Indian Scout Bobber engine and DC power inexplicably shuts off - solved

My 2020 Indian Scout Bobber - bought brand new - had from inception a periodic issue where after it was washed or got wet, the engine and all electric power would shut off. The 15A Chassis Circuit breaker would trip and try to reset but bike would remain dead. I explain in detail what ended up being the problem and the relatively easy fix.

I am sure I am not the only Scout owner who has had this problem, there are plenty of forum posts where people have stated a similar issue.

See this forum thread for how to remove the battery box - its otherwise a PITA to do:

https://www.indianmotorcycles.net/thr...

I’ve notified Indian customer service about this issue today.

Hopefully this can help others with the same problem.

PS: sorry for my voice, I’m coming off a bad flu.

UPDATE: Bike is still running fine and I can confirm the issue is resolved since the fix.

The fix again was filling the exposed black plug with di-electric grease and capping it with the Dorman 5/8” coolant cap. I had found two other exposed plugs down by the voltage regulator which I also filled with the di-electric grease - just in case. But those were not the problem as when I had jiggled them previously the short persisted - it wasn’t until I had gotten the black plug jiggled around that the short cleared.

I have now SOAKED the bike 3 different times, as much or more than if I were to wash it or if it had been caught in a bad rainstorm. That included spraying all around and up under the seat, under and up into the center of the swing arm, all over the handlebar controls and switches etc. Each time just towel dried the exterior and put in the key - all electrics working, no short and the bike fired right up. Let it idle 15+ minutes each time -no issues. Previously, even 10% of the amount of water I sprayed could cause the short to happen.

I think there is a simple and relatively inexpensive way - without removing the battery and battery box - to at least inspect the area below the battery box and that black plug. I had bought a while ago on Amazon a wireless endoscope camera that connects to a smartphone or tablet and feeds the image to it. I’ll test tonight when I get home to see if it can be snaked down behind the battery box and/or from down below by the voltage regulator to see if it can “see” the plug. That won’t help in actually doing the fix, but if someone is having or has had the same issue they can look and see if the plug is sitting there exposed like mine was before doing all the work of removing the battery and battery box to fix it. The battery box removal is the part that’s again a kind of a PITA. Will do a short YouTube video of that as well and come back and post here with a link.