So I took the bike out for the first time in about a year (due to hurricane Harvey and then a broken ankle) to get its annual inspection. Bike started up with no issues, rode like I remembered, and just felt good to be back on two wheels. Noticed about half way to the dealership that the red warning light came on. I get there and they can't do the inspection because the left turn signal and horn are not working, at all. I check and sure enough, nothing, except the trip button. Trip is and was working fine. Although the lights and horn are completely DOA. I take the bike back home and start to investigate. I don't want to damage anything further, so I am reluctant to start tearing things apart to troubleshoot. Service manual says that the controls have a retaining plate that needs to be removed to help facilitate the disassembly of the control housing, yet the book is not consistent with what I am seeing after I removed the top housing. No retaining plates are visible, at all. Lower housing moves around, but will not release. I see no screws anywhere that might be holding it.

Questions for you all:

1. Is it worth while to continue trying to disassemble the control housing?
2. Is there anything in the controls that could have been disconnected, such as a wiring harness/plug?
3. Should I check the other end of the wring harness to see if the far end might be loose?
4. And if so, where is the other end? Do I need to pull the tank off to get to it?

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can share. Dealership wants $100 just to look at it and quoted an additional $450 if they have to replace the switch assembly. That does not even include a new wiring harness if one needs to be run.

 

 

Is the bike stock or has something changed? Different handlebars, any recent maintenance, removal of tank, seat, etc?

Start with the basics.. confirm your bulbs are good, your horn is connected ..battery cables tight, check ground from battery.. then trace the wires to confirm you don't have damage.

 

I had a Ram mount on my left bar that I removed yesterday. The control wires were run through the mounting hardware, so when I went to remove it, the wires did get tugged on a bit in order to give me access to the nuts below. I did not think it would have been enough to cause any issues, as it was not much tension applied. I guess it was more than I thought.

Is is possible to find the connection into the main harness without removing the tank?

 

Bike is stock with no modifications, other than the Ram mount that I just removed. All bulbs are good, horn is connected, headlight works. Although, the switch no longer changes from high to low any more. This is definitely a control module, cable or connector issue. It just seems odd that the trip button would still work when none of the others are working now.

 

Turns out it was likely caused by water. I washed the bike just prior to leaving for the dealership.

I found out that I had to remove the clutch mount from the bar before the control assembly would release. Once I dropped the clutch assembly, everything became clear. I found the retaining plate and was able to dig into the workings of the controls. The little PC board behind the switches had a little bit of moisture on its surface, and I also noticed a tiny amount of corrosion at the bottom of the board. My guess is that it was never water tight, but just now decided to cause a problem.

After giving the board a quick wipe with a dry cloth, I reinstalled it enough to test. Horn and left signal are working! High/Low beam switching still does not work, so I will likely get some contact cleaner and squeeze in a little dielectric grease on the connectors and see what that does for me.

 

Glad you found the problem!