"RELEASE START" problem!?

[jmillington]

Hi,

I'm a proud new owner of a 2016 Empulse TT that I purchased from Arlen Ness Motorcycles in Dublin, CA, last Wednesday, February 22nd.

I live near Folsom Lake near Sacramento, CA, so I took a spirited ride around Folsom Lake on Friday and had a great time.  This starts with about an 18 mile ride up to Auburn (800' higher), then an up/down ride around Folsom Lake for about 28 miles back home.  I made the spirited 46 miles with an indicated 32% and 24 miles remaining.

I took another ride yesterday, Saturday, and stopped after about 8 miles at around 5:30pm at Folsom Lake at the Rattlesnake Bar Boat Launch, to look around and took a picture of the Empulse.



After a few minutes, I went to start the Empulse, and rather than seeing the normal



It just says "RELEASE START" instead, and of course I'm not pressing START, so I can't release it, and pressing it and releasing it, or just pressing it doesn't do anything, i.e I can't start the bike!?

I tried turning it off and on, but try as I might, I never got the "HOLD START FOR 1S" message again, only getting "RELEASE START", so I couldn't start the bike.

I called a tow truck, and through a comedy of errors, it took 3 hours for them to arrive, so there I sat in a cold dark state park parking lot with the Park Ranger wondering when I was going to leave since the park closes at 7pm.

Anyway, the tow truck shows up at 8:30pm (yeah!...I guess)...



I tried "starting" it again after I got home and still got the "RELEASE START" message.

I get up this morning, and lo' and behold, I get the normal "HOLD START FOR 1S" and the bike powers on no problem!

Has anyone experienced this problem with only seeing "RELEASE START" when powering on?

Thanks!
Jim M

[Shinysideup]

I've not had this (2013 Empulse doesn't have that message at all), but I would suspect moisture in the switch, leaving it in an "always on" condition.

I DID have moisture issues with the throttle, relieved by taking it apart, blowing everything with compressed air, spraying WD-40, and taping the seams with electrical tape to keep water out. Any chance you encountered moisture on your trip?

I've also had moisture issues with connectors in the wiring. These stopped as soon as I took each connector apart and filled it with dielectric grease before putting it back together.

[jmillington]

Thank you for your response, and yes, I did encounter moisture before the ride...I washed the bike!

You are probably right, but I'm a bit afraid to take the bike out riding now.  Maybe I shouldn't wash the bike?   

[kingcharles]

I think only the Victory branded Empulses have these polite messages in the dashboard.

And yes, it will be moisture in the switch. But the 2014 and later bikes were already better protected with the new wiring than the older bikes. So only the switch and the dashboard are the weak spots of the bike related to water.

I used to ride in the rain daily without problems for over 2 years when I lived in the Netherlands.
I did occasionally have the start button problem but by blowing hard into the switch and pressing it quickly for a while always got me going.

I never took the switch apart or did anything to protect it either. (too lazy)

Did you use a pressure washer maybe? These are deadly for electric motorcycles so be warned...

[Brammofan]

According to a Brammo angel, the supposition is that either the switch has failed or a wire has come loose.

[jmillington]

Thanks for all the responses!

I did blow dry the bike which is probably not a good idea and I'll not do that again.  I'll also just generally be careful during a bike wash around the switches, etc.

High-jacking my own thread, any opinions on whether the available performance forks are worth purchasing?

Thanks!

[shayan]

Welcome to the club of the last of the TT owners (or not?)!

Anyways, i just clocked 2100+ miles on my TT over the last 5 months. Its been trouble free so far (never had to get it towed). However i did see a few issues here and there that have come and disappeared just like you have had and all have been mostly due to moisture or cold weather:

• H52: Which i guess is the speed sensor error according to some posts on this forum (rainy day rides)
• B55: Which i saw a couple of times off late when the weather got really cold. The SOC dropped from 30-40 to 0 and i started to see "Recharge req'd" warning sign. Everything on the bike was running fine and i rode it back home with no issues. I did not get to charge the bike both times since i got back to my apt late night. The next morning i turned light on and the warning was gone and SOC showed back to where it was supposed to be and not 0. However i started to ride to work thinking it was all good. Then again the battery dropped to zero and the B55 started to pop up (mismatch cell balance). I went to work and charged the bike to 100% and the error disappeared. I havent seen the error again though.

Other than these i have had no other issues with the bike. I'll get a good checkup done the next time i get my bike serviced though, just to make sure batteries are good.

Mods:

• MRA rnd racing universal windshield
• Competition Werkes fender eliminator

[noone1569]

I'm going with moisture in the switch as well.

Good news is it should carry the warranty, so take it back in and make them fix it!

[jmillington]

Yes, it appears to be the case.

I've haven't washed it since (and the cursed blow dry) and the bike has worked flawlessly since.

I'm torn about taking it in - I'll probably have to argue with them, and I'm not sure it will really fix it, if it is just prone to problems when you power-wash or blow dry the bike, even with a "good" part.

I guess I'll see if it ever happens again being careful about moisture on/in the controls.

In any case, I've upgraded my AAA membership to premiere, so I get motorcycle tows up to 200 miles.