Battery weak or did I miss something? Help me if you know

[dmgfromca]

I have a 2001 BMW K1200LT that has been resting in the garage for the past 3 months while I have been away on business. Upon my return, I have found the bike won't start up under battery power. I had removed the battery and put it on a trickle charge until it shows fully charged, however it does not even attempt to turn over the engine under electric start. All of the other electrical accessories appear to be working just fine such as the lights, horn, turn signals, emergency flashers, AM/FM/6 disk CD changer and all gauges. The only abnormal thing showing up is the fact that it won't even begin to grunt or even hint at trying to start and the ABS lights are flashing on the info guages. Is there a trick or a reset I missed when I put the charged battery back into the bike or is the battery probably just good enough to handle the normal 12 volt electrical needs, that appear to be working, but just bad enough that it won't provide enough amps to crank this 4 cylinders of fine German machinery over?
If you have experience with K1200's and don't mind embarrassing me, then please tell me what I have probably overlooked. I also am not sure if this has the new fangled (Gel cell battery) or if it is the standard wet cell that it looks to be. I guess I need to get an owners/mechanics manual for this bike if I am going to get it going again. If you can help me in getting it running again or in locating a used owners or clymers manual, I would be very appreciative.
Thanks
dmgfromca@msn.com

[Ted]

I have found the bike won't start up under battery power

Did you happen to run the battery all the way down trying to start the bike or was it one of those "one try, no turn" things?

[ndfellow]

Someone told me that when change the battery on any BMW bike the bike needs to be taken to a dealership and reset in some fashion. Is there any truth to this?

Thanks

[Ted]

Someone told me that when change the battery on any BMW bike the bike needs to be taken to a dealership and reset in some fashion. Is there any truth to this?

Not sure with the newer bikes, but I've pulled the batter in a K11RS and K75S without incident.

That said, I experienced something similiar to the original poster with my K75S when I tried to start the bike on an almost dead battery - turned out I welded the starter relay. I am assuming however that in the intervening 12 years BMW has worked around that weakness.

[Anton]

If everything else works well, and the starter doesn't even attempt to work, then I'd start by looking elsewhere. You can use the accessories as a voltmeter... if they're on, and stay on while you hit the starter button, then the problem isn't with the battery. In fact, the K12 probably has some sort of load-shed arrangement where some accessories turn off when you try to start the bike. If so, and they *don't* turn off, then you have some issue in the starter system. It could be as simple as a bad interlock on the sidestand, neutral light, or something like that.

If the system voltage drops precipitously wwhen you key the starter, as evidenced by a voltmeter or the disappearance of some accessory item that isn't load-shed by design, then you have a battery issue.

[dmgfromca]

Yes,
I think the problem is not battery related, since the accessories all seem to work fine and do not show any sign of strain when the starter button is depressed. In fact it is as if the starter button is not engaging anything at all with the starting system. I do not know why, but the ABS lights both flash at a once per second rate whenever the key is on. The windshield powers up and down, the horn works fine, the heated grips even heat up, so I am pretty sure the battery is doing what it needs to do. How can I check for further interlocks, etc. that could be keeping the starter switch from engaging? I am sure if I knew what the ABS flashing meant, that would probably be the key answer to what is wrong.
Thanks for your suggestions so far.
dmgfromca@msn.com