Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Problems starting after a bath?

I had two incidents of after a "Bonne Bath", my 02 TBA refused to start! My Bonne recieves weekly baths in the summer, with wax and chrome polish at least every two weeks. Hubby said he checked all of the obvious things, wiring, plugs, wires, (and more information may be required from him for this)
Has anyone else had this problem or have any clues?
Thanks, Cindy

There are several posts with problems such as you have noted in the archives, and probably as many causes. Several locations don't do well when wet (so don't use a firehose). The headlight is not watertight and contains many connections, the sidestand safety switch may fault when wet, the connections under the tank may short when wet, the engine cut-off at the handlebar, the electical connections adjacent the key switch are not watertight.
Maybe try hosing the bike down while running to see if it dies when water hits a particular area, then troubleshoot more indepth.
Wash carefully, using a bucket and light spray, and hey, ride more, don't wash so much!

pro honda cleaner for me.
i try to avoid using water.

cat
pro honda products

Hi Sweetpea,

How about when she is dry (after washing), does she start then?

I never use a spray head when washing. I use a quick disconnect and use the spray head to keep the water from running and then pop it off to rinse. I also do not go near the controls, behind the headlight bucket, the carbs, or up underneath the tank. These are wiped down with a damp rag...

You might want to check all of your connections for dielectric grease. This will help keep water out of these components.

Hi Sweetpea

I never use the hose on my America, I just use a damp cloth etc. I always clean the bike the minute I get back, if it is wet, ie from the road use a dry cloth to soak all the water up and then wipe down again with a damp cloth. Wax and polish after. Seems to work fine for me.

My suggestion is to seal all your electrical connections with di-electric silicone grease. I believe that has cured the wet weather problems of several members in the past. I wash my bike regularly and have had no problems. In my opinion, this is something that should be addressed because if you have problems when washing with a hose, what's going to happen when you're running down the road and get caught in a hard rain? I'd think 60 mph rain will get into more sensitive places than a water hose ever could.

I agree with Chy, these bikes are supposed to be able to take some weather. I've heard of some people using a leaf blower to get them dry, usually I just take a ride to blow off excess water. I've never had a problems starting after a wash. I think the manual actually suggests putting plastic on the ends of the mufflers and around the electrics to keep things dry when washing.

-PES

My kill switch has gone wonky after a bath. A shot of WD40 cured it last time that happened.

I washed the bike two days ago and I'm still waiting for it to start.
I have to charge the battery as it couldn't take the frustration. (mine)

I think the issue is "under the seat". When I don't wash this area, I don't have starting problems.

I'm going to keep on washing the bike and narrowing down the problem and prevent water from getting into the trouble spot. (when I find it)

A lot of main wiring harness connectors are located under the saddle. The Stator connection and the ignition pick-up coil connection to name just two.

Not a starting problem, but... I washed my bike yesterday and I am carful about not getting water under the tank, and I use a mild flow nozzle, that makes a flow rather than a stream of water.

What happened was; it started a little rough but then smoothed out. Then sometime later I left for work and few miles down the road it just plain "cut out", stopped running, hit the starter while moving when it wouldn't "bump" and it backfired then took off again. Ran fine.

Now that happened three more times on the 30 mile ride to work. Ran fine, then just died, hit the starter, BAM and it ran great, no sputtering before or after. Then on the way home last night it was fine.

Water issue? The backfire seems like it was fuel buildup then detination when it got spark...? Or maybe a fuel flow problem? That later seems less reasonable to me..but what do I know? Any thoughts?

thanks,
ed