On the ride to work this morning I noticed that my tachometer needle was bouncing in a very mechanical fashion. It now won't give any accurate readings and it won't move past around 7K. At the same time I noticed my engine was getting warm, the temp needle was also behaving eradically. To top it off my turn signal indicators (not the signals themselves) now both blink at the same time whenever I use them. Oh and my radiator fan has quit working (which probably explains the temp gauge reading high almost to the red). All these symptoms appeared at the same time so I'm guessing the root cause is some kind of electrical/interference issue. I checked all the fuses and eyed the wiring.....no clue. I hate touching electrical as I don't have the patience....anyone have a clue? Specifically what one point of failure could cause all these symptoms?

Thanks for your help....

 

All of the relays are bundled together in the junction box, chances are you'll need to replace it, but I've only just started looking into the electrical workings of these bikes myself.

There is a process in the haynes book for checking each relay in the junction box with an ohmmeter. You just pop out the junction box and put the leads to the corresponding contacts where the plugs go in to the junction box. Pretty simple, maybe you could give that a try?

Also, I've seen strange electrical behavior right before a fuse blew. Checked the fuse, it looked fine, car stereo acting up something fierce. Couple days later the fuse went, I replaced it and everything was fine, so maybe try swapping the fuse with your spare and see if the problem persists.

good luck.
-Joe

 

ie: a voltage drop is prolly happening causing an over amp condition.

 

Minor update...there was nothing wrong with the radiator fan....the faulty temp gauge led me to believe the bike was running hot, soI thought the fan shouldhave been running. I have the bike in the shop (a trusted mechanic, not a stealership ) for a complete tune-up. He's gonna take a quick look at the electrical to see if there's anything obvious. If he doesn't find it, I'll dust off the multimeter and see if I can figure it out.Thanks for the suggestions....I have the wiring diagrams from the Clymer Manual. It doesn't show any wires from the temp gauge but it does show a wire from the ignition to the Tach, so I'll probably start there.

Never fails that a problem shows up as soon as the weather is beautiful here in Seattle.

Peace out...

 

Great news! got the bike back from its tuneup.....the mechanic didnt have a chance to troubleshoot the electrical...and I didn't really feel like paying for that anyway. Anyhow after checking all the connections (at the junction box) I pulled the front fairing off (for the first time) and it was very apparent what was wrong. The gauge cluster connecter had somehow come undone and was only barely still inserted in the socket. To be honest I don't know how it was able to get any connection at all. It was probably arcing a bit. I cleaned it all up with electrical connector cleaner and re-attached it. Problem solved! gauges/lights working great now.

 

Congrats on an easy fix... The weather here (Tacoma) isnt supposed to be so hot next week! But I am still riding strong!

 

I actually drove my car to work yesterday as 90 degrees was a bit "too hot" for me (especially in riding gear). And to think I was complaining earlier about the bad weather here.....just goes to show you"be careful what you wish for"......

 

So true, and I have to cut the lawn today! I have to get it done before 1 I think before I burn up...

 

nice to hear ity was an eazy fix for you on your bike.

 

Congrats on finding your voltage issue.