Shield went up..but won't come down...why??

My 03 ST1300 has been parked up for a couple of months under cover with no known problems, I went out this morning to put a new battery on her, after I started her and run her for 5 mins.

I went through and tested the lights/horn/windshield up..ok..windshield down... no way. Why???

I've looked through about 15 pages of this section but can't find anything.....help....we want to go for a ride tomorrow and if needs be I'll have to make do with the shield up
but I'm not happy with that as I like to lower it when in slow traffic...ie town.

Maybe the drive mechanism or rails jammed. No way of knowing without popping the front end apart and looking. Could also be a bad/dirty contact in the switch or a loose connector or damaged wire.

Most likely the mechanism has jammed/failed. My '04's went out in '09 just 3-4 months after I bought it. Fairly easy swap but it ain't cheap. After swapping I now don't adjust the shield unless stopped or moving very slow. I think the down force of forward movement on the plastic gears wear it out. By far the weakest point IMHO that Honda put into the ST. There are several threads about the problem and someone was even making a better, stronger gear mechanism for replacement but not sure if it was mass produced or not.

Skip

Don't force it back down. You'll cause yourself more grief if you do. When mine went out, one side would work. It bent the windshield mounting brackets pretty bad when I attempted to get it lowered with a little push.

Knocking this post back to life....I did strip the front cover off, but couldn't see no problem so I thought I'd leave it until the winter months to strip it complet and repair whatever the trouble was.

Fed up with riding with a tall screen in the up position last weekend I took the screen off and replaced the standard screen. We set off for a Sunday ride out...and just out of curiosity pushed the button and the bloody thing goes up & down without any problems.

Now I'm wondering if....this is a big if...the holes in the new taller screen are not "spot on". When fitting it I can't remenber if I had to flex one of the runners so that the holes lined up.
If this did happen?? say a mm or two that may put pressure on the runner track?? which stopped it from working?? strange :tc1:

The mechanism is very 'iffy' to begin with. It uses a worm drive under a LOT of tension to turn a gear that runs a pair of cables past the gear. This pushes the windscreen up and down. It's a poor design and is implemented using low quality parts. The gear usually fails and then chews up the cables. If you are REALLY lucky the cables won't be destroyed (yet) and replacing the gear will fix it.

I've been looking for a replacement drive for 3 years. I just can't abide buying Hondas $400 replacement.

Best of luck!

Troy

If you didn't "hear" the motor trying to move the windscreen then it's most likely the switch, connection points, or motor. When the windscreen gets stuck or the gear starts chewing up the plastic coating on the cable you will hear it making bad noise.
If it was simply hit the button and nothing... electrical issue.
I would say it's a connection or the switch if it is not an intermittent problem.

for what it's worth, when you get in there and looking/cleaning/lubing the tracks you might want to disconnect the cable and move the slides by hand through the travel. On mine there was a tight spot about 2/3's the way up. I took out the shims to help it slide free. I also added a spacer behind the "U" shaped piece that pushes the cable to seat it with the gear, way to much play in that area too. It's been a few years sense I did this to mine and haven't had any issues.

Oh, and I use my adjustment whenever I feel the need... no matter what speed.

The lower limit switch is dirty or is starting to go bad This is a micro switch located on the bottom of the rail mechanism. Honda does not sell the switch so you will have to source a aftermarket on or salvage one off of a wrecked bike. View attachment 168824. View attachment 168825

Also, besides all that has been suggested here, check your relays. They sit just behind the front windshield cover. They are identical, so if the lowering relay goes out, you can test it by swapping them.

I think I have a couple of things to look out for....thanks guys. It won't get done for another few months, I'll wait until she off the road when I get the wheels out for a new set of rubbers.