Triumphrat

Markhp

Went out for a ride on her today & ~5 miles into it I looked down & noticed the oil light had become illuminated
Engine temp was fine (185F), no smoke, leaks or smells. Light goes out a little later leaning into a turn. Then intermittantly on/off several times over next 30 miles. Not flashing, but stays on/off for a while each time.
Afterwards, oil level perfect, no leaks, etc.
Where do I start looking & has anyone else experienced this?
What does this light actually indicate anyway?

Forchetto

It indicates low oil pressure. It's controlled by a pressure switch placed on the end of the cylinder head oil feed pipe, the one that goes from a banjo fitting behind the left cylinder up to the head.

The chances are that unless your oil is very old and thin, or your engine badly worn, the switch itself is faulty or the wire is shorting to chassis somewhere between the oil light and the switch.

bikebits

A couple of days after returning from a 6500km trip the oil pressure light on my Scrambler came on.

I called the dealer and they said to look in the oil level window and start the bike. If the oil immediately dropped out of the window it was circulating properly.

It turned out the switch had gone bad.

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Dave (Scrambler Trans-Labrador Blog here)

BlackTigNYC

I'm going to ask a seemingly silly question, but was it sunny out?

I ask this because one day this summer I could have sworn that my oil pressure light was intermittently going on and off but soon realized that it was just the way the bright sun was reflecting off of it.

It can be very hard to distinguish if the sun gets just the right angle. Just something to think about

Markhp

Thanks for the replys.
Bike has 12K miles & the oil has <1K miles, but I did wash her a couple of days ago & put her up before riding her today.
I wondered about that. Maybe I did something while drying around the engine with a towel. I never blast water directly on anything except wheels/tires.
Light was definetly on; it was getting dark out.
Is the switch easy to replace?

mikeinva

pull the boot back thats on the oil switch make sure its dry ,sometimes water can get in there and short the switch out.If thats not it take the wire aloose from the switch turn key on if light is still on you got a short to ground some where on that wire.The wire grounds to turn the light on.If the light is out with the wire off its ether a bad switch or you got oil pump troubles.

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Why do I feel young on my bike

americana

My speed triple used to do the same thing after she had a bath , probly wouldnt hurt to pull the wire off the sending unit a put a lil dilectric greese in the connector .

bikebits

The switch is under a rubber boot between the cylinders at the back of the engine. Best to take the tank off to get at it.

After the long trip, I gave the bike a particularly good wash. As noted by others, I pulled the rubber boot back and it had been full of water. Problem was, even after a couple of days to dry out, I still had the red warning light.

The bike was under warranty so I took it to the dealer. They said the problem with water in the rubber boot is common and actual oil pressure problems with the new Bonnie motor are very rare. The switch was replaced and all has been well since.

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Dave (Scrambler Trans-Labrador Blog here)