Up/Downshift Issues - I may have found the cause.

[Frostbyte]

To all of us who have suffered the shifting issues on our RT's, F3's, and whatever, after spending nearly $900 to get the left grip assembly replaced, I asked for the old part and then proceeded to tear it down in my electronics lab once I got home. What I found astounded me. It turned out that the issue was a bit of moulding flash on the turn signal lever that over time penetrated then arced out the downshift foil cable so that it would only work intermittently under just the right conditions. It looks to me to be either a design fault or a QC failure wherein the casting flash doesn't get removed.

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[jzeiler]

Great find, what year was this one?

 

[Mikey]

Very good to know!!! Thank you for sharing the find and putting it out here!!!!

 

[Frostbyte]

Great find, what year was this one?

2019 RT Limited.

 

[Mtn Spyder]

I have a 2019 RT Ltd, I'm now unable to shift into reverse, or manually shift down with the lever. Was that your issue?

If so, did you replace the whole lever, or have a dealer do it?

 

[Frostbyte]

I have a 2019 RT Ltd, I'm now unable to shift into reverse, or manually shift down with the lever. Was that your issue?

If so, did you replace the whole lever, or have a dealer do it?

I had the dealer replace it with a new assembly and had them give me the old one so I could completely tear it down at home and diagnose the issue. I'm a retired,100% disabled electronics tech and Aircraft Electrician, and the contortions needed are beyond my capabilities now. Someone with greater dexterity and flexibility along with a knowledge of electronics and correct specialty tools would be able to do it as you must remove the connector pins from one harness, and after pulling the disconnected harness out, lace the new one through the "Steering Column" before reinstalling the pins in the correct positions. If you're not familiar with this kind of intricate and precision work, I would highly suggest having the dealer do it.

 

[Snoking1127]

I had the dealer replace it with a new assembly and had them give me the old one so I could completely tear it down at home and diagnose the issue. I'm a retired,100% disabled electronics tech and Aircraft Electrician, and the contortions needed are beyond my capabilities now. Someone with greater dexterity and flexibility along with a knowledge of electronics and correct specialty tools would be able to do it as you must remove the connector pins from one harness, and after pulling the disconnected harness out, lace the new one through the "Steering Column" before reinstalling the pins in the correct positions. If you're not familiar with this kind of intricate and precision work, I would highly suggest having the dealer do it.

Old electronic tech's like us don't die early, we just short circuit once in a while. I still have a connector pin removal tool or two somewhere, if I could just remember where!

 

[BajaRon]

Planned obsolesence... We replace a fair number of these. It would be nice to have the time to tear into them and see if there is a pattern. But at the end of the day, we want the day to come to an end!

 

[Frostbyte]

Old electronic tech's like us don't die early, we just short circuit once in a while. I still have a connector pin removal tool or two somewhere, if I could just remember where!

Tell me about it. I'm not just arcing and sparking, I've got too many totally dead subsystems now. (Neuropathy sucks)

 

[Snoking1127]

Tell me about it. I'm not just arcing and sparking, I've got too many totally dead subsystems now. (Neuropathy sucks)

I have PN in both feet thanks to Uncle Sam and AO in SE Asia, and could not hold up a two wheeler. However my USCG electronics training served me well all my working years.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Tell me about it. I'm not just arcing and sparking, I've got too many totally dead subsystems now. (Neuropathy sucks)

I have PN in both feet thanks to Uncle Sam and AO in SE Asia, and could not hold up a two wheeler. However my USCG electronics training served me well all my working years.

Probably a little off topic, and maybe we should take it over to off topic if we want to discuss Peripheral Neuropathy any further, altho if you look at it from the right PoV, it might well be considered an extension of some 'Upshift/Downshift errors'...

Does anyone know if there's even been any real research into this Peripheral Neuropathy thing and who ends up with it, cos it seems to me that a lot of us who've spent time doing things in the service of our Countries and working around things that go 'Bang' do often end up with PN and CTE, etc; and often they're not in association with any of what's commonly considered the 'normal' causes, like diabetes & other diseases that degrade nerves over time?? So I do wonder??

 

[OldAge]

Tell me about it. I'm not just arcing and sparking, I've got too many totally dead subsystems now. (Neuropathy sucks)

They tell me it may come from letting the smoke out of too many wires over the years. LOL I know this from having worked in the field for a while back in the dark ages. And, yes, I have some leg problems.

 

[Snoking1127]

Probably a little off topic, and maybe we should take it over to off topic if we want to discuss Peripheral Neuropathy any further, altho if you look at it from the right PoV, it might well be considered an extension of some 'Upshift/Downshift errors'...

Does anyone know if there's even been any real research into this Peripheral Neuropathy thing and who ends up with it, cos it seems to me that a lot of us who've spent time doing things in the service of our Countries and working around things that go 'Bang' do often end up with PN and CTE, etc; and often they're not in association with any of what's commonly considered the 'normal' causes, like diabetes & other diseases that degrade nerves over time?? So I do wonder??

It does relate to owning a trike vs Motorcycle.

 

[DGoebel]

Kudos to you Frostbyte! Would that BRP would have all dealers replacing the left hand module send them back for a forensic analysis like you've done.
As an owner of a 2018 that only has 20k miles I sometimes have to do a two handed press to get mine into reverse, I sense a replacement left hand controller in my future.....