| Author | Message | ||
     Youk |
Guys, just wanted to pass along a little wisdom... Or lack of... I bought my XB12R when Harley pulled the plug on Buell. Ran great for about a year, then the electrical issues started. I noticed a burning smell when trying to start the bike one day... Smelled like plastic, or silicon. Couldn't find the source, but the bike starter would literally stop when trying to start the bike from that point on. I took it to the dealer, it was under warranty at the time, and they replaced the starter switch. Problems continued all through 2011. I have a Garmin Zumo 550 on my bike. It is wired to the accessory circuit. When I would come to a stop light, after 20 minutes or so of riding, the GPS would alert me that it was on battery. (AUX Circuit is being shut down by the ECM.) I hadn't had a chance to diagnose the issue, but stumbled on the problem last night. The main ground coming off the battery bolts to the frame of the bike. It is like 6" long and connects to a stud in the battery box with an M6-1.0 nylon lock nut. This connection was loose enough that I could easily wiggle it with my hands. The nut had gotten so hot from the high resistance of the connection, that the nylon guts melted. The star washer under the cable was burnt, and black. I'll be putting her back together tonight, I need to pick up a replacement nut today. I'll post back if anything is still wrong, but I'd bet this fixes all the issues I've had. For the record... I'm sure Buell used a nylon lock nut on this application to automatically alert the rider of a poor ground.  (Message edited by Youk on April 27, 2012) |
