Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => The Bike - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: Armyguns on May 14, 2011, 05:37:08 PM
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Yesterday, within about a mile after refueling and getting back out on the freeway I caught what I though was a "flash" on the Multifunction Display of "FI". If I really did see it, it was for a split second. I was in 6th and doing 75+ so I really wasn't watching the display. It didn't happen again or I didn't see it. The bike was running fine. Today, on my way back from the ARC class, in hard driving rain, I was at highway speed, 65+, and I thought I caught both directional lights on the dash flash on just once almost like the four way flasher button was pushed. My right hand was no where near the flasher button and I wasn't doing anything but concentrating on getting home.
I know others have talked about the FI display, but I never paid much attention. I don't recall anyone mentioning the directional lights flashing.
Any idea what's happening with these events?
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With the heavy rain, you might be getting water in the switch housing, which might have effected the flashers (short). I would check for moisture in the switch.
As far as the FI. I heard quite a few people now say they have had the light come on. (IIRC 2010-maybe 11) But I don't think it's been staying on or creating problems for anybody. Again, IIRC!
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POSSIBLE ELECTRICAL INDERFERENCES.....
I'VE NOTICED THAT FOR A SHORT TIME A YEAR AGO IN CITY LIMITS....
NO ERROR CODES THOUGH..........
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Your bike is possessed? :)
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How many miles have you done? I experienced this around the 600 mark and others have commented as well. There are some theories behind it.
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I would suggest pulling out the battery, removing and CLEANING all the cables, and tie points, and re-install, thightening all the CLEAN connections.
Then you will KNOW they are all ok.....
and you will likely have no further "flash-backs" 8)
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There was a thread on this. Mine (2010) and others have flashed the FI error with the red light coming on as well. Mine did it around 500 miles. Others have had them come on at different intervals, but nothing has come of it. The consensus is that the internal system is doing some sort of check, but nothing happens and the light goes out quickly. It does unnerved you and you keep wondering if the bike will die or not start when you turn it back on. But so far no one that I know of has had any issues pop up after this FI flash.
As far as the 4-way flashing lights coming on, I have not experienced anything like that even riding in driving rain for several hours on a long ride.
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There was a thread on this. Mine (2010) and others have flashed the FI error with the red light coming on as well. Mine did it around 500 miles. Others have had them come on at different intervals, but nothing has come of it.
Yep- I recently posted that my new 2011 did it at about 420 miles or something. Popped up and disappeared so quickly, the only thing I saw was just the "FI". So far that is the only time it happened- I was just driving along, nothing special or noteworthy.
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Just saw this on mine this morning. 2010 with 1300 miles. Only flashed once and nothing since.
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Your bike is possessed? :)
I absolutely believe the bike is posessed. Something evil takes over my right wrist every time I get on the bike!
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How many miles have you done? I experienced this around the 600 mark and others have commented as well. There are some theories behind it.
The bike was at about 2700 miles when the FI flashed, and at 3000 the next day when the directional lights flashed. I did some 'light reading' of the factory shop manual last night about it and I can say that the display ONLY flashed "FI", no "FI ERROR" or warning light ever came on. I tried running the error code self diagnostic test today but no error code came up.
This week I will pull the battery and check those connections. I really doubt they are anywhere close to loose as I was especially careful when installing the aux fuze block to make sure all battery connections were TIGHT.
I'll just keep an eye on it and take note if it happens again.
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I seem to get it every 2 or 3 thousand miles. Doesn't seem to be a problems though.
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I've had 3 in 11000 miles on my 2010. Latest was today on Blue Ridge Pky. This last time it came on for a few seconds and went back to normal. Then about 5 seconds later it came back on for even longer... I thought I was screwed but it went off and was good the rest of the ride.
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a two wheeled Christine :yikes:
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my '10 has done that every few thousand miles since I owned it. >32,000 miles now and no issues to report, actually if the bike goes a while without the light I start missing it.
on the old forum you could've ran a search and seen a plethora of the same comment i just posted it is so common. no worries, no need to call ghostbusters lol
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I've seen that FI flashing once at about 4000 miles on my 2010. I was in mountains and going up in altitude, a sudden temperature change ... a 20F drop. It stays on flashing few times and again minutes later. I though that it was due to these ambiant changes detected by a sensor probe. This is the only time that happened with my bike up to now.
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My 2010 has done this 6 times so far, at 298 miles, 434 miles, 1543 miles, 1837 miles, 6680 miles, and 10,125 miles. Bike has 12,224 miles on it now.
I had the dealer check the ECU for any EFI error codes, and there were no saved error codes. Since all codes are supposed to be saved, I suspect the code has to be persistent for some minimum time period before it is stored. I never saw a FI error last more than 4 seconds.
The zip file below is the Google cache version of the old thread on this. For those who are curious, unzip and open the .htm file in your web browser to read all the prior discussions.
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My 2010 had done the FI Error message twice in 4K miles.
Both times it was about 38 degrees F and raining.
There was no change in engine performance so I figure it must be a sensor tripping the error message.
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I just had my second FI error on my 2011 a few days ago. I was coming out of a tunnel, around 658 miles. As before, it was gone so fast, there was no reading it, other than a glimpse of "FI". I noticed no problem, no hesitation, no issues.
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i have had my '11 ABS for 1.5months now and 3000 miles and no lights.......
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Had the same thing happen to me around 1500 miles light and f1 error,never saw it again.
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well just got home from a 300 mile ride and it poped on on me. 34 miles into a new tank of fuel, crusing throttle, and 93 degree temp (per bike), right at 3300 miles.
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I got it again on mine today. Twice. Full FI followed by the warning light. I was traveling about 80+ at the time. Warning light just flashed on-off quickly, display cycled between FI and FI Error both times. Bike ran fine. I also got the blinker problem happen again- three times. I explained it in a previous post, but in case someone didn't catch it- the dash panel blinkers come on exactly like the four way flasher button is pushed. The first time it happed today, I had just pulled out of a gas station and was accelerating. The lights flashed just once. The next two times I was high speeding it (80+) down the NY State Thruway. There was probably a 50 mile lapse between these events. They flashed three times. Again, no stumble or any other symptoms. Lights start blinking and stop on their own. Weather conditions were perfect. No rain like last time. I put another 200 miles on after that and it didn't happen again. First thing I did when I got home was pull the battery to make sure all connections were tight. They were.
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I have never noticed it on mine ... but i cant see my display unless i look down at it.
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I have never noticed it on mine ... but i cant see my display unless i look down at it.
I can't see most of my dash either while looking at the road, but there is no way I can mess the ultra-bright, red, error light from hell! Especially at night.
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I can't see most of my dash either while looking at the road, but there is no way I can mess the ultra-bright, red, error light from hell! Especially at night.
It has been more than 5 months, many trips, and 1,600 miles since my last "F1", and tonight I had two more. About 80 miles into a 100 mile trip, just cruising at 75MPH in 6th, nothing special, BAM- F1. Then it did it again about 10 miles later. No reason that I could tell.
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Every few thousand miles when my bike FI errors, KiPass immediately comes into play and kicks my bike's silly *ss back into functionality (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/bigthumb.gif)
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I really hope that everyone is informing their dealers of this situation. The more hits the dealers get the more that Kawasaki will deem it necessary to look into it.
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I really hope that everyone is informing their dealers of this situation. The more hits the dealers get the more that Kawasaki will deem it necessary to look into it.
I did report it back at the first service. They said no updates were available and to keep monitoring it, since it wasn't causing any problems.
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Just happened to me again this weekend. This is maybe the 3rd or 4th time in the year and half and 21000 miles on the bike. Doesn't seem to be a problem.
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When I went to the dealer he explained to me that the FI indicator was like some kind of catch all indicator and could mean alot of things. When it happened to mine it was something really really bad and was staying on but most of the time it is just something where the engine is running outside of normal parameters for just a second. He said if there was no code then it was no problem. From what he explained, if there was a code then it had to be fixed and of course the FI would stay on. If it only was something that happened for a second then it was no biggie and dont worry about it. It sucks that it does not hold a code since it would be nice to check out what it was doing at the time. Especially if it is something that is easily avoidable if you knew what the problem was.
Dont know if he was blowing smoke up my A$$ but he is an old school kawi mechanic and I believe him.
I guess the best thing is to see if you can duplicate the problem and see if there is a common factor but I know that is almost impossible sometimes. :-\
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Every time it has done it on my bike it was for a second or two. I'm guessing some sensor out of range. But your right, it would be nice to know what parameter was temp out of range. And if it is the same one every time then you know there is a glitch with that sensor or circuit. Why not an OBDII port?
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I don't know if this was mentioned already, but there was some discussion in previous threads that when this happened mostly after or around the first service the bike was changing to some different ECU setting/map. Its only happened to my bike once and it was around that time.
I suspect that is more rumor than fact.
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Again its not worth sweating over, typical Kawi behavior. Plus its happened to me more times than i can count and here is the result:
Every few thousand miles when my bike FI errors, KiPass immediately comes into play and kicks my bike's silly *ss back into functionality (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/bigthumb.gif)
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It happened to mine (2011) on the way home from work tonight. About 580 miles at 75 mph. Red light flash, then F1. I was using the ECO mode - I thought it may have been that leaner setting. Turned the ECO off and back on later, no repeat.
Based on what I'm reading, I'm going to trust KiPass to keep me safe!
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It happened to mine (2011) on the way home from work tonight. About 580 miles at 75 mph. Red light flash, then F1. I was using the ECO mode - I thought it may have been that leaner setting. Turned the ECO off and back on later, no repeat.
Yep, it seems to be pretty mysterious, random, and ubiquitous. I suppose you just do what most of us do, note it, and ignore it.
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Yep, it seems to be pretty mysterious, random, and ubiquitous. I suppose you just do what most of us do, note it, and ignore it.
Or buy a HONDA, but i'll let KiPass continue to kick my FI error back into shape 8)
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I've gotten he error 3 times now. twice wile riding..quick blip and then back to normal. Yesterday it happened at a light when I could not get the bike into neutral. I was in second, clicked it down to go into neutral, and got a blank gear indicator (which I get quite often-this normal?) clicked it again to get it into 1st and to get the indicator back, and the FI error came on and stayed on for at least 3-4 seconds until I hit the shifter again. Finding neutral is rather annoying on this bike.
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Interesting that it's (F1 error) happening when you were shifting. I wonder if it's something to do with the gear position sensor? What you are experiencing with finding neutral while at a stop is normal. If I forget to down shift, I have to rev it and play with the shift lever a bit to get it into either neutral or first. I don't remember if my screen goes blank whilst fiddling with it.
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Interesting that it's (F1 error) happening when you were shifting. I wonder if it's something to do with the gear position sensor? What you are experiencing with finding neutral while at a stop is normal. If I forget to down shift, I have to rev it and play with the shift lever a bit to get it into either neutral or first. I don't remember if my screen goes blank whilst fiddling with it.
I agree- odd. I have never had the F1 error except while cruising at high speed. Every post I have seen about the mysterious, "instant" F1 errors has been while cruising. Never when in idle or stopped, etc. Plus, his didn't sound instant (like 1 sec or less), so there might be something else going on.
... Finding neutral is rather annoying on this bike.
That is a different topic but.... Kawasaki uses a special "neutral finder" thing that takes some getting used it. It should be "easy" to find neutral going up from 1st gear at light/no load, but harder to find it when going down from 2nd (or up from 1st at load). That is by design, so that when going up/down the gears you are not accidentally interrupted by neutral. If you have problems finding it up from 1st at low/no load, you might have a problem with the bike...
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I agree- odd. I have never had the F1 error except while cruising at high speed. Every post I have seen about the mysterious, "instant" F1 errors has been while cruising. Never when in idle or stopped, etc. Plus, his didn't sound instant (like 1 sec or less), so there might be something else going on.
I have, twice.
I've documented 12 FI errors on my bike since new, and it's now over 22,000 miles:
298 miles and got a brief FI error. Outside air temp was about 60F, half tank of fuel, the RPM's had peaked around 5K just before I closed the throttle, sunny and dry.
434 miles, another brief FI error. Sunny, dry, 65F, transitioning from rural to suburbia, Full tank of fuel, short shifting to 3rd.
1543 miles, another brief FI error. This time, it happened while coasting to a stop in OD, at about 2200 RPM's. Weather was clear, 65F, full tank of fuel.
1837 miles, another brief FI error. This time it happened while steady speed cruising in OD at 70MPH. Weather was 64F, dry, overcast, about 1/4 tank of fuel.
6680 miles, brief FI error, middle of nowhere (central WY desert), cruising at 80+ in OD, 90+F.
10125 miles, brief FI error, downtown PDX, late evening, 1st gear driving through an intersection, 64F, 2/3 tank of fuel,
14896 miles, brief FI error, inside Sylvan tunnel (PDX, US26), 8:30PM, 61F, coasting downhill in 4th gear @ 50MPH, just about to short shift to 6th, 2 bars on the fuel gauge.
16,284 miles, brief FI error, stop sign at Woodard Rd (Springdale side), 8:00pm, 64F, full tank of fuel, on a down hill doing a quick stop and go at a stop sign, just downshifted to 1st, abrupt off to on throttle change,
19188 miles, brief FI error, NW PDX, sitting stopped at light, EB NW21st & Lovejoy, 70F, full tank, 7:30pm. Didn't turn on red light, but did screen swap 4 times (2 each screen).
21663 miles, brief FI error, PDX, sitting stopped at light, WB 181st & Sandy, 55F, Full tank, 10:30am. No read light, just caught a glimps of it.
21825 miles, Another FI error, EB US26 @ Cedar Hills cruising at 70MPH, 6th gear, a couple minutes before low fuel came on, 55F, 12:45am, red light flashed twice.
21943 miles, Another FI error, HCRH South of Stark St. bridge almost to Springdale, 50MPH, low fuel on, 50F, 8:45pm, it turned off Red light (was on after clearing low fuel warning).
They did seem to taper off after tightening up the throttle cable slack a couple different times, though that could have also been a coincident.
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Yeah, that documentation is a little light- we are going to need the direction the bike was pointing toward in each instance, as well as the phase of the moon to make any type of useful guesses.
What do you do, ride with a notepad open and a pencil in one hand?
Brian
I have, twice.
I've documented 12 FI errors on my bike since new, and it's now over 22,000 miles:
<snipped tabulated data>
They did seem to taper off after tightening up the throttle cable slack a couple different times, though that could have also been a coincident.
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Yeah, that documentation is a little light- we are going to need the direction the bike was pointing toward in each instance, as well as the phase of the moon to make any type of useful guesses.
What do you do, ride with a notepad open and a pencil in one hand?
Brian
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/avatars/lol.gif)
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Yeah, that documentation is a little light- we are going to need the direction the bike was pointing toward in each instance, as well as the phase of the moon to make any type of useful guesses.
What do you do, ride with a notepad open and a pencil in one hand?
Brian
Gotta admit, Brian, he's good.
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Good nothing, that is fantastic! No dealer could resist such documention- they would give in and just give him a new C-14 before he was one- half way through that list.
;D
Brian
Gotta admit, Brian, he's good.
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Wow! I have similar miles but have only seen 3 or 4 F1 errors. But I'm sure there have been others. It is so brief that unless you are looking at the screen at the time you would miss them.
I have, twice.
I've documented 12 FI errors on my bike since new, and it's now over 22,000 miles:
298 miles and got a brief FI error. Outside air temp was about 60F, half tank of fuel, the RPM's had peaked around 5K just before I closed the throttle, sunny and dry.
434 miles, another brief FI error. Sunny, dry, 65F, transitioning from rural to suburbia, Full tank of fuel, short shifting to 3rd.
1543 miles, another brief FI error. This time, it happened while coasting to a stop in OD, at about 2200 RPM's. Weather was clear, 65F, full tank of fuel.
1837 miles, another brief FI error. This time it happened while steady speed cruising in OD at 70MPH. Weather was 64F, dry, overcast, about 1/4 tank of fuel.
6680 miles, brief FI error, middle of nowhere (central WY desert), cruising at 80+ in OD, 90+F.
10125 miles, brief FI error, downtown PDX, late evening, 1st gear driving through an intersection, 64F, 2/3 tank of fuel,
14896 miles, brief FI error, inside Sylvan tunnel (PDX, US26), 8:30PM, 61F, coasting downhill in 4th gear @ 50MPH, just about to short shift to 6th, 2 bars on the fuel gauge.
16,284 miles, brief FI error, stop sign at Woodard Rd (Springdale side), 8:00pm, 64F, full tank of fuel, on a down hill doing a quick stop and go at a stop sign, just downshifted to 1st, abrupt off to on throttle change,
19188 miles, brief FI error, NW PDX, sitting stopped at light, EB NW21st & Lovejoy, 70F, full tank, 7:30pm. Didn't turn on red light, but did screen swap 4 times (2 each screen).
21663 miles, brief FI error, PDX, sitting stopped at light, WB 181st & Sandy, 55F, Full tank, 10:30am. No read light, just caught a glimps of it.
21825 miles, Another FI error, EB US26 @ Cedar Hills cruising at 70MPH, 6th gear, a couple minutes before low fuel came on, 55F, 12:45am, red light flashed twice.
21943 miles, Another FI error, HCRH South of Stark St. bridge almost to Springdale, 50MPH, low fuel on, 50F, 8:45pm, it turned off Red light (was on after clearing low fuel warning).
They did seem to taper off after tightening up the throttle cable slack a couple different times, though that could have also been a coincident.
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Wow! I have similar miles but have only seen 3 or 4 F1 errors. But I'm sure there have been others. It is so brief that unless you are looking at the screen at the time you would miss them.
Your KiPass is correcting the problem so fast the human eye can't detect the flash of the red light (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/bigthumb.gif)
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There ya' go- next year's marketing sound bite: "The new KiPass, now faster than light. The only area left that could be improved."
Brian
Your KiPass is correcting the problem so fast the human eye can't detect the flash of the red light (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/bigthumb.gif)
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Yeah, that documentation is a little light- we are going to need the direction the bike was pointing toward in each instance, as well as the phase of the moon to make any type of useful guesses.
What do you do, ride with a notepad open and a pencil in one hand?
Brian
No notepad, just commit the details to memory until the next stop (usually fuel or arrived at my destination). Some of us still have our short term memory ;)
Actually, I consider it ammunition, just in case I ever have to deal with Kawi on some electronic problem with this bike. Some would say you can always use more ammunition.
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Wow! I have similar miles but have only seen 3 or 4 F1 errors. But I'm sure there have been others. It is so brief that unless you are looking at the screen at the time you would miss them.
I'm sure there were many more that I didn't see. I think mine has been on the "worse" side of the scale, for how many I seem to get.
Plus, I'm always checking my gauges and display while I'm riding. For me, it's part of staying focused I guess.
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Your KiPass is correcting the problem so fast the human eye can't detect the flash of the red light (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/bigthumb.gif)
That explains it! Maybe up here at high altitude KiPass works even faster because of less aerodynamic drag ;D
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Yeah, that documentation is a little light- we are going to need the direction the bike was pointing toward in each instance, as well as the phase of the moon to make any type of useful guesses.
What do you do, ride with a notepad open and a pencil in one hand?
Brian
I just split my sides.
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This thread is competing to be more full of win than the drive shaft thread on the old forum (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/avatars/iconstirthepot.gif)
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Yeah, that documentation is a little light- we are going to need the direction the bike was pointing toward in each instance, as well as the phase of the moon to make any type of useful guesses.
LOL!!!! And here I thought I was anal-retentive with keeping much simpler logs.... :)
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Hey, no complaints from me- I think you did a great job with the documentation. I am a little surprised there were so many incidents but I would never dispute it either.
And besides, it is not like you went overboard or anything- if you recorded the 'clock' position of the valve stem for each incident I would say that was too much but the fuel level, the vehicle speed, the gear it was in, the acceleration (or deceleration), the throttle position.... those were just right....
;) back at 'ya.
;D
Brian
No notepad, just commit the details to memory until the next stop (usually fuel or arrived at my destination). Some of us still have our short term memory ;)
Actually, I consider it ammunition, just in case I ever have to deal with Kawi on some electronic problem with this bike. Some would say you can always use more ammunition.
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YeeeHaaa! I finally got to join the FI Error club! 7k miles and she blipped on me. Scared the &#!+ out of me, then gently rode home wondering who can tow me home if needed :/ From what I'm reading here, not a problem. Feels good being one of the guys now :) BTW, any good tow vehicles in Cincinnati?
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YeeeHaaa! I finally got to join the FI Error club! 7k miles and she blipped on me. Scared the &#!+ out of me, then gently rode home wondering who can tow me home if needed :/ From what I'm reading here, not a problem. Feels good being one of the guys now :) BTW, any good tow vehicles in Cincinnati?
Welcome to the club- surprised it took you 7K to get to it :)