New owner, several questions

[depechevelle]

First off, thanks to AF1 and everyone on the forum for all of the information. I was on AF1 forums before when I owned an Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille, and I was able to research EBR extensively through this forum before deciding to purchase one. I have 2014 RX #171 in black, which I picked up already un-crated with 1.7 miles on the odometer. So far I'm thrilled. I have a few questions I couldn't find addressed in the owner's manual or on the forum:

1. Exhaust leak: where the outlet of the cat and the inlet of the secondary muffler connect. It is the upper of the two tubes. The clamp already seemed tight but I tightened it some more anyway, which may have diminished it some but it is still there. I didn't find it due to noise or driveability issues, I felt it on my leg the first time I started the engine and when I put my hand there I can feel it puffing out from the joint. According to the parts diagram, there is no gasket there. Has anyone else experienced this?

2. The instrument panel: I know mine does not have the update. I phoned the parts department and they said they will update it if I send it in. I also know that some have failed after the update. I'm fine with the way it works now so I'm not sure if I will send it in or not. Right now I don't want the bike down while I wait. I am still on break-in, so I have not seen the shift light yet. How do you reset the trip meters? On mine, only the instant MPG and Key Trip MPG counters seem to work; Average MPG, Trip A MPG, and Trip B MPG are always 0. How do I get these to work? (edit: now that I am at 52 miles on the bike, all three of these show .1 which still can't be right)

3. Front brake rotor: How can I tell if it is one of the bad ones? I presume there's a good chance it is. If so, what are my options?

(Edit):

4. Today is the first time for a hot re-start after I was in the DMV for 45 minutes getting a tag. When I tried to re-start it cranked extensively without starting. I tried three times and on the second or third there was a backfire, then upon giving a little throttle while cranking, it started and ran fine thereafter but set an O2 heater malfunction code. Any ideas?

5. And not important but there is an electrical connector just above the shift shaft housing with three wires going in and zero coming out, this is for a side stand safety switch that is non-existant, correct?

That is all for now. I can't wait to get past break-in so I can really open it up. Thanks

[buell-fan]

1: your exhaust leak is common, and not a problem. Chances are you'll be changing it out to a high performance exhaust and tune anyway.
2: don't bother with the update, you already are gambling on whether the dash stays working, so there's no need to add that to the mix. Check to see if any other function is on preventing the trip meters to work. These would be track timing functions that need to be turned off.
3: if you got a "bad" rotor they seem to just need the brake residue cleaned off them and they function fine again.
4: sometimes the bikes are finicky on a hot restart. Periodically check your throttle bodies and see if the rubber boot and the throttle bodies are in place. Backfiring has been known to lift them up and cause an exhaust leak and throw an O2 code. Clear it from your history.
5: yes that is your side stand switch plug. It doubles as a quick shift plug as well.
6: enjoy the ride!

[qurtrn10]

I agree with most of what buell-fan said.

1) Not a big deal, because as soon as you hear the aftermarket exhaust options, your stock exhaust will be coming off.
2) I did the update while EBR was still able to do it. I like the slight updates to the display, and I just want to know i have the latest version of whatever is out there.
I haven't seen anyone with your problem with the trip meters not working. That might be another reason to have the dash update done. I made a YouTube video showing how to remove the dash from the RX, so feel free to check it out if you're interested...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHwoFaILTuQ&t=4s
3) I diagree. I have a bad rotor on my RX - it is in the casting and has to be replaced. Fortunately, this is rare and as far as I'm aware only pops up on the early '14s (mine is #3).
4) Agree 100% with buell-fan.
5) Yep. The side stand kill switch was mandatory in the European market, so the plug is there. With the updated ECMs or race ECMs, that plug is enabled for the quick shifter.

3 (cont) - If you have a bad rotor, you will feel it pulsing as you ride (on or off the brake), and see lines in the rotor with wear. You can see them in mine here:


(That was after about 100 miles)

[Cooter]

I'm going to look at my 2014 #23 right now! Are the rotors the same as the EBR race rotors for the 1125 and XB?

[depechevelle]

So far I'm only up to 70+ miles on the bike but I love it. The chain idler whine is definitely different and odd to get used to. My plan (subject to change at any moment) is to keep the bike as close to original as I can, for now. I tightened both of the muffler pipe clamps as much as I dared, and it still leaks but not much. On a cool morning with a cold engine yesterday I could easily see the exhaust from the muffler, but none from the leak area although I can definitely feel it. The stock exhaust could be louder but I think it looks pretty good with the steep angle and the slant cut tip (just my opinion). As to the brakes, I really haven't used them much at all since I'm breaking in the engine and have been taking it easy with the bike and downshifting to keep the RPM in the break-in range. But on my 2nd ride I wanted to break-in the pads which the manual says to do by several gradual stops, then letting it cool, then a couple moderate to firm stops. I only did one moderate to firm stop but I thought I noticed a pulsation in the front lever and I remembered reading that some percentage of the first rotors were not formulated correctly and had this problem. My rotor does seem to have the lines like in the photos, but honestly with my gradual stops I do not notice anything so I'm going to wait it out for now. I'm still on the fence about the dash. I haven't determined why my trip odos an MPG don't work properly but it's not really an issue for me. Track data is turned off. I appreciated the vid on the removal/installation, is there one that highlights the visible enhancements of the update?

[qurtrn10]

As far as I'm aware, there isn't a video yet showing the updated dash, but I plan to create a video for it and post it to YouTube in the next few weeks.

If you'd like to retain the stock exhaust setup but replace whatever is causing the leak, I have the stock resonator and stock muffler that came off both my EBRs - if you need a replacement, let me know.

[depechevelle]

Regarding the software/firmware update, I only see the dash mentioned usually and that's what the video covered. The paperwork EBR sent me states they need the dash and the ECM, to update both. Is this so? I haven't looked for the ECM, what is it's location?

Regarding the two trip odometers, how are they supposed to be reset to zero? I can't find any instructions in the owner's manual and nothing I do seems to work.

Thanks again...

[qurtrn10]

ECM is located under the seat. Just remove the seat, and you'll see it held in place by two bolts. Pull the battery up to give yourself room, and it comes out in no time.

To reset the trip odometers, press the button to reach the odometer of choice and then press and hold for a few seconds to reset.

[Sparky]

For each trip meter, press the center button on the dash for approx 4 secs until the odo resets.

Remove the seat to access the ECM. You'll have to lift the battery up to enable removing the ECM. Be sure to disconnect the batt negative cable before unplugging the ECM's connectors.

[depechevelle]

I was able to reset both trip odometers using the instructed method and they both began working, along with the MPG readouts for both of them. No dice for the cumulative MPG readout though, it still reads 0.1 and since you can't reset the main odometer I don't know what else to do to get it going. I am wondering if everything might reset if I take the main fuse out?

I haven't noticed anything more with the front brake and when I looked closer, the lines I see seem to be vertical or with the surface and not horizontal or against it. Hopefully it is ok. Once I get 620 mi and do the first service I will take it into the mountains and give it a good run, then we'll see how it's doing. Maybe I'll send my dash and ECM in while I have it down for that service. BTW is everyone buying their oil filters from EBR? I haven't even looked at the service procedure yet.

Thanks all, for the info.