Cruise control shutting down in rain

[JimmR75]

I have put just under 1k miles on my new-to-me 2015 GS over this past month, including a 600 mile day.  It only has ~10k on it and was well cared for by the previous owner.  It has been a great experience for me to date.

 

The only issue has been when caught in rain the cruise has shut down/off.  I am assuming a connection or switch component is getting wet.  I have been able to re-engage it by pulling over and shutting the bike down or it sorts itself out once dry.

 

After owning several Airheads and Oilhead over the years this is my first 1200.  Are there any common point of failure or exposure to start with, i.e. certain connectors or components that would benefit from dielectric grease?

 

Thanks in advance for any input or reply. 

 

[92Merc]

I had a recent mishap when I changed out my front tires.  I damaged the front ABS sensor.  Apparently that doubles as the speed sensor.   But when I would hit a bump, the cruise would cancel.  Replaced the sensor, problem solved.

 

So you could look at the wiring for the front and rear sensors.  Front sensor connector is up on the neck.  On mine, it was right hand side and behind the coolant over flow.  Not sure where the rear one is.

 

But I'd check for wire damage or pinching.  Then lube those two connectors.  Could be triggering an ABS event that is killing the cruise.

 

When diagnosing mine, only once did my traction control light actually come on.  So it could be triggering without the light activating.

[Paul De]

My first suspicion would be the switches on the brake and clutch hand levers where rain is most likely to have water driven into the switch while riding.  It might be as simple as few squirts of LPS-1 into the switch every so often to keep the switches dry.  Also check the cruise control on/off-set/resume switch for moisture infiltration as well

[dirtrider]

24 minutes ago, Paul De said:

My first suspicion would be the switches on the brake and clutch hand levers where rain is most likely to have water driven into the switch while riding.  It might be as simple as few squirts on LPS-1 into the switch every so often to keep the switches dry.  Also check the cruise control on/off-set/resume switch for moisture infiltration as well

Afternoon Paul

 

It could (possibly) be the clutch lever switch but there is no brake lever switch as both front & rear brake switches are inside the ABS controller (pressure activated). 

[Scott9999]

Checking for errors on a code reader might help narrow down the problem, if anyone nearby you has a GS-911 or equivalent (e.g. OBD-II scanner/connector plus Motoscan phone software).    I would expect such an event would show up as an error in the bike's computer.  No?

[Hosstage]

Maybe, unless it is a switch that the computer sees just doing its job, the computer sees that as normal operation, no fault.

[dirtrider]

33 minutes ago, Scott9999 said:

Checking for errors on a code reader might help narrow down the problem, if anyone nearby you has a GS-911 or equivalent (e.g. OBD-II scanner/connector plus Motoscan phone software).    I would expect such an event would show up as an error in the bike's computer.  No?

Afternoon Scott 

 

As Hosstage said, if it is something normal like riders foot touching the brake pedal, rear wheel slippage in the wet, or a switch getting wet then no error code will get trapped. 

 

If it is something like a front wheel sensor or wheel sensor wire pig tail shorting to brake rotor they that should trap a wheel sensor code but probably not a cruise control code.   If it is the on/off switch wetting out then that might show a trapped code or might not depending on how the switch is acting. If just a simple shut-off then no code, if it fluctuates wildly before shutting off then possibly a code stored. 

 

[92Merc]

That clutch switch is a good point, I forgot about that one. But my clutch switch has failed on me and needing replacing.  Wife's 2017 has now failed.  New switch should be delivered today.

 

That switch is actually 2 switches.  One for cruise, one for motorcycle startup to make sure you have the clutch pulled in when in gear.  In my case, I couldn't start in gear with sidestand up.  Maybe in your case it's the other switch causing issues.