That's why really good products use gold connections for electronics. All the automotive air bag electronics have gold contacts (at least they were from first introduction to about 10 years ago) . I can imagine how fast that little bit of corrosion will occur near salt water. That corrosion must be occurring on all the dozens of other pins too, What other gremlins and symptoms are out there? But until then.....
Exactly Phil. Similar issues were found with electrical connections and sensitive electronics in auto's decades ago, and measures were taken then to improve the materials and to seal the connections, and also pack the connections with dielectric compound as well. Pull apart the connectors on your car or truck for the critical electronics in the engine management system, the ABS, the airbags, etc. and you will find these things.
One of the things I don't understand is how H-D can constantly reinvent defects that were identified and fixed elsewhere 10 or 20 years earlier. They don't actually invent any of this stuff, they sub most of it out to companies like Delphi for pete's sake. Since Delphi is highly aware of the importance of any increased resistance in this type of circuit, I have to believe there are some other factors such as $$ that cause these problems to resurface. Things like better quality pin and socket materials, connector seals, and dielectric compound cost more. And even though they charge more for some of their motorcycles than car companies do for a modern 4 or 5 passenger car or SUV, H-D is obviously so inefficient that they have to scrimp on the important parts to maintain the profit margins.
I'd still like to know how this issue doesn't even deserve a real service bulletin, much less a recall. Hiding this in a "Tech Tip" is ridiculous. Especially after all the hoopla over Toyota's throttle control issues, someone at H-D needs to remove their head from their butt and finally become proactive.
Jerry