TE511 or TE449 Dead Throttle Question?

Nice header wrap Radar!

Just a suggestion to those wanting to do something similar to radar, choosing high stranded flex cable with a high temperature rating(similar to welding cable but smaller gauge) may be a better choice than braided copper and easier to work with as you can use standard lugs and cable fittings

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but Ty and I have come across an additional 449 with the exact same dead throttle issue. After adding full grounds, the problem persists. I will keep everyone posted if we find a solution.

What year is the bike? Are you guys able to test the TPS voltage? -Remembering this from Jerbear's thread when he had his Power Commander map adjusted to compensate for low or negative voltage at no throttle...

I had decided to give the possible grounding improvement as suggested a go this arvo. Haven't taken for a ride as yet though I'm fairly happy with the install at least.

Drilled and tapped bolt through the left hand side Force Radiator Guard bracket to aid with the ground connection instead of penetrating into frame. Removed spark plug ground wire and bolted the lug.


Exposed end of bolt ready to accept additional ground wire.


Crimping off lug on braid for connection with existing ground connection.


Other end of braid lugged and bolted to Force Radiator Guard bracket.

Braid also used to ground the throttle body. Connection made to cylinder head frame via existing M10 thread.


Finished pictures.

Great work! Let us know if you see any mood changes in your bike I am tipping 9500km on my bike now. I only hit a dead spot maybe once every 1500 to 2000km. I have a seen significant improvement with additional grounding. No TPS resets or unhooked the battery since the ground updates were preformed last year. Starting has improved. With the JD, stalling the bike in very low RPM hill climbs or Sliding into a turn have been nearly eliminated. Bike Runs great, starts quick and runs smooth.

My only complain now is with BMW selling and the possible future discontinuing of this bike

Sweet Carbon Fiber work Custom or can they be purchased someplace?

Ken, did you have your ecu reloaded?

Hi Tinken, that was the 4th or 6th thing HVNA Tech did in Late 2011 or early 2012 to try and solve this problem. Any code updates after this? Short story, all the electronics parts were replaced but the Fuel Injector, Lights, Capacitor, (Only an ECU reload not new ECU) and switches in efforts to resolve this problem.

Yes, I would like to chech your ecu.

Touratech mate.

Ty has the suspension now. Will pickup next week, I can bring the ecu then or mail it sooner?

Oh he has your suspension? Sweet! Should of just brought him the whole bike.. I need whole bike in your case to run diagnostic.

Hi forum, I from Italy.
Thanks for the resolution, my 511 smr have the same problem.
I try and say you if work.
Excuse me for bad english.

Additional Tip:

Suggest routing the Stator wires clear of the TPS Wires. (Early 2000 Dodge Diesel learned of this problem after damaging 47RE Transmissions)

I noticed after my fuel pump change on the TE511 not long ago the Stator Wires were all entangled in the TPS wires. Cleaned up the mess by routing all the Low Voltage Wires (TPS and Secondary throttle wires) Right side of the throttle Body and on the Left Side of the bike I routed all Stator wires along the frame and upto the main wire harness.

Around 3K+ miles since the grounding updates noted in this post and the issue is about 99.9% resolved. Some suggest the ECU upgrade will solve the problem. Unfortunately MY ECU is locked.

Can you expand on the theory of the purpose of re-routing the stator wiring away from the TPS cables? Induction issues playing havoc with the TPS signals?

Hi Apri11, personally I really never measured the lines. I suppose when find some time I could Fire up the HP8591E Take some Screen shots of the Stator Wires RFI at different distances and wrap a test lead wire around those wires a few time see what the results are. Unfortunately, I do not have personal test gear to measure EMI properly. The Te511 Diode Block is at the Front of the Frame. Not taking the Stator cover off it appears as the Stator wires travel unfiltered & unregulated into the Main ECU Wire Harness to the front of the frame where the Diode block is located. Your TPS Wires carry what level of Voltage as your TPS Source wire and Throttle Sensor return what voltage @ near idle? One would think the TPS connections have a backdoor with Direct electrical paths to your ECU primary voltage points and sensor circuity. "Wrapping electrical lines around Microphone wires in a Sound system would be a concept example of what I was thinking". I have no Proof the ECU vendor accounted for these types of issues by filtering those connection points or not. Can anyone get their hands on the internal Schematics of the ECU? Personally, I'm not into reverse engineering this vendors problem or design flaws! Let Tinken do that I am Just looking for quick Band Aids to solve my Bikes Issue until a good fix is available. However, Since I have Hit that Dead Throttle right before a washed out section of trail and tried to bring the front end up, almost has sent me over the bars I started thinking about this issue. What was the condition of the bike before I hit the throttle and what were all the feedback's from the bike when the throttle failed to respond! Since the JD Tuner failed to register any increase in throttle during the issue it was clear the ECU failed to respond or was not provide the proper trigger to respond. & Changing the TSP did not help this issue at all.

Keep in mind, I have no Proof these wires cause any Issue or if moving these wires really resolves anything. My thinking was, If anyone has that area open for servicing, use good engineering practices and take preventive measures when dressing cables! I can tell everyone, I have confirmed additional Grounding Help reduce the problem described in this thread on my TE511.

Keep in mind, All these band Aid's offered in the majority of these forums solve what specific design flaw? Someone needs to reverse engineer the problem, this takes time, tools, knowledge and resources and sometimes money.

I have asked myself, did the grounding solve Insufficient wire sizes? Improper Wire Connections? RFI or EMI issues? ground loops? Voltage Spikes or poor ECU filtering? In my opinion this Simple Problem so intermittent would take an extreme amount of resources to duplicate and troubleshoot. If everyone works together in testing reasonable solutions and ideas, someday the root of the problem will be found.

Edit - Then I ask myself, Does HVNA have the solution and avoids to acknowledge due to cost of a recall? Why the New Main Wire harness upgrades in newer models. What Year did the problem stop? What were the changes to resolve the problem? This only a 2011 problem? 2013 models have this same issues?

Good thread. My 13 511 did a throttle blank twice and I was wondering if it was me.