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Old Aug 15, 2014 | 01:36 PM
  #1  
TK-Rider's Avatar
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Default Electrical Problem / Question

Here is what I’m experiencing:
Turn on the ignition switch; Headlamp, passing lamps, all the running and marker lights come one, the fuel pump primes but that’s it. No gauges, blinkers don’t work, brake lights don’t work, radio does not come on, no odometer, no starter. I purchased a battery charger after speaking with dealer service department yesterday and charged the bike last night to full charge but still the nothing.

It happened after returning from a ride this past Monday night the night before and everything was normal. Went out to the bike Tuesday morning to adjust the brightness on the touch screen and after about 15sec the radio and gauges went off and now here. Any ideas? Scheduling today for the dealer to pick it up.

4-days later dealer says that I had put the tie wraps on the handlebars/wires too tight, pinched a wire and that killed my instrument cluster. Says the "can wires" shorted and I'm looking at a bunch of $$$$ to repair. Seems odd to me that a low voltage "can wire" being pinched would kill virtually everything but the heated hand grips and lights.

Can any of you electrical guys shed any light on this, I would greatly appreciate the input.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2014 | 03:42 PM
  #2  
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I believe the controls on the handle bar is managed by the HDLAN or commonly referred as the CANBUS system. It is basically a pair of wires that can is used the the BCM (Body Control Module), to send & received computer data to the control switches on handlebar. Based on the the switch's function(s), the BCM, when it receives an input, will command the relay or another module to say, turn the left or right signal lamp, flash headlights, etc.,

When the data wire or data bus sees an electrical short, the BCM will detect this condition and, to protect the entire electrical system, it will shutdown that particular part of the system. When the physical short is resolved, the BCM will reset the port and begin functioning as designed.

I think this is how this the HD CANBUS system functions from a layman's point of view...think of it this way, the CANBUS is quite similar to your home or small office network router/switch. When one of the data port sees and problem on one of the network port, as in an electrical short, the router/switch will shut that specific port until cleared, or in some cases, the entire switch will shut itself off depending on type & model or how sophisticated the network switch is...my $0.02...
 
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Old Aug 15, 2014 | 06:11 PM
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Thanks for the info! It just surprises me that one wire that is so lightly protected has the potential of TOTALLY disabling the motorcycle. But... I guess it can... and did.
What they said happened is that it appeared to had lost so much info at once that it threw several codes and (basically freaked out) and shut down entirely. Took several hours just get to a point to even retrieve the codes.
Again, thanks for the reply!
 
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Old Aug 15, 2014 | 08:28 PM
  #4  
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I've been dealing with Can bus networks in cars for years it doesn't take very much to cause a network issue . So it doesn't surprise me at all the Can bus caused you problem. Can bus has a high speed network and a low speed network if they touch or short to ground it crashes everything on that network .
 
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Old Aug 16, 2014 | 06:53 AM
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Well, it did. Costly lesson learned! Thanks for the input.
 
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Old Nov 10, 2014 | 12:08 AM
  #6  
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if everything comes one but the gauges then the fuse is blown (top right of the fuse box I think) you could of blown the fuse by having those wires pinched I suppose
 
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Old Mar 16, 2018 | 11:27 AM
  #7  
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Default Ran into the same problem during a handlebar install.

I recently replaced the handlebars on my 15 Ultra Limited. Everything went great and everything worked when I loose fit all the controls. Once I tightened everything down I crushed the right control wires into the handlebar causing a short when I turned on the ignition. I believe I heard a little pop. At that time nothing worked on the instrument panel. Only thing working was the headlights and accessory lights, and the fuel pump kicks on.

I pulled the right controller off and repaired the wires and confirmed continuity. I reinstalled the controller but the only change was now the radio will come on. Still no gauges and controls don't work, i.e. I can't control the radio even though it is working, except by the touchscreen.

I checked the 20A P&A fuse but it was fine. All the fuzes were fine. I disconnected the battery for an hour and reattached it with no change.

Could the P&A relay be a problem? I don't know how to check that.

Any help or insight would be welcome.
 
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Old Mar 17, 2018 | 04:44 PM
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You should be getting a no BCM communication error (DTE) if that is the case I think.
 
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Reverse quit on my 19. Fuse (no breaker) was good. I took it in to Bert's Barracuda in St Petersburg, Fl on a Monday afternoon, and on Tuesday they called me to say it was ready for pickup. They put a kit in it. Works fine again now.
 
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