So my 2016 Gen 1 with 56,500 miles decided to break down in the midst of a European tour last week in the German Alps, on my way to the Dolomites.
Basically, a few miles into a new day, the EML came on, followed by instant loss of throttle, while the engine remained running, but at idle. Switching off the engine, and then switching on again, the EML is now off, throttle is working and no loss of power. I had my Motoscan app with me and checked for errors; only the exhaust valve error was present (and I know that this doesn't cause a throttle shut down as I have had it and clear the error codes every so often after "servicing" the exhaust valve flap). No other errors. I also checked the battery terminals were all tight.
Thinking this may be just a one-off, but still very cautiously, managed to ride about 15 miles up a series of bends and hairpins to the top, but just before the down section of bend and hairpins, the EML came on and the throttle cut out again.
I managed to coast safely to a stop and after identifying there was a Motorrad dealer 18kms away, I managed to nurse the bike there; it cut out twice on the way, until I thought if I keep the revs down, that may help.
The Motorrad dealer's chief mechanic initially suggested it may be the exhaust valve (as that was the only error showing up which I already knew about) and disconnected the cables, tied them up & cleared the error. But on test riding the bike, the same issue: EML on, instant loss of throttle, engine at idle, occurred and his view, given there were no other errors, was there was a problem somewhere in the wiring harness i.e. a break/short-circuit. Given they were not able to investigate the cause/problem or repair for another few weeks, there was no choice but to call on my RAC European Breakdown*.
*Don't rely on RAC European Breakdown (control centre based in France) to assist you in a timely fashion but that's another story for another day.
Having now done a self-repatriation (alternative was to wait 4-6 weeks, possibly longer), I now have the bike home, I am going to start working on identifying the cause and repair.
As I had the 54k valve check and new plugs, done by an experienced independent, about 3500 miles ago, my initial thoughts are a chaffed wire or loose plug/connection, possibly from the service, and to check the wiring in that area under the tank first, and then work my way next to the cables that runs down the headstock (e.g. throttle RBW cabling, although I don't think that is the cause).
I thought I would post here just in case someone has suffered a similar experience of EML on, total loss of throttle and idle engine, managed to diagnose, identify and sort the problem?
