Last Sunday, I took my Eldo for a ride, after doing maintenance work/ cleaning on it during the previous week. About an hour into my ride, the red warning light illuminated, and the word "SERVICE" appeared in place of the odometer reading. I didn't have the owner's manual with me to give me any guidance. I pulled over after about a mile of riding, looked for oil leaks, appeared good. The starter just clicked, which indicated the charging system wasn't working, causing the warning light. I caught it in gear to start it, and headed for home. I almost made it, but it died about 2 miles short. I kept an eye on the volt reading along the way, looks like 7.0 is the minimum required to keep the bike running. After charging the battery & diagnosing the problem, I found an open 40 Amp fuse, which protects the alternator charging circuit to the battery. The fuse was melted, with one of the contacts broken from the fuse, stuck in the fuse holder, indicating high heat, probably due to corrosion causing a bad contact. (I verified last year that the wiring modification at the alternator was done, so that's not a cause of the problem) I've attached a picture of the bad fuse.
I took it for a ride today, checking the fuse for heat by feeling it whenever I made a stop. I didn't notice any warmth from it, with about an hour of riding. I'm hoping that's the end of the problem. It may be something for 1400 owners to keep an eye on.
Just to note, the warning light and Service message did not go out by themselves after the repair. I went into the Service menu option on the Speedometer, and performed the Reset Coupon option. The light stayed on until I keyed off the ignition, and turned it back on.
Just to note, the warning light and Service message did not go out by themselves after the repair. I went into the Service menu option on the Speedometer, and performed the Reset Coupon option. The light stayed on until I keyed off the ignition, and turned it back on.