mo.Unit and mo.Button Troubleshooting Procedures

Motogadget does not provide us with any assistance in supporting their products. We have a line of communication with them but they do not give us updates or have a database of information for us to work with. The information provided is derived from our own direct experience working with their products and from the manual. 

Motogadget has its own support team that can be reached via their website through the link below.  If you have a bad Motogadget product that is under warranty and requires replacement it must be returned directly to Motogadget for exchange, dealers no longer handle warranty exchanges or returns. Please see the link below for details.

https://motogadget.com/en/support/

First things First, Download the most current version of the manual for your m-Unit. It is updated regularly and you can find the newest versions here. For specific issues use your CTRL+F search function with simple terms to locate specifics.

Contents:

1. Bluetooth, Firmware, Programming 
2. mo.Unit Electrical
3. mo.Button
4. Bad Gauge readings
5. Output Terminal Voltage Warnings

Setup Mode, Software/Firmware and Bluetooth Troubleshooting:

MAKE CERTAIN THAT YOU ARE REFERRING TO THE APPROPRIATE MANUAL FOR YOUR FIRMWARE.

The most common issue we field here involves the inability to enter the Setup Mode due to changes Motogadget has made to the setup procedure and there are other setup features that have changed as well.

Prior to Firmware update 1032 - 9.2 Starting setup Put the bike in an upright position to its main stand. To start the setup, press the horn pushbutton 3 times briefly immediately after switching on the ignition. A successful setup start is displayed by a brief blinker flashing. If the horn sounds, please press the pushbutton faster. 

Firmware update 1032 and on - Put the bike in an upright position to its main stand. To start the setup, press and hold the horn pushbutton while switching the ignition on. A setup start is displayed by a brief blinker flashing. After this, you can release the horn pushbutton.

Bluetooth Troubleshooting: 

Bluetooth connectivity issues can be challenging to solve, this involves software and hardware that is beyond the field of motorcycle mechanical theory and our ability to fully troubleshoot. If the phone is a brand new model the app may not have been updated to include the phone. If the m.Unit is hidden under a dense material it may not be able to consistently pick up the signal or a phone tucked in a pocket may not provide a clear signal. Radio Frequency Interference may interrupt the signal.  

The procedure below has worked for us in the past though it will, unfortunately, reset all of your settings in the m.Unit.

1. Delete any m.Unit profiles saved in your phone's Bluetooth settings. 
2. Perform a reset of the m.Unit - With the ignition off, press and hold the Start and Horn buttons, then turn on the ignition while continuing to hold the buttons. After approximately 10 seconds the turn signals should blink alternatively. Then, you should see various components briefly activate as the m.Unit takes fresh voltage readings. 
3. Now open the m.Ride app on your phone and follow the prompts for Bluetooth pairing. 

 

Electrical - Begin with the Battery Test:

Always begin troubleshooting with a quick battery test. I can't stress this enough, a low or malfunctioning battery can produce a variety of mysterious symptoms and you can save a lot of time by first confirming that your battery is in good functioning condition, eliminating that as a variable straight away.

Assuming you have a normal ignition switch, begin troubleshooting by making sure your battery is in good condition and hasn't developed a bad cell. The easiest test for this is to measure the voltage when the bike is off, when it is turned on, and when the starter button is pressed. Typical results for this type of test are ~13.2V bike off, ~12.4 Bike on, and more than 10v when cranking. If the voltage is dropping much below 10V during starting that is an indication the battery is shot or too small for the starter. If you can't actually fire the starter right now, you may need to bypass the m-Unit to get the starter to crank. This can be done by removing the start output wire and touching it to the positive battery terminal on the m-Unit. This should cause the starter solenoid to engage and the starter to crank.

A word of caution, LiFePO4 batteries like the Antigravity models have a lot of benefits over traditional lead-acid but they are very intolerant of being drained below 9V and can be permanently damaged from even one occurrence. If you are testing your components off of your battery you need to make sure that it is kept charged up or use a lead-acid for this purpose if you have one on hand.

If the bike sits for a stretch with no trickle charger a bad battery is definitely a possibility. The m-Unit does have a small in the milliamp range that will over time pull a battery down so it is good practice to install a quick connect the harness and keep your battery on a float charger when not in use for a length of time.

General m-Unit Troubleshooting:

Anytime you add or change an electrical component including light bulbs you need to enter then exit the m.unit setup mode. This will initiate a voltage test that will re-establish the baseline voltage requirements so that the m.Unit does not misdiagnose an electrical issue.  

Horn Chirps and Hi-beam Flickers

- If you hear your horn chirp or notice your headlights flashing CUT POWER IMMEDIATELY That is a warning that the m.Unit is experiencing a voltage overload. If this happens DO NOT attempt to limp the bike home, it's time to call a friend. It can only take a matter of seconds between the moment you hear the warning and the m.Unit is irreparably damaged.  This scenario generally occurs months or even years after the initial install and the most common cause is a bad main ground, loose mounting bolts, and occasionally, a compromised wire terminal.

Improperly prepared grounds will lose conductivity over time as rust develops between the m.Unit and chassis. As this develops current will build up on the chassis side of the circuit until there is enough to arc across the gap, much like a spark plug. The voltage of this arc can be huge in terms of normal motorcycle electrics and it is enough to burn out an m.Unit or any electrical component on the bike very quickly. From my observation, this is the most common cause for an m.Unit failure .

Once you've got the bike in the garage remove the m.Unit from the bike and inspect the ground contact surfaces. Make sure that the contact surface is smooth, bare metal, free of paint, rust or anything else that could impede conductivity. The same approach should be followed for all chassis grounds on the bike. Apply Copper Anti-Seize to the bare metal surfaces to prohibit corrosion and promote conductivity.

- While m-Units do fail from time to time it’s rare and the overwhelming majority of problems we see involve the improper installation or electrical faults. The only real test we know how to do is to disconnect everything and verify the m-Unit is operating normally without any potential issues being created by the bike wiring. To do this disconnect all input and outputs, and then use a standard bulb like a turn signal as a test light for the outputs. It is important that the test light is an incandescent type, sometimes super-efficient LEDs can give odd results. The test light should be at least a watt or two, most incandescent turn signal bulbs are 5-20 watts and an old signal makes for a perfect test light. Then use a jumper wire to connect the lock input to turn on the m-Unit, verify the lights race around and stop with lock, aux 1 and ignition outputs lit.

At this point check each output by installing either a 2 wire button with one wire grounded and the other wire in the input, next install your test light so that one wire is grounded and the other wire leads to the corresponding output. If any of the outputs cause the light to light up but the output LED isn't lit, that is a clear indication the m-Unit is malfunctioning. If the m-Unit passes this test, go through and verify that all the inputs operate the outputs as expected, and again verify outputs using the test light. Go through one at a time and eliminate as many variables as possible.

The reason you need to use a test light is that solid-state electronics may show voltage even when the output is turned off. This is just the way silicon-based devices work, although a voltmeter may show a voltage, once you connect a light bulb to it, there isn't any current and the output voltage will drop to zero. But you can't measure output voltage without having some type of resistive load on the output.

Remove all of your inputs and outputs.

Reseat the m-Unit main ground connection and check continuity with a meter. Contact surfaces must be clean corrosion free bare metal, don't rely on the continuity of the nuts and bolts to be enough and don't just assume that your contacts are good without testing them. Remember your ground wire must be large enough to match the amperage of your 12V+ cable to the m-Unit. 

Reconnect the main 12V+ cable and check continuity with a meter.

Connect the ignition key switch to the main 12V+ and Lock input, then switch it on to confirm that the LED lights up. 

One by one connect an INPUT wire to a test switch and then it's corresponding OUTPUT to a 5-20 watt test bulb, activate the switch and confirm that the m-Unit LEDs light up correctly. If it does not light up or the LEDs indicate you have a ground short investigate that circuit to find your issue. (If using the m-Button then install just the one wire into the Kill input terminal.)

m-Button Troubleshooting

Problems with the m-button tend to manifest in one of two ways.

One or more control functions not responding:

This could be the result of a bad switch, bad wire connection, or an irreparable internal failure in the m-Button.  Due to the m-Buttons digital CAN-BUS technology, you can not test for continuity in your switches. In order to test a switch or it’s circuit to determine if the switch is bad, there’s a wiring issue or the m-Button is malfunctioning you must perform a process of elimination.

1. Test for continuity between the switch and the m-Button, check wiring for damage.
2. Test switch for continuity when pressed.
3. If the above tests are good it is an indication that there is an issue with the m-Button.

Phantom switch activations:

The most common issue that we encounter is the result of improper installation. If you have an m-Button and are experiencing phantom switch activations this is very likely due to electromagnetic interference. If your m-Button is not as stated in the manual, inside the handlebars this is a probable cause for your issues. Proper installation may solve the issue, then again, if your ignition system if throwing off enough EMI it may not be enough. If you are still experiencing symptoms you may need to confirm that you are using either suppressor core wires or suppressor plug caps and if you are still experiencing these symptoms removal of the m-Button is the most prudent solution.

Proper Handlebar Installation:

1. Pre-drill holes for internal bar wiring, with one hole at the bottom center. Be sure to clean up edges to avoid wire chafing, we recommend using wire loom to protect the tiny wires.,
2. Run left side control wires from right bar end,
3. Run Green wire and m-Button Black ground to center hole,
4. Insert m-Button in the right bar end
5. Feed right side control wires through the hole
6. Feed all left and right side ground wires through bars to the center hole. Solder all ground wires to m-Button main ground and run one ground wire back to the m-Unit main ground terminal to ensure the best continuity.

Bad Gauge or Milage Readings: 

The first time that the m.Unit receives an input signal from a speed sensor it takes an initial reading and sets a baseline. If you split the signal between a speedometer and the m.Unit and wired either of them before the other and then powered on the system it is possible that the Motogadget gauge and or the m.Unit has set a signal baseline that is different now that the signal has been split and this will give you a false reading. The solution is to perform a factory reset on the m.Unit and allow it to produce a new baseline of the current signal input. 

Output Terminal Voltage Warnings:

Similar to the above scenario the m.Unit takes a reading of the voltage draw of the outputs the first time that they draw power and sets a baseline. If you change components, like from incandescent to LED bulbs or the other way around the m.unit may interpret that you have an overvoltage situation or that you have a bulb out. 

Wrap Up:

Hopefully one of the above methods got you all sorted out. These are the same methods we use here in the shop, there are no secrets we've left out. In our experience, 99% of the time the issue is something to do with a bad battery, a poor electrical contact or a malfunctioning m-Button. On a rare occasion, we do hear from people who's symptoms suggest a bad m-Unit but before you decide to return your m-Unit to Motogadget for testing run through these procedures a second or even a third time just to make sure you're not wasting time and money shipping your m-Unit to Germany and back. 

Thanks for your support!

-Revival Team