What just happened? Two weeks old: Engine shut down, VSS Error.

[Pooch]

From all of my 2-wheelers thru my current Spyder RTL that kill switch has caused me more frustration than anyone should have to have in 3 life-times.
I have threatened to tape it down in the "run" position.
Inevitably, out in the middle of nowhere, that switch would accidentally get bumped and all mental panic would explode for about 30 seconds until logic and calm kicked in...

 

[Graderman]

Take it back to the dealer and let them fix it under warranty.
If it continues to have the same problem, check on getting it replaced via the lemon laws.

There's no easy answer here. Last time I was at the dealer they were talking about opening a case with BRP if it happened again. I'm supposed to be leaving on it for a 2 week tour in 6 days, I doubt there will be anything that my dealer or BRP will be able to do in such a short time frame. I'm not knocking either BRP or my dealer, I just understand how these thing/s go.
And, we have no lemon laws in Canada.

 

[Graderman]

From all of my 2-wheelers thru my current Spyder RTL that kill switch has caused me more frustration than anyone should have to have in 3 life-times.
I have threatened to tape it down in the "run" position.
Inevitably, out in the middle of nowhere, that switch would accidentally get bumped and all mental panic would explode for about 30 seconds until logic and calm kicked in...

Please explain what has happened on the RTL when the that happened and what you did. Did you have to disconnect the battery? Did the machine die? Did it restart right away?

 

[LongIsland]

Sooooo.... My dealer installed a Yuasa battery and was 100% confident it was a low voltage issue.
It just happened again. Very slight brush of the kill switch and the whole thing is dead in the water. The electronics DO NOT shut down. When I turn the key off the screen is immediately black (no shut down graphics) and when the key is turned back on the screen is in full operation showing all the gauges etc. Thumbing starter does nothing. Disconnect and reconnect the battery and everything goes through the proper start up procedure. Today was extra special though, it still wouldn't start - because the park brake would not activate. I had to disconnect the battery 3 times before it would go.

Does anyone know of a way to reset the electronics without disconnecting the battery? It was hinted at in another post.

This is really spoiling my enjoyment of an otherwise excellent machine.

From my experience your kill switch is working properly. Hit the kill switch, the engine stops immediately, electronics stay on. This enables you to restart the engine quickly without going through the start-up procedure. You turn the kill switch back to 'Run', press the start button, and your ride starts. I don't recall having to step on the brake pedal. I found this out when on a highway, I accidently hit the kill switch, realized it immediately, turned the kill switch back to Run, pressed the start button, and voila started up with a loss in speed but kept on rolling. Try it when parked.
As far as the parking brake affecting start-up, I have started mine with the parking brake off with no problem. Are you doing the proper start up procedure for your ride?

 

[Graderman]

Graderman, I had the same battery in my 2021 F3-T. I went through 2 of them. The original failed and the dealer replaced it under warranty. When the second one failed, I put in a Yuasa battery and have had no issues after that. Before I took delivery on my 2025, I had them check the battery. I told them that if it was Chinese, I wanted it replaced with a Yuasa. It was Chinese and it was replaced. Yes, I paid for the new battery. So my 2 cents is to replace the battery.

As stated above the dealer has replaced the battery with a Yuasa.

 

[Peter Aawen]

As stated above the dealer has replaced the battery with a Yuasa.

Are you 100% sure that the dealer put that new Yuasa battery on a proper charger for at least 8 hours immediately before installing it in your Spyder?? And does that new Yuasa battery have at least 350 CCA & 21 A/hr capacity??

There again, even brand new batteries can die, especially if they've been installed with less than a full & proper charge &/or they've just got too small of a capacity for the job being asked of them.

Ps: Those Kill Switches are anachronisms left over from the days when motorcycles had exposed spark ignition systems sitting on top if the engine immediately below the gas tank and that often gravity fed gas out thru a stop-cock in the bottom of the tank directly into the open bowl carby/s that kept then engine running. They are now FAAARRR more of a liability on a modern fuel injected ICE motorcycle/trike, especially since most of the time there's a bunch of failsafe electronics that immediately stop the gas being pumped into the engine cos said tank is no longer immediately above the engine (but rather, usually behind and on the same level if not below all the spark sources!) & nor is the gas gravity fed into an area very near an ignition system that's likely to provide an ignition source for any spilled/leaking gas! You don't have an extra 'Kill Switch' on your modern auto, simply because they don't need them and they produce more issues than the supposed risks they 'protect' against &/or minimise - so why the bleedin' 'eck are they still mandated for things like our Spyders!

 

[Graderman]

From my experience your kill switch is working properly. Hit the kill switch, the engine stops immediately, electronics stay on. This enables you to restart the engine quickly without going through the start-up procedure. You turn the kill switch back to 'Run', press the start button, and your ride starts. I don't recall having to step on the brake pedal. I found this out when on a highway, I accidently hit the kill switch, realized it immediately, turned the kill switch back to Run, pressed the start button, and voila started up with a loss in speed but kept on rolling. Try it when parked.
As far as the parking brake affecting start-up, I have started mine with the parking brake off with no problem. Are you doing the proper start up procedure for your ride?

When it happens with me the kill/start switch does nothing.
I just tried shutting down and restarting when parked and it worked with the parking brake on or off and in neutral or 1st... I'm going to try some rolling tests here shortly and will post my findings.

 

[Graderman]

Are you 100% sure that the dealer put that new Yuasa battery on a proper charger for at least 8 hours immediately before installing it in your Spyder?? And does that new Yuasa battery have at least 350 CCA & 21 A/hr capacity??

There again, even brand new batteries can die, especially if they've been installed with less than a full & proper charge &/or they've just got too small of a capacity for the job being asked of them.

Ps: Those Kill Switches are anachronisms left over from the days when motorcycles had exposed spark ignition systems sitting on top if the engine immediately below the gas tank and that often gravity fed gas out thru a stop-cock in the bottom of the tank directly into the open bowl carby/s that kept then engine running. They are now FAAARRR more of a liability on a modern fuel injected ICE motorcycle/trike, especially since most of the time there's a bunch of failsafe electronics that immediately stop the gas being pumped into the engine cos said tank is no longer immediately above the engine (but rather, usually behind and on the same level if not below all the spark sources!) & nor is the gas gravity fed into an area very near an ignition system that's likely to provide an ignition source for any spilled/leaking gas! You don't have an extra 'Kill Switch' on your modern auto, simply because they don't need them and they produce more issues than the supposed risks they 'protect' against &/or minimise - so why the bleedin' 'eck are they still mandated for things like our Spyders!

The battery is new, it is fully charged. I won't go into long drawn out details but believe me, I know all about modern motorcycle electronics and batteries. From my experience this is not a battery related issue.
As for the kill switch, I'm not opposed to having them. In almost 60 years of riding motorcycles this is the only the second one that has ever given me issues. The other was a 1978 Montessa Cota 348 trials bike.

 

[Graderman]

I did a few rolling tests in my parkade. As every time this has happened to me it's been while rolling to a stop I kept my speeds low (12 - 15 km/h).

1) Quick bump up on the switch to towards the stop position with quick release back to centre/run position.
2) Deliberate switch to the stop position then back to run.
I repeated these test several times. The engine did die every time but never failed to restart.
When this has happened on the street the machine had the CEL and the park brake indicator illuminated and the starter switch is completely inoperable. In my tests the engine died but the screen never showed any warnings - it just simply re-started.

3) Quick push down and release to the start position.
4) Deliberate push to the start position then back to run.
These were also repeated several times each with no impact on the running of the machine.

A simple observation: There needs to be a raised perimeter around the start/stop switch. That would make it less likely that it would be inadvertently activated.