Any thoughts on this VSS Error & Limp Home Mode? Possibly the battery??

[Mrmikey]

Mornin' all.
Just bought this, '15 SE6 FE3T, 18,000 kms, a few weeks back and got a 'VSS error, limp home mode' this am.
Story behind the drive. Went out for a ride with just my vest on, went about 3km from home and had to go back home for a jacket as it was a bit colder than I thought. Set the brake, shut the rig off, went into the house, came back out, and started it, released the brake, which it seemed to just fine. Got out on the road and it felt... different. I looked down, and I saw my Spyder had "VSS Error, Limp Home mode", and I was limited to 85kph. l drove a couple of kms, pulled over, restarted, and been fine ever since. I had a check engine light (Never noticed message) the other day after stopping for fuel, restarting to move and park in shade, and restarting a couple of minutes later. Using the brake all times.
The battery tests fine on one of those small capacitance testers, but I'm now getting leery of it. I'm thinking that in both instances, it was caused by a major power draw, then starting, as well as the park brake application and release. So maybe there was insufficient time between those starts to fully recoup the battery. Thoughts, anyone?

 

[BajaRon]

Do a genuine load test on the battery, being first sure it is fully charged. That's the first place I'd look. A low voltage upon startup can give the computer a stroke. It gets disoriented and can hallucinate all kinds of nonexistent issues. Fortunately, these are temporary and with correct voltage supplied, the problem goes away.

If the battery is good, then hooking up to BUDS may be your next best move.

 

[Mrmikey]

Do a genuine load test on the battery, being first sure it is fully charged

I don't have a lot of faith in those capacitance testers so I plan on taking it and doing and actual proper load test on it. I usually plug it in to a maintainer but I've been lazy the past week as I usually go out once a day for a spin (haven't for a couple of days) and moving it around to get my old bike out when a fella came to look at it.
Now that I think of it, when I've been starting it, it sounds like an engine with the timing advance off a bit, gives a bit of a hesitation when initially turning over.

 

[BajaRon]

I don't have a lot of faith in those capacitance testers so I plan on taking it and doing and actual proper load test on it. I usually plug it in to a maintainer but I've been lazy the past week as I usually go out once a day for a spin (haven't for a couple of days) and moving it around to get my old bike out when a fella came to look at it.
Now that I think of it, when I've been starting it, it sounds like an engine with the timing advance off a bit, gives a bit of a hesitation when initially turning over.

Sounds like battery. The Spyder is very voltage sensitive. It also has a fair amount of parasitic draw. Not a good combination. I'd say you're on the right track.