BMW F650GS ABS

Most people ask me why I care so much about ABS? In fact, this has been the case since I have been riding a motorcycle with ABS. Before that, I also found it an extra, which is not mandatory. In fact, it turns out that no matter how well a person knows his motorcycle and no matter how good a rider he is, there comes a time when something surprises him, squeezes the brakes and lands on the ground. By that I do not claim that ABS would always help in such a situation, but I decided for myself that it is better to have it and I dare say that it has helped me more than once.

So after I decided that I wanted a BMW F650GS and looked at the market, it turned out that there is almost no offer of one with ABS. On the other hand, I found a motorcycle sold in parts and even bought the whole ABS system before the bike itself. Soon after, I got the bike and the installation of the system began.

The necessary components are:

• ABS
• Brake hoses – front
• Brake pipes coming out of ABS – 2 front and 2 rear
• Electrical installation, whole or at least the part coming out of the ABS pump
• Front ABS sensor

The steps in the installation process are roughly divided into two:

First we disassemble the bike so that we can install the pump. From the master cylinder of the rear brake starts a pipe that reaches the left side of the motorcycle and connects to the brake hose. It must be replaced by two new ones leading to the ABS pump. The front brake is similar. From ABS start two tubes reaching the front of the motorcycle. From there, two hoses continue, one to the brake caliper and the other to the handlebars. Logically, the current hose from the lever to the front brake caliper is eliminated.

This completes the first step of the installation. The connection of the electrical installation follows.

The easiest option is if there is a ready installation of a bike with ABS. Then it just replaces, as I intended to do. However, it turned out that the front part of the installation I bought is missing, and the rest is in bad condition, so I decided to add only the part for ABS. On this site I found a detailed connection diagram, by color: https://www.f650gs.crossroadz.com.au/AboutWiring.html and more precisely:

It is also necessary to run a new cable between the two connectors on the dashboard for the ABS lamp on the dashboard to work. Motorcycles without ABS also have a different diode unit (looks like a relay). This is due to the fact that no matter which brake is applied, the brake always comes on. However, ABS needs to know which of the two is used (or both), so it is necessary to connect in a new way the cables coming from the brake switches and to replace the corresponding unit. (Probably this can be made clearer from the video at the end.)

All that remains is to connect the ABS on / off button. It was originally quite large and mounted on the handlebars. I used only the cable and its connector and mounted a smaller button on the plastics above the dashboard.

Contrary to most information on the Internet – there is NO need to change the computer on the bike (ECU). ABS has its own and has nothing to do with the ECU.

Whether it is worth the manipulation, everyone can judge for themselves. For me, this was the better option in this case. I got a newer bike, in better technical condition than the ones I could buy with ABS. I found a cheap ABS and installed it myself, so from a financial point of view it turned out to be even cheaper than buying a motorcycle with ABS. It took me about a week 2-3 hours a day to figure out the connection scheme and execute it.