Two Saturdays ago my wife and I get the Spyder out for a ride to Albany and the gas gauge reads Empty and the little gas pump light was on. I thought for sure I had filled her up the night before. Any ways going down the road to the gas station, the needle goes to full and the light goes out. We continue on our way with no problems the rest of the day.
fast forward to the next Friday, I stopped to pay electric bill, go to start Spyder, no start. The little box at the bottom middle of the screen is Orange with a key picture. Turn key off, turn it on, the box flashes Orange w/ key for half a second, than flashes "check engine" half a second with check engine light on in the tachometer, light goes out, bike starts up. Continue on my way 1/2 dozen starts, no problems the rest of the week. Until today. Gas gauge is dead agin.
i can't get to the dealer until the end of the month so i guess I'm asking for opinions. Is my Spyder working towards going Nuculer with the Orange screen of death?
my bike is a 2014, still on warranty just can't get it to the dealer until the 27th.
First things first; have you looked at and tightened your battery connections. Do you keep it on a maintainer when you're not riding??? How often is it taken for 2-4 hour rides??? Sounds like a bad battery, take it to batteries + and have them load test it for you. Good luck, let us know what happens
All the great movements in the world began with a cup of coffee!
2018 F3-T
My mods: Can am Trailer hitch, USB and 12 volt power outlets, Gustason windshield, Bead rider seat cushion, battery harness for electric gear and battery tender, Time out trailer.
Pay your bills online and take the time you usually spend paying them in person to go on a long ride instead. Your battery will like you better.
2017 F3T-SM6 Squared Away Mirror Wedgies & Alignment
2014 RTS-SM6 123,600 miles Sold 11/2017
2014 RTL-SE6 8,600 miles
2011 RTS-SM5 5,000 miles
2013 RTS-SM5 burned up with 13,200 miles in 13 weeks
2010 RTS-SM5 59,148 miles
2010 RT- 622
Pay your bills online and take the time you usually spend paying them in person to go on a long ride instead. Your battery will like you better.
Good idea Ann. But when you live in a one stop light town like I do, they are not set up for automatic pay. 5pm is rush hour, it drives me nuts! Its 5 minutes long!
So i got a little time and opened up my battery on the RTS. Not sure if you can see but lots of corrosion on the Terminals (white stuff. I guess it's called corrosion?) so I suspect it is the battery. So this afternoon I'll give it a good cleaning and slap it on the charger, put a little dielectric gel on the terminals. I may just replace the battery, it is over 3 years old. I will probably run by the dealer on the 27th. May just have them check it out. My son and I are to ride up to Mount Washington next month.so piece off mind.
as for a battery is it best to stick with the stock Yuasa?
I'm glad that you have found a good potential solution to the problem.
I replaced the battery on my 2014 Last Month when it was in for some servicing. It was there anyway, and it saved me from another "Down Day" of no riding later this Season.
Two Saturdays ago my wife and I get the Spyder out for a ride to Albany and the gas gauge reads Empty and the little gas pump light was on. I thought for sure I had filled her up the night before. Any ways going down the road to the gas station, the needle goes to full and the light goes out. We continue on our way with no problems the rest of the day.
fast forward to the next Friday, I stopped to pay electric bill, go to start Spyder, no start. The little box at the bottom middle of the screen is Orange with a key picture. Turn key off, turn it on, the box flashes Orange w/ key for half a second, than flashes "check engine" half a second with check engine light on in the tachometer, light goes out, bike starts up. Continue on my way 1/2 dozen starts, no problems the rest of the week. Until today. Gas gauge is dead agin.
i can't get to the dealer until the end of the month so i guess I'm asking for opinions. Is my Spyder working towards going Nuculer with the Orange screen of death?
my bike is a 2014, still on warranty just can't get it to the dealer until the 27th.
Sounds to me like you may have 2 problems...You may be starting to get a DESS problem with the flashing orange key...And maybe a fuel gauge issue???
Dealer can check with Budds if you had a DESS failure...
So i got a little time and opened up my battery on the RTS. Not sure if you can see but lots of corrosion on the Terminals (white stuff. I guess it's called corrosion?) so I suspect it is the battery. So this afternoon I'll give it a good cleaning and slap it on the charger, put a little dielectric gel on the terminals. I may just replace the battery, it is over 3 years old. As for a battery is it best to stick with the stock Yuasa?
The Yuasa is a good battery and is standard on a lot of 'foreign' bikes. But, if you're not near a motorsports dealer that carries it, then get any recommended brand in the same size. BatteriesPlus carries a good selection.
As for the 'corrosion' on the terminals, I've seen a lot worse in my day on fully operational batteries. Go ahead and clean them if you want but I doubt that's the issue. I'm more inclined to think it's something in the electronics as others have suggested.
Last edited by UtahPete; 06-19-2017 at 11:11 AM.
Reason: additional info
Sure sounds like a faulty ground or another loose connection since it's intermittent
Originally Posted by Jheck
Two Saturdays ago my wife and I get the Spyder out for a ride to Albany and the gas gauge reads Empty and the little gas pump light was on. Any ways going down the road to the gas station, the needle goes to full and the light goes out. We continue on our way with no problems the rest of the day.fast forward to the next Friday, I stopped to pay electric bill, go to start Spyder, no start.
The little box at the bottom middle of the screen is Orange with a key picture. Turn key off, turn it on, the box flashes Orange w/ key for half a second, than flashes "check engine" half a second with check engine light on in the tachometer, light goes out, bike starts up. Continue on my way 1/2 dozen starts, no problems the rest of the week. Until today. Gas gauge is dead again.
my bike is a 2014, still on warranty just can't get it to the dealer until the 27th.
From the symptoms, I doubt it's the battery. It sure sounds like an intermittent bad ground or other loose connection to the computer. Before replacing the battery, put a meter across the terminals and see what the reading is. Pull it out of the bike and take it to a local garage if you don't have the equipment. There's no point in wasting time on the battery if that's not the issue, so rule it out first.
Last edited by UtahPete; 06-19-2017 at 01:43 PM.
Reason: delete sentence
So some plans changed and I took the time and ran my bike to the dealers. Gave them all the particulars and left it with them to be checked out. I'll let you all know what they find. Being bikeless is giving me time to think about getting a second bike (2 wheeler).
I am going out on a limb and say , loose connections in the wiring harness from the dash too the wire connections down line , { maybe a mouse , or just worked its self loose ... } just a guess ! hope it is easy , new battery , and 1 new fuse ...
I am going out on a limb and say , loose connections in the wiring harness from the dash too the wire connections down line , { maybe a mouse , or just worked its self loose ... } just a guess ! hope it is easy , new battery , and 1 new fuse ...
If its a mouse....... me and the cats are going to have a serious talk!
Back when I rode BMWs, the cat's meow was an Odyssey battery, if you could afford it. Longer lasting than most stock batteries. On their bike applications page, they don't show one for Spyders; you might have to settle for close enough size-wise. Call them and ask.
Two Saturdays ago my wife and I get the Spyder out for a ride to Albany and the gas gauge reads Empty and the little gas pump light was on. I thought for sure I had filled her up the night before. Any ways going down the road to the gas station, the needle goes to full and the light goes out. We continue on our way with no problems the rest of the day.
fast forward to the next Friday, I stopped to pay electric bill, go to start Spyder, no start. The little box at the bottom middle of the screen is Orange with a key picture. Turn key off, turn it on, the box flashes Orange w/ key for half a second, than flashes "check engine" half a second with check engine light on in the tachometer, light goes out, bike starts up. Continue on my way 1/2 dozen starts, no problems the rest of the week. Until today. Gas gauge is dead agin.
i can't get to the dealer until the end of the month so i guess I'm asking for opinions. Is my Spyder working towards going Nuculer with the Orange screen of death?
my bike is a 2014, still on warranty just can't get it to the dealer until the 27th.
Got my bike back this last Friday. They had to replace the DESS module. Got on it took it to doctors appt. got back on after appt. and Gas gauge says E, little gas pump light is lit up. (Bike is full) and now the Temp. Gauge stays at half way point all the time.????? So now back to the dealer. So the question is- ride it like it is or tye it up at dealers for another 3 weeks??? Very aggravating. Bike only has 8000 miles on it.
2014 RT acting up.
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It is sounding symptomatic of electrical. Battery connections would be the first place to check. 
Originally Posted by SpyderAnn01
I'm glad that you have found a good potential solution to the problem. 
