American Voyager Association

Having a slight electrical problem with a 1500 GW SE.
The clock loses time between starts, sometimes I have a blank LCD display at first, then it comes on after a few miles down the road.
Have heard something about a "#3 or a #7 relay" being the problem.
Anyone know where this relay is located, ~ price, & which it could be?

Sorry about the delay Rick, but I had to talk to some of my Gold Wing riding friends to get the scoop on this. Here is what they said:

"Sounds to me like the classic symptom exibited when a battery is going south. The amperage needed to start the bike, affects the clock and radio station presets memory retention. Another classic symptom is that the bike won't start 'till you let go of the starter switch. How old is his battery, and has it been stress tested lately?

The second possibility is the dreaded "1500 Blank Display Disease" aka "15K BDD" that comes from damp circuit boards when the bike is left outside, or in damp areas. The display will not appear for several miles, or until the engine heat overcome the latent dampness under the hood so to speak. There is a fix for this. It involves tearing the tupperwear off, blow drying the back of the instrument cluster, and spray painting the circuit boards with clear coat board sealant. My personal feeling is that if "It ain't all that broke... why run the risk of making it worse?" After all my bike is old and brittle, and the less I screw with old ftitings, the happier it is!! My display always comes back from "15K BDD" within the first ten minutes. If it is the battery issue, it should be replaced. After all most of us aren't up to push starting the bigger bikes we tend to love!"

"I think by now you can see it is probably not the relays but they are located in the relay box behind the fuse box on the left side uncer the side panel. The relay box cover is half behind the left saddlebag and the bag needs to be at least loosened to get it off comfortably.
The #3 relay will put the dash lights, tail lights and possibly others out if it is bad. You can check the "feet" on it to be sure they are not blue, an indication they are loose and overheating. They cost around $35 from Honda.
Pilot makes a close replacement that you only need to cut off a piece of plastic to get to fit and sells for under $5. I've forgotten the part number but is something like PLRY1-30 or some variation there of. Try Pep boys, advanced auto etc.

As a check you can replace #3 temporarily with the air compressor relay in the same box and see if it helps."


Hope this helps you out Rick.

Battery is not quite year old, tests out excellent. Has been doing this for 2-3 yrs now.
Was doing it even in the heat of summer. Doesn't do it every time.
The radio does not fault back to preset, it still plays the station I was listening to the last time I rode.