ABS (Just under the red square shaped sticker on the front mudguard in the pic below)
*Under the bottom tripple there is a brake junction block, if there are hoses going back into the frame of the bike (2 from memory) you have ABS
*There is a wire alongside the rear brake hose as it runs from the brake pedal to the rear caliper along the swing arm (In the vicinity of the yellow circle in the pic below)
*There are sensor rings on the front and rear wheels (You can kinda see them in the blue circle in the pic below)
*There are wheel speed sensors at each wheel (In the red circle in the pic below)
There are a few others but these ones are the easiest IMO

My 2010 1250s does not have "ABS" on the instruments and the FI light disappears as soon as it starts. Hope that helps.

^^^^^ WHS +1 ^^^^^

FYI

ABS tone ring as seen on the centre of a motorcycle brake rotor

dhula wrote:The Fi light is red from what I recall. It has no interaction with road speed (unless the speed sensor is kaput)
The non ABS that I rode Oh so long ago did not have a light at all.
It appears to me that you may have an ABS model.
Couple of easy ways to check:
*Ride more than about 20 kph on any surface in a quiet street or carpark and jam you foot on the back brake pedal to try and lock up the back wheel. If the brake pedal shudders but the back wheel does not lock up until you've slowed almost to a stop - you have ABS
*There is a sticker on the front mudguard that says ABS (Just under the red square shaped sticker on the front mudguard in the pic below)
*Under the bottom tripple there is a brake junction block, if there are hoses going back into the frame of the bike (2 from memory) you have ABS
*There is a wire alongside the rear brake hose as it runs from the brake pedal to the rear caliper along the swing arm (In the vicinity of the yellow circle in the pic below)
*There are sensor rings on the front and rear wheels (You can kinda see them in the blue circle in the pic below)
*There are wheel speed sensors at each wheel (In the red circle in the pic below)
There are a few others but these ones are the easiest IMO

Thanks for a very detailed answer. I checked all those things and it ticks every box.

So that means that the ABS model doesn't show an A on its compliance plate.

I pointed that out to action motorcycles parramatta, who didn't realise they sold me an ABS model.

I changed the fascia plates on my 07 non-ABS a little while ago, I could only find an ABS plate. The FI light lines up exactly in the same place, directly under the FI lable for both the ABS models and the non-ABS.

isj001 wrote:
Thanks for a very detailed answer. I checked all those things and it ticks every box.
So that means that the ABS model doesn't show an A on its compliance plate.
I pointed that out to action motorcycles parramatta, who didn't realise they sold me an ABS model.

If you payed non ABS price = score.
Desn't say much for the salespeople at action tho does it

dhula wrote:

isj001 wrote:
Thanks for a very detailed answer. I checked all those things and it ticks every box.
So that means that the ABS model doesn't show an A on its compliance plate.
I pointed that out to action motorcycles parramatta, who didn't realise they sold me an ABS model.

If you payed non ABS price = score.
Desn't say much for the salespeople at action tho does it

They didn't realise, but they were getting a good deal on the trade in, so they weren't too fussed.

Thanks everyone who contributed, I learnt a few good things along the way.