What happened when I washed it

I will try and keep this short........

I washed it (the bike) last night before leaving work.

As I rode up the street, all of a sudden the engine light comes on and the headlight goes out?! But it was still running......

I pull in the clutch, and the engine light goes out and the headlight goes back on.....the engine never stopped.

This continued as I headed back to the parking lot at work to try and figure it out (I couldn't ride in the dark at 3 in the morning).

I stopped at work and left it running for 10 min and it seemed to have stopped. Made it home without incident.

Clearly something somewhere got wet. Has anyone else experienced this????

I never use a pressure sprayer to wash it nor did I soak it any more than I usually do.

Thanks in advance.

The problem of a check engine light after a wash or sometimes after a long rain ride wasn't unheard of with '03s. Usually the '03 CE light after a wash was associated with an O2 error code.

The clutch/headlight issue is most likely unrelated to the CE light. The only things the clutch & headlight have in common are the ECU and the starter circuit relay. It's hard to say what went wrong here. Since it has healed itself and ran fine afterwards no harm was done. I can't begin to guess what would have made the ECU or starter relay shut off the headlight while the engine kept running just fine :blink:

That's what comes of such silliness.

Washing a bike. what will they think of next? :blink: :wacko:

And that's why I never wash my bike with water..... There're way too many electrical thingamabobs that can get shorted out and mechanical pieces get corroded.

Careful where you point your hose.

Uh, so what can I wash my bike with, if not water?

Try some dry ice. Just set it under the bike and let it dog away the dirt and bugs. Would make a cool avatar picture too!

How did you wash it? Any chance you used a pressure washer?

Sometimes I have to pee. Usually the scoot is a bit cleaner the next day. Though she don't smell like she should.

odot said:

Sometimes I have to pee. Usually the scoot is a bit cleaner the next day. Though she don't smell like she should.

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Ya got me beat, on my drunkest day I could hit a tree.

Man, it's not even Friday!

My tach dash light goes out on my '05 after a rather wet washing (as compared to a dry washing). It comes on after a bit though. Maybe it has Lucas electrical???

FJRBluesman said:

Man, it's not even Friday!
My tach dash light goes out on my '05 after a rather wet washing (as compared to a dry washing).

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Perhaps I should just wash it with some KY ???? Then perhaps the electrics might work properly :blink: .

I thank everyone for their help ????????????

Wet running issues that solve themselves act as a warning that next time you may not be so fortunate. Time to check, clean, and dielectric all the connectors you can access.