WINDSHIELD PROBLEMS

[Retired At LAst]

1999 1100rtp.

 

Winshield goes up easily with switch but dosn't always go down. Have to play with switch a while to get it to work.

 

Any easy fixes other than taking the whole switch apart (that looks major)?

 

Could it be a relay and if so where is that located??

 

Thanks

[T__]

Retired At LAst,, “Could it be a relay and if so where is that located”,, sure it could but with you having to play with the switch probably not.. The relay(s) are located under the front nose cowl.. You might be able to access from the rear but not easily..

 

The switches tend to get moisture in them & corrode the contacts.. You can try some spray contact cleaner but as a rule the switch has to come apart..

 

Twisty

 

[Torvil]

I had a partial then complete failure on my 2001 R 1150 RT.

Cause-dirty relay contacts. Very easy job which took 1 hour and led to a satisfactory result. There are two, which are located underneath the clocks. I have photos which I took when I did the job.

[Paul De]

I just cured the same issue on my '99 RT. Start with KIS approach and check out the switch on the handlebar first before going to the relays. While it might be the relays, the issue for me were the two switches under the green toggle knob on the left handlebar were goobered up. While not a hard task, it was a PITA because after removing the back half of the switch cluster I found that I had to disassemble a couple of the switches to really get a good shot at the micro switches with contact cleaner.

 

BE CAREFULL. There are little springs, posts and a ball bearing all poised to go missing if you just take the switches apart without due caution.

 

In order to get at the windshield U/D toggle I needed to pull the headlamp hi/lo, horn, and left turn grouping of switches. The left turn signal knob was easily taken off with one screw needing to be removed and pulling the knob. I also needed to pull the horn knob, and here caution is needed when pulling that knob out of its slot. Beside the single screw holding the knob into the switch, there is a spring and brass post inside the back side of the knob which will go missing if you just pull the knob off after removing the screw……. Don’t ask how I know this as it added 20 minutes to the task tracking those little bits down.

 

Once I examined the u/d toggle, I noticed that brass shaft that the knob pivots on had shifted and was actually only securing one side of the toggle knob. Since it was partly out, I pulled it out completely, making sure the spring and the tiny ball bearing that works to return the knob to the neutral position were not lost.

 

Once you've done that, you will see two tiny micro switches which do not appear to able to be messed with. I didn’t! I simply blasted a quick few shots of contact cleaner into the micro switch buttons in the same way water and crud may find its way into the switches. After the treatment with contact cleaner, all was working like new. I have one other caution. Be careful not to scare to crap out of your self when testing if the contact cleaner did the job. Because I removed the horn knob, the horn switch is free to have the circuit closed and not spring back. As soon as I turned the ignition on to test the windshield switch, I also verified that my Stiebel air horns are damn loud!!! Make sure the horn switch is in the open position when you test the results of cleaning the windshield switch

 

Reverse the steps to reassemble and you are good to go.