Trip meters reset

[Willow]

Twice today the two trip meters on my Interstate were both reset to zero either when the bike was sitting or when I started it up.  I noticed it both times just after startup.

Any ideas what could cause that?

[old2soon]

Carl-anytime I disconnect the battery that happens. So my guess is something electrical. Good luck with that my friend!  RIDE SAFE.

[Jess from VA]

Could be an intermittent loss of battery connection (dirty, corroded, loose +/- cable connection, plenty hot with juice when charging being run, but intermittent when off).  Or something in the fairing electrics.

Do you reset at every fillup?  Some switches stop being reliable when rarely used. (I almost never touch my kill switch (except by accident fiddling with my throttle lock on the freeway - backfire), but reset my trips at every fillup, but use #2 on long trips).

[R J]

We had an Iowa members I-S in the shop the other day due to a bad ground.

That was what we diagnosed anyway.

Turns out the cable from the battery to the block had a bunch of corrosion on it.   Cleaned it up and he says it hasn't dropped a reset on him since.

So, I'd say you are loosing ground somewhere in your electrical system.

It could even be a dirty battery terminal.

Happy Hunting Bro.

[Thunderbolt]

Agree on cleaning up the cables.  Also check the connection that is underneath the fairing for the instruments.  Just reseating them sometimes cleans things up.

[Willow]

Thank you for the replies.  That's pretty much what I thought.  The starter also tended to bind each of those two times which would be consistent with losing all electrical. 

Time to hunt.

[old2soon]

Go with the old Marine here-check battery ground to block and the battery terminals for starters. Also check how snug those fuses in the fuse block are. And if they are slightly discolored R & R or clean the old ones. Just sliding them in and out a few times will shine the contact area up a bit. lso shines up where the fuses live. RIDE SAFE.

[Daniel Meyer]

Yep, grounds seem a likely culprit!

[old2soon]

Carl-did you have a chance to track down the culprit/gremlin? Curious minds and like that!  RIDE SAFE.

[Willow]

Carl-did you have a chance to track down the culprit/gremlin? Curious minds and like that!  RIDE SAFE.

Yeah.  I guess it's fortunate I'm not easily embarrassed. I popped the seat to check the main ground cable and found the negative screw on the battery so loose I could turn it with my fingers.

I tightened that screw.

[old2soon]

Happy it were sumpin simple and easily correctable!  RDE SAFE.

[Rio Wil]

Now this is interesting......the very same thing happened to my interstate today.  I had just filled up and hit the starter button to crank up and let off the start button as I thought the bike had started.  It had not, so I hit the start button again......the starter seemed to bind up/load up for a revolution and then spun easily as normal.......but both trip displays had reset to zero and the display had switched to cumulative miles.

The point being, if there is enough of a voltage drop during a start cycle to pull the battery down to some minimal level it will reset the trip displays. My battery is about 7 years old now and probably due for replacement soon.....it really is never stressed in the start procedure, rarely below 50 degrees, never need the choke, starts on the first or second spin.....but nothing lasts forever.

I will check the battery connections, etc,  just for fun and keep a eye out for anything unusual......