[challey]

For the first since I've owned her, my '04 Wee stranded me today.

Was on the way home from work and needed to make a stop for some groceries. I parked the bike, went in,bought what I needed and returned to find the message "chec" on the display where the time usually shows. While except for that, everything seemed normal on the displays and the the fuel pump was audible until the system was at pressure, the bike did not respond to the starter button. I waited 15 mins or so but the process simply repeated itself and I wound up calling a friend with a pickup to bail me out.

What does that message indicate? I do not have the owners manual - I'm the 3rd owner and it had gone missing by the time I bought the bike, about 2-1/2 years ago. The bike had been running fine up to that point. Don't know if this is important or not but it was very warm today, probably about 95F but I still had only 3 bars on the temp display. I'm also very low on fuel - 1 to 2 bars but not flashing yet, though about 215 miles on the odo since the last fill up.

 

[greywolf]

CHEC means the display is not getting the message from the computer the bike is in running setup. If the bike will start, it means there is a bad connection to the ECM. If the bike won't start, it almost always means the kill switch is in the wrong position or the side stand is down and the bike is in gear. A problem with the kill switch or the side stand switch or the wiring to them is also possible.

 

[challey]

Thanks for the information Greywolf. Good to know that the error message indicates something relatively benign and is not the catastrophic issue I'd envisioned.

Depressing the starter button did nothing. Definitely not a case of being in gear with the side stand down though - that was the first thing I checked, even deliberately getting into gear, then back to neutral (w/display light indicating N as well). I'll check the kill and side stand switches. Seems like the side stand switch is a more likely culprit since it operates in a relatively hostile environment.

What a great resource this forum is.

 

[p38arover]

It wouldn't be the first time a passer by has flicked the kill switch. As I never use the switch, it catches me out every time.

 

[DougInKY]

This is one of the reasons I flip the kill switch every time I stop the bike. Also the MSF recommends using it so that you can develop muscle memory in case of an emergency. Worked for me. I didn't even remember flipping it when I had my motorcycle accident last month although a bystander told me that it was the first thing I did when I got back to the bike.

 

[greywolf]

It used to be important and may still be on some bikes. The Stroms have a tip over sensor. If the bike is on its side for two seconds, power to the fuel pump is cut off.

 

[johnnail]

he said the fuel pump pumps up and sttops, I agree, it's probably the goofy kickstand switch.

 

[greywolf]

The CHEC message means the fuel pump is cut off unless it is from a bad connection between computer and display.

 

[guitarhack]

It might be worth checking the tiny little connection for the clutch switch.

 

[greywolf]

It might be worth checking the tiny little connection for the clutch switch.

Nope. The clutch switch wil not generate a CHEC. It will just keep the starter from cranking.

 

[challey]

The mystery deepens.

First, some additional history. I mentioned in my original post that I phoned a friend with a pickup when the bike wouldn't start and showed the CHEC message. Before I did so, I made a couple of feeble attempts to bump start the bike (it was 95F and 90+ % humidity, and I was only up to so much pushing). It didn't, but this is because I really didn't get up enough steam to turn the engine over properly, so I pushed it to an empty parking space -obviously in neutral, put the side stand down and then made the call. When my buddy arrived, I decided to check one last time to see if the bike would start before we sweated it up onto the back of the pickup. It didn't and the CHEC message still showed. I did not however check to see if the kill switch was engaged - I almost never use it to shut down the bike and it never occurred to me to check it.

Today was the first chance I had to look things over and of course, before trying anything else, I checked to see if the bike would start. Since I had already posted about the problem and gotten a return response (thanks again Pat), I checked this time to see if the kill switch was engaged and saw that it wasn't. I turned things on and everything powered up normally - including the neutral light and clock display. I pulled the clutch lever in (the bike was on the sidestand) and hit the starter after which the bike cranked and started without incident.

Since I had expected to clean the sidestand switch I did so though I'm not sure how effective this was since the unit seems nicely sealed (and appears to be a much better design than the one on my R1150R by the way). I also I took the opportunity to clean and lube the sidestand itself. I would also have disassembled and lubed the shift linkage but was stymied on how to get it apart. I'll need to take a look through the archives and see how others did this. I also sprayed a bit of WD-40 on the kill switch and cycled it a few times.

In any event, cleaning the switches seems to have been superfluous - the bike was back to running condition before I did anything. Pat posted that "The CHEC message means the fuel pump is cut off unless it is from a bad connection between computer and display". So could it have been simply that bad connection and maybe jockeying the bike on/off the truck somehow jiggled things and restored the connection? Is this something I should also check? If so, I'd appreciate some advice as how and where to look to fix this. Any other suggestions?

 

[greywolf]

Since you weren't able to start the bike, the kill switch or the side stand switch or their connections are the usual suspects.

 

[johnnail]

Since you weren't able to start the bike, the kill switch or the side stand switch or their connections are the usual suspects.

also, check for a loose battery terminal

 

[greywolf]

A loose battery terminal will not cause a CHEC.

 

[TOScootz]

Did you or you friend reset the kill switch when you were moving the bike? Could it have been reset by one of you without either of you noticing?:fineprint:

 

[Lat]

For the first since I've owned her, my '04 Wee stranded me today.

Was on the way home from work and needed to make a stop for some groceries. I parked the bike, went in,bought what I needed and returned to find the message "chec" on the display where the time usually shows. While except for that, everything seemed normal on the displays and the the fuel pump was audible until the system was at pressure, the bike did not respond to the starter button. I waited 15 mins or so but the process simply repeated itself and I wound up calling a friend with a pickup to bail me out.

What does that message indicate? I do not have the owners manual - I'm the 3rd owner and it had gone missing by the time I bought the bike, about 2-1/2 years ago. The bike had been running fine up to that point. Don't know if this is important or not but it was very warm today, probably about 95F but I still had only 3 bars on the temp display. I'm also very low on fuel - 1 to 2 bars but not flashing yet, though about 215 miles on the odo since the last fill up.

I have the same message today "CHEC". How did you finaly solve it ? I can't find any solution described ?

Thanks