WTF!?

[SDDOGGER]

Yesterday was a nice day here so i decided to take the bike out and it ran awesome, loved it!!! But i got it a little dirty so i washed it, and i was careful trying not to get any elec. stuff to wet, and when i was all done i started it and the nuetral light was on all the time even in gear so i figured no big deal just park it and let it dry, this was about 3pm. I went out for the evening and pulled in the garage (12am) and my front and rear blinkers are flashing on and off like they are shorted not like normal blinking, so i unhooked the battery and let it sit over night and hooked the battery back up and now the indicator lights (speedo) are on all time and my blinkers stay on just barely to the point you have to look close, when the bike is off. I did ride it today like this and no problem except the left indicator stays on all the time when running. Any ideas??

 

[kirk927]

Sounds like water has go into the EHC harness plug in. You can do a search on how to access this and hit it with compressed air to blow out the water. Then spray in some CRC contact cleaner on the pins. Then coat with dielectric grease and reconnect. All of your electrical connections need to be done this way and shrink wrapped if you are going to be in watery conditions. These dogs don't like water.

 

[SDDOGGER]

I will unhook the plugs and see what they look like and see if there is moisture in there. Thanks

 

[Gas Man]

Well first off... you may want to check your hand controls...

My thread on http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/how/341-how-swap-out-pegs-grips.html might help you on pulling them.

With your 2005 dog... you may not have the newer style buttons... once the controls are apart you can pull the boards with these bolts

The newer ones look like this and are sealed in a jelly

Also, may want to check your LED boards
http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/how/1981-how-pull-your-led-boards.html

Then consider doing a shrink wrap job on it..
http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/how/218-how-where-shrink-wrap-your-wires.html

 

[Gas Man]

TIll you get it all figured out... I would leave the battery un-plugged.

Also, this is the reason why most of us leave our bikes in nuetral... it has been known for them to try starting when you are away from the bike... if in gear... OOPS it lunges forward and goes boom!

 

[Fibersnake]

This is what I call the dancing light syndrome. I have had it occur on a few occasion-more in the past than recently.

I took precautions around the hand controls, EHC, etc. The few times it did occur was after a wash and once or twice after riding for a good amount of time in heavy rain.

What I found was my cause was that the tach ring is open to the element exposing the PCB where the slightest moisture can accumulate until the dancing lights come on.

Everytime it did occur, I found that it went away after a few hours of riding or within a day at the most.

One of the things I did to less it was install a bead around the exposed PCB Tach Board to better moisture proof the solder points and electronics. That as well as making sure that I use good di-electric grease at my harness connections.

I agree with the keeping it in neutral also.

 

[SDDOGGER]

Thanks fibersnake and gasman, I took off my hand controls (they were the style in the pic), speedo, and connectors on the ehc and not a trace of water. I have to hook up the battery today and see if it is still doing it. I am going to follow your forum on shrink wrapping the wires gasman just for piece of mind next time, i will let you know what i find later today. leaving the bike in neutral is a great idea, that would suck to find a downed bike.

 

[SDDOGGER]

Good News, just hooked the battery up and alls well again. My bike is in warranty tell sep. will shrink wrapping the wires mess with my warranty at all??

 

[kickstart]

FYI
The RED SB 1069A covers these circuit boards.

The old boards had 8 holes in them and the new have 3.

 

[P8RIOT]

...will shrink wrapping the wires mess with my warranty at all??

No, it shouldn't - not unless you really screw up the wiring somehow - just be careful to do a thorough and professional job.

 

[SDDOGGER]

red sb 1069a

Where do you find these service bulletins??

 

[CCRainman]

SD, they are not service bulletins. It's just things that guys do to eliminate any future problems. You 'll find there are a lot of people on here that are wrenches and they do things to improve their bikes.

 

[LamboV12]

The neutral switch has 2 functions 1) Provides ground to EHC and ground for the turn signals 2) Ground for neutral light on speedo. The switch is not an EHC function - although the ground circuit for the switch to the neutral light goes through the EHC (just passes through)... I would say unplug the connector, clean / inspect and re-connect.

Was reading the above last night in the service manual..

 

[Gas Man]

SD, they are not service bulletins. It's just things that guys do to eliminate any future problems. You 'll find there are a lot of people on here that are wrenches and they do things to improve their bikes.

Ain't that the truth. When some of these boys talk.. I know I just listen the best I can.. try to remember it for my own good and to recall for others.

And as Lambo said... check the netral switch plug as well.

See attached pics... I circled the hook up for the tranny plug

 

[SDDOGGER]

The neutral switch has 2 functions 1) Provides ground to EHC and ground for the turn signals 2) Ground for neutral light on speedo. The switch is not an EHC function - although the ground circuit for the switch to the neutral light goes through the EHC (just passes through)... I would say unplug the connector, clean / inspect and re-connect.

Was reading the above last night in the service manual..

That does make a lot of sense! I shrink wrapped and put di-electric on all connections last night, and talked to the dealer this afternoon and they are going to upgrade my hand switches since my bike still under warranty and pull the rubber seals out of the ehc and fill with di-electric grease. I will wash the bike this weekend hopefully and see what happens if i get everything done by then.

 

[Sticks]

I just wanted to write and say thanks for all the threads you guys have and how it contributes to in finding answers to problems. With the economic times and dealer closings here in Michigan, commercial technical resources are slim and non existent.

I washed my bike and after an hour of detailing and drying the blinkers, headlight and license lamps started blinking intermittently. I pulled the seat and the LED indicators on the EHC were all blinking intermittently. I disconnected the battery and purchased a new one but the LEDs were still blinking all the lights. So, I got on this sight and did a search and landed on this thread. I took apart the LH controls and found some moisture in the switch contacts on the circuit board. used some penetrating oil to clean out the contacts and put it back together. Now it seems to be fine. I don't have to haul the bike to a dealer and have it out of service for a week, now.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[Gas Man]

Sticks... I sure hope you didn't take it to that asshole in flint.