Verify that it is installed in the upright position.

From the Manual:
TO SENSOR INSPECTION
TO SENSOR REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION
The tip over sensor is located in front of the battery . (r-74-35)
•
Remove the right frame cover . (r P7-4)
•
Remove the TO sensor from the battery case .
•
Install the TO sensor in the reverse order of removal .
NOTE:
When installing the TO sensor, the arrow mark OA must be
pointed upward.

 

It is in the upright position. The arrow points up.

The bike was tipped over. If I shake the TOS, something rattles inside.

 

It is in the upright position. The arrow points up.

The bike was tipped over. If I shake the TOS, something rattles inside.

If the code says tip over sensor, and the TOS is installed properly......

Pick up the bike.....

...or...

Your sensor may be dead. Replace it.


Do you have any other SVRiders in your neighborhood, that you could borrow one, to verify that it's bad?

 

No other SV owners that I know, but that is a thought.

I was thinking that I might need a new sensor. I was thinking of turning it upside down just to see if the previous owner had messed with it and put it back on wrong...

 

This may be a stupid question... but do all SV's have a tip over sensor? And if so, what does it do besides sensing a tip over? I've had my bike run into twice and nothing happened or no code came up.. is it something that you install aftermarket? Should something have happened to my bike when it was ob its side? Just curious, as i bought my bike used

 

The TOS kills the engine when the bike is on it's side. If the bike is upright, the TOS isn't active and the bike runs fine.

Did you bike shut itself off when you tipped it over? If so, then your tip over sensor works fine.

 

Could be a loose plug or corroded connector somewhere in the wiring loom.
The error code means the ECU is not getting the the right (or any?) reading from that bit of hardware.

The sensor resets itself when you pick the bike upright. The little rattly bit is what falls off the contacts when it is on it's side.

 

Sorry to necro this, but i was just thinking, i have never actually seen my tip sensor (been under the seat numeros times) and i've also tipped the bike over a few times and cant quite remember if the engine shut itself off or if i hit the kill switch.

But more important to me, when I got the bike back upright i went to turn the bike on (no error code) and it wouldnt start...then a few minutes later it did start up just fine (i assumed the tip sensor needed to reset itself) is this the way it should work or should an error get thrown as suggested above? (and you'd need to remove/re-orientate the sensor?)

 

One time I was negligent with reassembly and mounted mine funny. This resulted in the bike cutting out on hard launches-- the symptoms were similar to yours, the bike would cut and wouldn't start immediately afterwards. Typically just flipping the ignition on/off would clear it up.

AFAIK, c23 is triggered when there is an issue with the TOS and not under 'normal' operation.