Hello, friends. I need your expertise. I am a happy owner of an 2018 Indian Roadmaster. It has 27,000 miles on the clock and it has not had any issue at all until a couple of months ago. All recalls have been done (left switch cube and gear position sensor). After riding for more than 10 miles or so, some times more than 100 milesñ (that means that the engine is working at operating temperature), suddenly all warning lights on both dashboards light on. All of them: turning lights left and right, high beam, km/h, miles/hour, gas, Neutral, check engine, etc,etc, etc. Speedo and tach arrows come down to cero. All possible lights turn on and, after a couple of seconds, they start to come on and off randomly, once and again. It usually happens when reducing speed a little bit passing by a town or just when arriving at destination, meaning that have to reduce speed and gears. But to be honest I have not been able to figure out a rationale or any "direct connection" with any event provoking this problem. The engine continues working perfectly and I can continue the trip, but no electronics are working: no turning lights, no speedometer, no rpm, no fuel gage, no screen movement up and down, etc, etc. But if you continue driving and after coming on and off randomly for about 20 seconds and you accelerate, the warning lights get off, the speedo and tach arrows come back to their nomal position. It seems that nothing would have happened. No error code remains registered in the VCM. Unbelievable!!!! The problem is that if during the "event" you stop the engine it is not possible to start the bike again. It takes a few hours until in starts normaly, and no error codes saved in the VCM. I took the bike to the dealer and he says that it is the first time that he hears something like this. When I took the bike to the dealer the event had already disappeared and everything was working OK and he checked that no error code was saved in the ECU. So he could not give me any advice. I have a error code reader and while the issue is happening it is not possible to connect to the VCM. I have checked connectors, grounds (those that I could find), changed the battery, changed the battery of the fob, changed the 10 Amp circuit braker, changed the 6 relays of the fuse box... nothing. The problem with the dealer is that he can not replicate the problem and after happening there is no error code saved. I need your help. Any advice? Any of you have had a similar problem? Thanks a lot in advance. I am getting crazy with this problem with my lovely Indian Roadmaster.
Sorry to hear about your electrical gremlin, Atuti. My best guess on this issue is when there is no code stored in the VCM, it is the VCM itself that is malfunctioning and the ECU allows you to keep the engine running for safety purposes until the bike is shut off. Diagnostics will not help if this is the issue because of it being an intermittent electrical issue. I would ask the dealership to call Indian service and see if they can swap out the VCM. If they can’t or won’t help you, then try getting ahold of the Indian Motorcycle Connection Team as a last resort. But try the dealership route first and then keep posting on this thread. There is a slight chance the VCM issue could be temperature related . Larry
Thanks a lot, Larry. You are probably right. But... you know... hope is the last thing to be lost. The VCU is software and if it fails it should fail always, or at least we should be able to find a pattern. I can't. I will keep investigating in close contact with the dealer. A big hug.
This is my biggest nightmare on some these newer engines including the one I own now, one reason was planning on keeping my Dyna forever .. So far the Honda behaved.. Just hoping it stays that way but did get a great deal on the Extended Warranty and hopefully will cover anything like that if it the gremlins do creep in there ..
I'm a software engineer, and I can tell you that I wished that when software fails it always failed. Don't rule out a software bug just because it doesn't always happen, or you can't find a pattern. Complicated software sometimes has complcated bugs that are a nightmare to debug. That said, it could also be a hardware problem with the VCU, too.
Thanks for your answers and insights. I am still working on it. I hope that it is just a miss-connection of a cable. If I find the problem I will keep you informed.
I am glad you tried changing the battery Atuti, many times the solution to a problem can be a simple one which is easily overlooked because our focus is on more complex issues. After reading your initial post, I paid attention to your description of the gremlin appearing when you slow down and disappearing on acceleration. This description implies to me a sensitivity to either temperature or vibration or a combination of both. Just something for you to try, take a hair dryer and gently heat up the VCM with the engine idling, get it good and warm to the touch to see if you can replicate the malfunction. When you described the gremlin appearing upon deceleration, there is a period of time when there is a heat buildup due to less air movement and then dissipates upon acceleration. Also while heating the VCM, take your knuckles ( or something non-conductive) and tap the VCM gently but frequently like a drumstick roll to create vibration. As you have mentioned, this can be an electrical connection problem, so it could be the connections to the VCM and not the VCM itself. I can sympathize with you cause I once had a problem similar to this on an early fuel injected Harley. The bike would malfunction at road speed and run fine when I slowed down. After multiple diagnostics it was simply a cylinder head temperature sensor that was causing the bike to think the engine was cold ( therefore flooding it ). This happened during colder weather only but it is similar to your problem only it was cold related. It caused me lots of anxiety too ! This hair dryer procedure is just a shot in the dark idea but it’s one more thing to rule out. Larry
Thanks, Larry. My last research has been to "move" again all cables and connectors in the fairing and I have not yet identified the problem but I have discovered that the dash ligths are sensitive to the movement if these wires. Seems clear that the problem is not in the VCU but in the wires. By the way.... I have discovered that when you start the engine while having disconnected the headlight the bike, itself, lights on the auxiliary lights. The bike is so fuc**** smart that realizes that has no light in the front and authomaticaly switches on both auxiliary lights!!!! I am as amazed as crazy.
When riding with the just the headlight on, if the low or high beam burns out it will trigger the auxiliary lights to come on. A great safety feature ! Have you been riding close to home and had the lights malfunction and be able to shut the bike off in your garage with the malfunction still happening ? That would be a great time to find the gremlin area by wiggling the wiring ! Your on the right track !
I agree with the other folks. Sounds like a VCM problem, so get your wallet ready! That is thing about all this fancy electronic stuff. It is cool till it starts acting stupid, then oh shit!!!
Yes, this is the case. I had the issue and kept driving till my home. After stopping the engine it was not possible to start again. When I push the power button the bike makes the starting routine, moving the gauge arrows down and up, lighting all the dashboard lights and sutting them off afterwards. The pump sounds. But after this process it switches on again all the lights on the dashboards and nothing electric thing will work. Starting motor do not move, no answer to any button on the handle bar, etc. What is weird is that the switch for the saddlebags latchs on the tank console works normally. After dismounting the headlight and connecting and disconnecting every connector in the fairing it came to normal condition. No error code saved in de VCM. Amazing!!!! Now I am not sure to have solved the problem. I will check it for some days. I it happens again I will go deeper through every inch of any wire in the fairing. Thank again, folks.
Warning lights don't start,........they just light up........,........Yes I know,......,......Go to the back of the class,....turn your desk around and face the back wall,......Man!.......I got to know a lot of back walls! Alpal
No. No so far. Fingers crossed. Thanks for asking, Larry. You are like our Big Brother, always supporting us.
That’s good to hear, it could have been just a loose or slightly corroded connection when you went through the wiring in the fairing,,,,,I hope so,,,,,,,but experience has taught me to be cautious for another 2-5 thousand miles and keep your distance from home or a dealership within an hour. When starting your bike always keep an eye on how far down the voltage is drawn before ignition occurs, and make sure the voltage is at least 14-14.5 when running,,,,,,,, these electronics are very sensitive to lower voltage during initial startup,,,,,, this is why I always plug in the trickle charger for at least 15 minutes before starting to get the voltage up to 13.5 or better. Plugging the trickle charger in overnight is useless as the voltage will drop back down 30 minutes after it reaches full charge. If you can keep your voltage from dropping below 11.5-12 volts during cranking you have done a good job,,,,,,,but many times during initial startups it can drop to 10-11 volts which will eventually lead to problems. I know you are aware of the sensitivity electronics have to voltage, vibration, and heat ; but this one little procedure of plugging in just before starting is a critical one to assure Voltage Survival during initial startup. Hope this tidbit of information helps you and everyone else that is on this forum ! Larry Swenson
...or was logged in an accessible directory with timestamps and enough contextual data to conduct the forensics.