Read out with a mind of it's own!

mentalrental

mentalrental

Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
28
Hi all. I know many of us have had the occasional confusing message or reading on our on dash computer, well I know I have anyway. My clock/time makes it up as it goes along. You can reset it all you like but if its not happy with that time it will display a different one when you next switch on. My trip reading however has been very loyal giving me the correct reading for the last 6000 miles that I've used it. Very handy for fuel stops I find, although my fuel light has worked I prefer to rely on my trip reading. The weekend brought sad news as I believe it has conspired with the clock and now also makes it up as it goes along, in fact at a vast rate. To be precise it clicked on at a frantic rate finally displaying that I had covered 169 miles on an 11 mile journey. I refuse to go down the road of yet another factory visit so wonder if anyone has a magical cure.
Mark. 2016 Mk11 Sport.
 
Hmm... I had mine delivered late January with 19 mile on both the trip and odo. Parked her up for a couple of weeks to do some work, including removal of battery. When I had her back together again the trip showed 25 mile but the odo was showing 45 mile! I pretty much near drained the battery trying to start her for my maiden ride, eventually on firing up the clock needed a reset and the trip/odo were both back to 19 mile... but has behaved itself since.
 
Is the odometer correct at this time ? Or does the same 169 mile error show ? Check all connections to the unit and replace the speed sensor ?
 
Completely charge your battery. When the voltage dips on mine, even if it starts ok, it acts a little kaflooey. I don't gain mileage, but the trip sets back to zero and sometimes it freezes up. I'm also wondering if the voltage interference makes that happen without the patch kit.
 
Hello metal rental, after you charge the battery with the Optimate can you test the battery voltage by testing the battery directly after a full charge. Connect a multimeter to the + and - on the battery charge cable as i do not have my bike yet and think the + and - may not be identified connect the meter leads to earth then each charge cable. Should remain steady at about 13.5 v after a few hours retest to see if your getting voltage drop. I have a Range Rover which constantly drained the battery from when the car was new i traced it to the radio not completely switching off and the clock. Please believe me electronics are not black magic i think you have a voltage leak.
 
So...I changed the headlight bucket today. My flashing fuel light did not flash. My tripometer stayed still. Probably just a coincidence, but those wires and connectors took a beating. Its a birds nest inside that old headlight bucket.
 
I will check the battery voltage, although new it was the last thing I did before this phenomenon occurred. I am also tempted to have check in the headlight bucket, may be a bad earth or faulty connection?? Thanks for your help.
 
Fitting the tank is a bit of a faff. If this problem only occurred after changing your battery, then as well as the battery itself being suspect #1, a disturbed connection, trapped / damaged wire under the tank somewhere might be suspect #2?
 
Well its seems it could well be the battery. New in January but only ridden twice on very short rides since then. Although there is normally no need to charge a new battery before fitting as Mr Eddie so rightly stated removing the tank is a bit of a faff, I am however a dab hand at it now have had cause to remove it more than once. I did charge the new battery just in case.The battery is indicating 11.4 volts this morning. My other bike was enjoying the use of the optimate that has now been snatched back an put on the Norton. Already up to 12.1v. So in conclusion low voltage? Possible drain on the battery ?? I may even fit a switch which disconnects the battery when not in use.The comp display did show UNIT WARN, the trip had zeroed but the bike started fine.
 
mentalrental said:
Well its seems it could well be the battery. New in January but only ridden twice on very short rides since then. Although there is normally no need to charge a new battery before fitting as Mr Eddie so rightly stated removing the tank is a bit of a faff, I am however a dab hand at it now have had cause to remove it more than once. I did charge the new battery just in case.The battery is indicating 11.4 volts this morning. My other bike was enjoying the use of the optimate that has now been snatched back an put on the Norton. Already up to 12.1v. So in conclusion low voltage? Possible drain on the battery ?? I may even fit a switch which disconnects the battery when not in use.The comp display did show UNIT WARN, the trip had zeroed but the bike started fine.
Click to expand...
I got the UNIT WARN message and my trip zero'd at the point where my battery was getting exhausted by several failed start ups. From what I have deduced from this forum is that the 961 has a drain on the battery with ignition off and advise has been to keep the battery hooked up to a charger. I don't think your new battery is at fault, just make sure it is freshly charged each time you go to use it or keep it hooked up on a 'maintenance' cycle.
 
To be fair guys, Norton are actually very clear about this, the bike should be hooked up to a trickle charger.

As others have said, Norton are far from alone in the fact that they have a drain when parked. Maybe they suffer worse than others because A) it’s quite a small battery, and B) it must be a heck of a power hungry engine to turn over (I don’t think there is a de compressor function is there?).

I thought about an isolating switch too, but then you’d have to faff around with the clock and lose the trip info every time. I’m no electrics boffin, but I do wonder if constantly isolating the battery like that might have some negative effects, might confuse the ‘learning’ in the EFI system for example?

Simplest solution has to be to keep it on a trickle IMHO.
 
One more time. Every time my bike sat at the dealer for periods of time off tender, I would experience this. I've had so many theories fired at me but the one that seems to be the most factual was low voltage. I even put in a new battery and it seemed to cure the problem, but I forgot to plug it in for about 10 days, and there it was. No Unit warning this time, but it reset. Keep it plugged in. I also should have considered the Shorai battery. The lead acid seems to drain quickly on this bike. I was just worried about all the negative comments from owners in cold climates like my own. Also, trickle chargers don't really charge. They maintain. Take the batter out ( I know, Pain in the ass) and hook it to a charger.
 

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