Major electronics and clutch failure

[taras]

Hi everyone, I have made quite a long (3000 miles) trip through south of Russia recently and encountered two failures.
Just sharing experience, maybe someone could use it. My bike, the 40k miles Concours, 2009ABS.
Before I even left my home city of Moscow, I had an electronics faliure, I still cant explain, however it happened once and never came up again.
After a short stop I started riding and noticed some weird stuff on my dashboard. Both turning indicators where shining half power and the headlights were not working. Everything else was running perfect, no errors, no strange behavior. I stopped and tried to turn of the bike, and that was when the nightmare begun, all the lights where flashing sporadically and even the windshield was twitching up and down about an inch. After about 10 seconds, the bike eventually shut down, after I turned it back on, the engine could start, however lamps where still shining and flashing in a random order. Shining and blinking like a Christmas tree I made my way back to the garage, where I took off all the plastic and started unplugging and plugging back all the fuses, relays etc. Eventually, everything got fine, but I could not figure out what was the exact reason for this. This was the strangest thing I ever had with any bike.
Now the clutch. After some aggressive takeovers on my way back from my trip, the clutch started feeling really strange. I was really upset because it was quite late in the afternoon and I was in the middle of nowhere 1000 miles from home. The bike kept running though. The strange thing was that the clutch lever started feeling "empty" while decelerating, and when downshifting with the lever pulled all the way, the clutch seemed to engage for a second and then release. No clutch slipping or other bad things i could notice. In this fashion I made my way back home.
The reason was that star springs got worn out. One of them was missing a "beam", and another came apart in my hands. The pressure plate also had significant signs of wear in the clutch spring holes. So now I am waiting for a pressure plate and star springs.

[VirginiaJim]

The first issue sounds like battery/connections problems.  How old is the battery would be the first question, but is no indicator that it's good either if it's been in there less than a year.  Make sure all the ground connections are clean, not just looking clean but cleaned with a wire brush.  They can have invisible corrosion.  If that doesn't fix it then my guess is that a connection somewhere in the harness has corroded.

As far as the clutch goes, I've heard of that happening on a C10, but not a 14.

[tthompsr]

The first issue sounds like battery/connections problems.  How old is the battery would be the first question, but is no indicator that it's good either if it's been in there less than a year.  Make sure all the ground connections are clean, not just looking clean but cleaned with a wire brush.  They can have invisible corrosion.  If that doesn't fix it then my guess is that a connection somewhere in the harness has corroded.

As far as the clutch goes, I've heard of that happening on a C10, but not a 14.

You said the exact same thing when I reported mine went bad! 

[VirginiaJim]

It bears repeating..

[gPink]

You said the exact same thing when I reported mine went bad! 

.....and what was your diagnosis?

[Deziner]

Are you sure that the first problem wasn't vodka induced?  Just a thought...

[VirginiaJim]

It's certainly induced me a few times 

[maxtog]

It bears repeating..

Indeed it does... since we see the same issue over and over and over and over again.

Have one or more of these?

* Problems starting
* Freaking out display
* Unusual indicators
* Relays clicking strangely
* Odd error messages appear
* Suddenly cuts off

Then check/clean/tighten all your battery and ground connections and then try a new battery.

Clutch- that is something totally different.  Very rare to hear any problems with the C14 clutch, other than related to the clutch fluid going bad or having air in the lines.

[gPink]

It bears repeating..

[VirginiaJim]

 

[Conrad]

"all the lights where flashing sporadically and even the windshield was twitching up and down about an inch."

I don't think that we've ever heard of the issue the OP had with his windshield moving up and down by its self while the other electronics freaked out. How would that be possible without the switch being pressed? Without the switch being pressed the circuit is open so where would the power come from to move the shield?

[maxtog]

"all the lights where flashing sporadically and even the windshield was twitching up and down about an inch."

I don't think that we've ever heard of the issue the OP had with his windshield moving up and down by its self while the other electronics freaked out. How would that be possible without the switch being pressed? Without the switch being pressed the circuit is open so where would the power come from to move the shield?

Since gen has auto lower and also has memory (auto raise), this shows that the windscreen is more than just an on/off switch, it has some amount of smarts (at least on Gen 2).  Now, whether or not it has its own little brain or is connected to the ECU, I don't know..... but there are some electronics there that could "freak out".

[gPink]

The superior gen 1 windshield stays where you put.

[taras]

"all the lights where flashing sporadically and even the windshield was twitching up and down about an inch."

I don't think that we've ever heard of the issue the OP had with his windshield moving up and down by its self while the other electronics freaked out. How would that be possible without the switch being pressed? Without the switch being pressed the circuit is open so where would the power come from to move the shield?

Well I regret, I did not make a video.
But I assure you, this IS possible.

[gPink]

Had you been in the rain or washed the bike? Have you added any electrical or electronic modifications?

[zarticus]

The superior gen 1 windshield stays where you put.

Yes, It gets swollen from all the heat so it does not move as easy   

[gPink]

 

[Conrad]

Yes, It gets swollen from all the heat so it does not move as easy   

Shouldn't there be an 'easy boys' in there somewhere?

[Conrad]

Since gen1/2 have auto lower, and gen 2 also has memory (auto raise), this shows that the windscreen is more than just an on/off switch, it has some amount of smarts.  Now, whether or not it has its own little brain or is connected to the ECU, I don't know..... but there are some electronics there that could "freak out".

Not true. As GP said, the superior Gen 1 bikes do not have auto lowering windshields or any other such nonsense.

[taras]

Had you been in the rain or washed the bike? Have you added any electrical or electronic modifications?

Yes, I have been in quite a heavy rain.
I have a number of electrical modifications (heated grips and seat, fog light), however, they all have a separate wiring directly from the battery, the only part that is cut into the oem wiring is the relay, it is connected to the accessory socket, and powers all the extra stuff. The relay draws only about 0,05A from the accessory socket, no other interference with OEM wiring. I hope I have made it clear enough, I am not the native English speaker, you know.