Dashboard resetting + stalling

[Air Hadoken]

Hi all! New to the board and will do a proper intro soon, but I want to unspool my tech help question while it's fresh in my mind.

I just bought a 2014 Forza at the end of August, two previous owners and just a hair over 4000mi on it. Once I was able to get it registered and on the road (took about three weeks of back and forth with the Mass RMV) it worked pretty well for the first three outings.

Last Sunday I had it out for a ride around my home city and just when I was turning it onto my own street the dashboard completely reset like I had turned the engine off and on: LCD readout reading all 8s, dials alternating between min and max position, oil change light on. Then everything went back to normal right after, every gauge showing expected values.

I turned the key off and on a few times once I was in my own driveway and got the warm-up for the fuel injector running constantly without shutting off and the MIL blinking a code 12. The starter was weak and barely kicked over after a couple of tries. Parked it, went in the house, and left it alone for a few days.

Did some research this week and found out about the recalls on the Forza and a VIN check says that my bike hasn't had the recalls done on it. I also went out and tried starting my bike again midweek, and it started up without struggling.

Fast forward to today. Bike started as expected, rode a few miles to get coffee and kombucha. It was fine for a while and then the dash resets started happening frequently, then kept on happening all the way home, sometimes two or three in succession. I unloaded my goods, ate some lunch, left a voicemail at the local Honda powersports dealership, then went out for another short ride to fill my gas tank and pick up a fresh bottle of Techron.

I got about 2 miles out, and that's when the dashboard resets started being accompanied by the engine stalling out, and sometimes getting no dashboard indicators at all, until I shut the engine off and let it sit for a couple minutes. These stalls happened several times; the dash resets and stalls only happen with the bike in motion, never when idle at a red light and not when I run the engine with the maintenance stand down (at idle rpms or with the throttle engaged)

I looked back at the archives in this forum and only saw one other person with a similar problem; in that case the battery contact had corroded and stuck the speedo at 20, and the engine wouldn't run at all until it was replaced. In my case none of the dials get stuck at an incorrect value, and the bike will start again after a short break.

Anyone have a hunch as to what might be going wrong?

[davenowherejones]

Buy a new battery???

Loose connections at battery???

[davenowherejones]

Where are you? Really hot place???

[Air Hadoken]

Where are you? Really hot place???

Massachusetts. Temps were cool today, high of 64F/18C.

[Air Hadoken]

Buy a new battery???

Loose connections at battery???

loose connections or wiring is possible. Before I went out for my first ride i checked on Main Fuse 2, and reallllllllly had to work the stuck starter wire connector off. Will have to double check the battery contacts too.

[gn2]

Oh dear.
4000 miles in six years isn't anywhere near enough.
Fuel system probably needs flushed through with fresh fuel.
Beware snake oil additives, they can cause more problems.
Forza had multiple fuel pump recalls, the replacement pumps had to be replaced.
So if it wuz me, change fuel pump and lines, get injector and throttle body cleaned out, remove, flush and replace tank and see how you go from there.

[Austins]

+1 for bad electrical connection, start from battery and work your way through all fuses, disconnect and reconnect both battery connections and take out and put back in all fuses...

If your engine dies due to fuel or any other reason your dashboard is unaffected, this is due to power not reaching the dashboard or other parts...

Check on the web more but I think there was also another electrical recall too, can't remember now , maybe someone here can help... - there were 3 recalls altogether, another one was about rear brake hose pipe, not sure, long time ago, mine is 2016, so Honda finally figured out how to build them properly by then... lol...

Good luck.

[Air Hadoken]

Thanks everyone for your insights so far.

I started with the battery and it turns out that the bolt holding the positive connector onto the battery terminal was crooked and not screwed in completely (nor would it be possible to do so). Whoever installed it had forced it in and warped the threads, so it took some effort to get it screwed in the right way and get it flush with the connector. Since then I've done 5mi and 15mi rides without the problem happening again, but I'm still taking it to the dealer on Friday to have them look over the electrical system and do the recall replacements.

I figured out from this that there was an early warning: the turn signals were blinking rapidly and irregularly. Since I'm a new owner it wasn't clear how fast the turn signals were supposed to blink but they seemed wrong, and as it turns out they were.

If anything else is found Friday I'll let you know. Thanks again.