| Author | Message | ||
     Chainsaw |
I'm 14 hours from leaving for the Buell Rally In Taos, NM. 2003 XB9R, Stock • 14,700 miles Riding home from work today, the bike dies right in front of my house (luck of the Irish!). Bike will not start. ignition fuse is blown. I've taken the body pieces off the bike and checked every bit of wiring that can be seen and I can't find any bit of wire worn thru that would cause a short. I replace the fuse with a spare, it blows the second I hit the run switch (not the START switch) which I believe would eliminate the kickstand and clutch switches as culprits. -1{Conditions today are dry and sunny, bike hasn't been washed in days.} I'm gonna take the switch housing apart next, anyone have any ideas? I'm a runnin' out of daylight and time! | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Al at American Sport Bike had a problem that turned out to be a wire in a special wrap that looks like one wire but is 3...But personally I think your on the right track looking at the switch housing. | ||
| Darthane |
Ditto | ||
| Chainsaw |
Looked in the switch housing. There was a little corrosion on one of the wires, cleaned it up, hit it with dielectric grease, I still blow the fuse! Looks like I'm taking a Harley to a Buell Rally! | ||
| Darthane |
Hmm...well, when I get home I'll take a look in my manual and see if I can give you any hot spots to look at first. Don't worry, you'll get it sorted out soon enough. Is the horn circuit on the ignition path on a R or only on the Ss? | ||
| Chainsaw |
Appreciate the help Darthane! I know you're the wiring guru around here. I've pulled the switch again and still find nothing amiss. I've got the fairing off and headlights out, which gives me a pretty good view of the main wiring harness, nothing is chaffing anywhere I can find. I've pulled the shrink tubing off from the switch to where it plugs into the harness, everything looks fine there as well. I'm baffled! I wonder if this sort of thing is covered under my extended warranty (I'll have to read the fine print). All things considered, I'd hate to tow this puppy in for a shorted wire! A few more days of frustration... Anyway, off to Taos on the Sporty. Kinda ironic to take the Buell to Sturgis and the Harley to a Buell rally. At least the Buell died in front of my house! I only had to push it a 100 feet or so to the driveway. I'll be back Sunday. Again, thanks for the help! | ||
| Darthane |
Chainsaw, if you've got a multimeter (voltmeter) take it to the power feeds and check for continuity to ground. Might help you narrow your search area down. | ||
| Hootowl |
I know EXACTLY what this is. Unplug your speedo sensor and try again. | ||
| Krassh |
Had the same problem on my XB9S. Would happen intermittently, then went to the problem you describe. Instant I turned the key the fuse would blow. I trailered it to the dealer since it was under warranty and they called me and said they put a new fuse in and it worked fine. I explained the problems I had been having and they said they would take a closer look. They found the wiring harness curving around the battery under the seat to be the culprit. They just put some electrical tape around the chaffed wires and called it a day, kind of cheap fix that pissed me off at the time. I have not had a blown fuse since. For a while there in the beginning it would just blow and I could put in a spare and keep riding (was carrying a box of fuses in my pocket during that time) then it progressed to the problem you described. Good luck. | ||
| Darthane |
The seat is known to rub through the positive battery cable on XB9Rs, at least the 2003s. I carved the plastic of both my stock seat and the custom seat out to give it more clearance. I noticed it early on, though, so it never caused me any problems. | ||
| Hootowl |
The key here is that it only blows with the run switch on, not just the ignition. I have had this same problem, and it was a shorted speedo sensor. He has a 2003 XB9R, which has the old 12 volt failure prone sensor. Unplug your sensor, and I would be greatly surprised if your problem does not go away. | ||
| Blake |
Chainsaw, See the following. Might be similar to what you are experiencing on your 9R. If so, it's an easy fix. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/32777/20809.html | ||
| Blake |
Would have also sent you an email, but you have hidden your email address (smart) and disallowed private messages through the board (not so smart). | ||
| Krassh |
But the key was turned on right? How is the fuse going to blow without the key turned on? | ||
| Chainsaw |
Darthane: I can borrow a voltmeter and give it a shot. I am led to believe the problem is in the harness under the battery. I did make the seat modification to save the positive battery wire. I just popped 2 more fuses in the dark, hoping to see a blue spark to narrow down the search area (the trick has worked for me before, but not today) Hootowl: I'll try unpluging the speedo sensor Monday. I assume replacing the speedo sensor would be the permanent fix? Krash: Barring the speedo sensor being the culprit...A Buell tech I spoke to from Chicks HD said to look for the same thing you described. I am unable to find a frayed wire. Could you be more specific as to the location? A picture would be darn handy  Blake: I did not disallow private messages through the board, ya'll just didn't have an email to send them to. | ||
| Blake |
?? | ||
| Krassh |
I will look tomorrow morning and unwrap the tape job they did to try and get a pic to you. | ||
| Krassh |
Couldn't wait till tomorrow here goes.  I pulled the wiring harness out a little, and I believe the dealer moved the harness when they wrapped it. So it was probably rubbing against the negative terminal. Though I guess it is tomorrow. | ||
| Darthane |
Hmm...that's a S underseat, though, Chainsaw has an R. Different wiring under there, since all the electronics are up front. | ||
| Chainsaw |
Thanks Krassh! Darthane is right, the R and the S wires are routed differently. My harness is closer to the frame, and I can't find any chaffing under there, but I'll continue to look tonight (and I'll try the speedo sensor thing. Thanks for the help ya'll! | ||
| Krassh |
Ahh didn't look close at the posts to see he had an R. | ||
| Chainsaw |
PROBLEM SOLVED Hootowl sir, I owe you a beer. The connector on the speedo sensor had 2 frayed wires on it. I taped the frayed wires and still blew a fuse. I disconnected the speedo sensor completely, ta-da! BIKE RUNS! I assume the sensor will be covered under warranty, I'll have to see if the dealer will give me one to install. Admin: Please move to the KV for the benefit of the next unfortunate soul. | ||
| Blake |
How about you add a new subtopic to the "Electrical..." topic? That is strange that a shorted speedo sensor circuit would trip the main breaker. Design flaw? | ||
| Chainsaw |
...not main breaker. Ignition fuse. | ||
| Slowby |
the dealer will probably have to replace it. they may throw in a fuse for the spare hole. it is usually the bend in the wire as it comes out of the sensor. | ||
| Glitch |
the dealer will | ||
| Hootowl |
Sweet. Glad you found the problem. That little jewel of information cost me $500 in dealer labor. (Being stranded sucks) Long story, bad ending. Make sure they give you the new 5 volt regulated sensor. The 9S's and all the 12's have a 5 volt supply from the ECM to the sensor, but the early 9R's still used 12 volts. If they give you the standard XB sensor, it may be the wrong one, as the current part does not need the regulator (the ECM gives it 5 volts) I don't know if thats true or not, but it makes sense to me. The part you need is the updated sensor for a tuber with a built in 5 volt regulator. | ||
| Chainsaw |
...don't suppose anyone would have a part number for that? | ||
| Chainsaw |
UPDATE: PROBLEM NOT SOLVED I took the bike in to get the speedo sensor replaced under warranty "while I wait". 3 hours later they were still looking for the short. Evidently it WAS NOT the speedo sensor, just something on that circuit. The dealer's computer has narrowed it down to a white wire that runs the length of the bike. Stay Tuned... | ||
| Chainsaw |
UPDATED UPDATE Got the bike back Wednesday. It was the speedo sensor. They initially replaced the shorted speedo sensor with a bad sensor straight out of the box, hence the delayed repair and confusion as to the root of the problem. Case Closed! | ||
| Hootowl |
Getting bad parts out of supply is NOT good for the troubleshooting effort. I can attest to that. Did they give you the new internally regulated sensor? |
