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2015 RSS with sporadic heavy steering - any ideas?

aka1004

Active member
It just started to happen when I’m turning, steering gets sporadically heavy. It doesn’t happen every time but here and there without any code. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern but it randomly happens.
Any ideas?
2015 RSS with 23k miles and good front tires.
Thank you in advance.
 
A couple of directions:
1. The battery is losing effectiveness. The DPS puts a heavy draw on power at low speeds. You might want to get your battery load checked;
2. It's just the DPS unit going bad.
 
A couple of directions:
1. The battery is losing effectiveness. The DPS puts a heavy draw on power at low speeds. You might want to get your battery load checked;
2. It's just the DPS unit going bad.
Actually, my headlights have been flickering slightly, a continuous flickering.
Maybe that’s a sign my battery is getting weaker?
 
It definitely could be a sign of a battery or maybe the DPS failing, and even if yours might not be an old battery, either of those failures themselves may be a sign that you've got a poor earth terminal connection &/or earth point somewhere, so check that the earth points are all clean and tight and onto bright metal on the frame (maybe fit star washers too, if you haven't already!) And it's probably worthwhile checking the connections between the earth cables themselves and the lugs on the ends of the cables that allow them to be bolted to the terminals &/or frame! I had the lug on the main earth cable partially pull out at the lug where it bolts to the frame behind the battery and right alongside the DPS, even tho the lug was tightly connected to a clean & bright spot on the frame - that poor connection gave me pretty much what you've described in the steering, usually suddenly dropping out or kicking in half way thru a tight corner at speed! 😖 I can assure you that it was so bad that it really focussed my attention! :oops:

The battery was actually good, almost new and properly initialised and charged before installation, but rapidly failing because that dodgy cable/lug connection meant the battery wasn't getting a proper charge and the DPS would drop out every time the cable pulled almost clear of the lug, likely because there was enough juice getting thru the compromised connection to keep everything else ticking over, but the greater demand from the DPS was just too much for it to handle, especially when the cable moved in the lug and reduced the surface area of the connection! Once I found that loose connection, a simple clean and re-solder job resolved the issues - well, it was actually a simple 're-solder' job, but it was a real pain to reach into the gap behind the frunk/LH A arm once the LH front wheel was off, and then do the re-soldering at full stretch with my arms reaching into the depths of the Spyder, but it was well worth it and I'd suggest a lot easier that way than pulling that cable out completely, fixing it, and then replacing it would've been! ;)

I suspect it was the 'extra movement' in that earth cable when I fitted the new battery that caused the poor factory soldering job on the cable/lug connection to give way; and since I found that on my 2013 RT some years ago, I've found similarly poor soldering jobs on quite a few V-Twin Spyders of that 2013-2016 vintage since. Not too many on 2014-2018 1330's tho, maybe a couple that I can recall that may've been caused by the accidents those Spyder's had been involved in. However, in my experience here in Oz, these 'poor soldering connections' are beginning to appear increasingly often on some 2019+ Spyders... :rolleyes:

Good Luck, and please tell us what you find/how you get it fixed. (y)
 
A couple of directions:
1. The battery is losing effectiveness. The DPS puts a heavy draw on power at low speeds. You might want to get your battery load checked;
2. It's just the DPS unit going bad.
Also clean and tighten the main ground points onto the frame.
 
Thank you so much everyone.
Spyder lovers have been the place to come with issues since 2008.

The battery was healthy, but the negative terminal was loose. Once that was tightened, the lights didn’t flutter and the steering became buttery smooth again. Amazing how such a little oversight can cause so much issues.

I was dreading the thought of having to choose the best of worsts between an RT, an F3, and a Ryker…
I’m not fond of any of the current models.
 
Actually, my headlights have been flickering slightly, a continuous flickering.
Maybe that’s a sign my battery is getting weaker?

If your lights are flickering when idling, your battery is on its last legs. I had a 2016 RT Ltd and my added LED lights had started flickering when idling. Just after a trip I made, while working on it, when I turned it on, BANG! Everything went dead. It ended up that the bang came from my battery and it was now dead-dead. I was glad that it did not happen while I was on my trip.
If your lights are flickering and all connections are good, replace your battery before it dies and it leaves you stuck somewhere.
 
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Thank you so much everyone.
Spyder lovers have been the place to come with issues since 2008.

The battery was healthy, but the negative terminal was loose. Once that was tightened, the lights didn’t flutter and the steering became buttery smooth again. Amazing how such a little oversight can cause so much issues.

I was dreading the thought of having to choose the best of worsts between an RT, an F3, and a Ryker…
I’m not fond of any of the current models.

You, my good sir, are one of the fortunate few! This is Very Good News indeed!
 
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