Please Help Troubleshoot

[peevee]

I - I bought a second hand Forza yesterday - and I am having strange electrical problems.

1) The bike struggles at starting, asif the starter struggles to turn the motor. However sometimes it starts straight away.
2) The dial selfcheck - that happens when the dials fire up when the ignition is in the ON position, would occur, occassionally, whilst driving.
3) When the bike has run a few kilometers, and has been switched off, (the engine is warm), it seems that the circuits acts up when it needs to restart:
i) The dials selfcheck - and freeze in the middle of the check - so that they are all 'stuck' in the optimum full position.
and/or
ii) there is a small click and then everything goes dead on the dash
iii) there is a small click and the dials are lit up but starter does not 'kick in' to start the motor.
iv) The dash is completely dead and nothing lights up at all - or Suddenly flashes to life and then dies or flashes to life and stays lit.
v) I noticed a very peculiar thing - when the ignition is on - and the dash lights is dead - sometimes tilting the bike at an angle will make the electric circuits jump back to life...and the dash lights will come on again, the way they should.
vi) This morning - second day of ownership - I had the ABS light coming on somewhere during the trip and flashing on. I did not have this yesterday.


Apart from the ABS - the strange dash/startup/self check behaviour seems to be random. Once the bike has run a few miles and needs restarting - and repeating the starting process a few times... any number of the above may happen in random order, and then suddenly I may get lucky and the engine reluctantly churns into action - asif powered by a flat battery.


Now here is the thing... the bike is under guarantee - BUT and this is a biggie - I live in Thailand - and Im not sure the mechanics will understand what Ive just told you - cause their English is not great.

Even if they do - most local mechanics are notorious for being unable to troubleshoot a problem accurately. Their solution is usually just to start replacing parts untill everything works again...


As for troubleshooting - what are your thoughts ?

[Jge64]

I would start by checking every connection for continuity, ahead of the fuel filler door , i.e everything in the dash/console area.

[iceman]

Seems like a connection block or cable is loose (several!) or that someone did some mods or inspection some time ago and did not put things back properly - you say it's 2nd hand. Remove the paneling and check the cabling for loose connectors or fraid cables.

[peevee]

I think (more accurately HOPE) you are correct. I found someone had a similar problem, and the culprit was a faulty ABS battery connection.

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/h ... t-23455851

[gn2]

Battery connections would be the first thing to look at.
Then the main fuse connections then the ignition switch connections.
The needle sweep is indicative of the electrical power going off and back on.

[SteveP]

If you go to the "General" side of this Forza Forum you will find a post referring to a Forza electrical system recall having to do with a problem with the starter relay. Perhaps it may apply to your problem. The recall is for the USA but the problem may apply to all Forzas (plus other Honda models).

[you you]

Battery connections would be the first thing to look at.
Then the main fuse connections then the ignition switch connections.
The needle sweep is indicative of the electrical power going off and back on.

In other vehicles this could be an error code. Does the forza have this function?

[gn2]

AFAIK error codes are indicated by the engine lamp flashing.