Ethanol Free Gas
Many BMW motorcycles, including later airheads, oilheads and K bikes (and probably others) use a pointless ignition
system. Many airheads used a "bean can" ignition system with a Hall Effect Sensor in side an enclosure which looks just like a
small bean can.
Oilheads and K bikes use an ignition sensor plate.
The common failure mode of all these bike series is the "Hall Effect Sensor". The HES is basically a transistor and a magnet near
each other. A rotating vane interrupts the magnetic field and the transistor then tells the ignition computer that it will soon be
time for the plug(s) to fire.
A few of these transistors are prone to fail from heat stress, and the wire which connects them to the computer is also prone to
a similar failure after the insulation has aged.
Below is a partial list of articles which have been written about these failures, and the cure(s).