diff --git a/app/authenticated/cluster/controller.js b/app/authenticated/cluster/controller.js
index 571040e15..6fc2991f5 100644
--- a/app/authenticated/cluster/controller.js
+++ b/app/authenticated/cluster/controller.js
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
 import Controller from '@ember/controller';
+import { get, set, observer } from '@ember/object';
 
 export default Controller.extend({
-  // might be an ember bug but if we dont have an empty controller here the transtion from the cluster managemnt page
-  // via launchOnCluster and useKubernetes fails because of a missing lookup.
+
+  wasReady: true,
+  watchReady: observer('model.isReady', function() {
+    const wasReady = get(this,'wasReady');
+    const isReady = get(this,'model.isReady');
+
+    set(this,'wasReady', isReady);
+
+    if ( isReady && !wasReady ) {
+      this.send('becameReady');
+    }
+  })
 });
diff --git a/app/authenticated/cluster/route.js b/app/authenticated/cluster/route.js
index 0a0b6e6ab..bccc2ae82 100644
--- a/app/authenticated/cluster/route.js
+++ b/app/authenticated/cluster/route.js
@@ -9,18 +9,29 @@ export default Route.extend(Preload, {
   globalStore: service(),
   clusterStore: service(),
 
+  actions: {
+    becameReady() {
+      get(this,'clusterStore').reset();
+      this.refresh();
+    },
+  },
+
   model(params, transition) {
     return get(this, 'globalStore').find('cluster', params.cluster_id).then((cluster) => {
       return get(this, 'scope').startSwitchToCluster(cluster).then(() => {
-        return this.loadSchemas('clusterStore').then(() => {
-          return PromiseAll([
-            this.preload('namespace','clusterStore'),
-            this.preload('storageClass','clusterStore'),
-            this.preload('persistentVolume','clusterStore'),
-          ]).then(() => {
-            return cluster;
+        if ( get(cluster,'isReady') ) {
+          return this.loadSchemas('clusterStore').then(() => {
+            return PromiseAll([
+              this.preload('namespace','clusterStore'),
+              this.preload('storageClass','clusterStore'),
+              this.preload('persistentVolume','clusterStore'),
+            ]).then(() => {
+              return cluster;
+            });
           });
-        });
+        } else {
+          return cluster;
+        }
       }).catch((err) => {
         // @TODO-2.0 right now the API can't return schemas for a not-active cluster
         if ( err.status === 404 ) {
diff --git a/app/authenticated/cluster/template.hbs b/app/authenticated/cluster/template.hbs
index 51075946f..4cd2fa269 100644
--- a/app/authenticated/cluster/template.hbs
+++ b/app/authenticated/cluster/template.hbs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-{{#unless model.isActive}}
+{{#unless model.isReady}}
   {{#banner-message color='bg-error m-0'}}
-    <p>{{t 'clusterDashboard.notActive' state=model.displayState htmlSafe=true}}</p>
+    <p>{{t 'clusterDashboard.notReady' state=model.displayState htmlSafe=true}}</p>
     {{#if model.showTransitioningMessage}}
       <p class="{{model.stateColor}}">{{uc-first model.transitioningMessage}}</p>
     {{/if}}
diff --git a/app/models/cluster.js b/app/models/cluster.js
index b335c07a0..50885c10d 100644
--- a/app/models/cluster.js
+++ b/app/models/cluster.js
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ export default Resource.extend(ResourceUsage, {
     return null;
   }),
 
+  isReady: computed('conditions.@each.status', function() {
+    return this.hasCondition('Ready');
+  }),
+
   isRKE: computed('configName', function() {
     return get(this, 'configName') === 'rancherKubernetesEngineConfig';
   }),
diff --git a/lib/login/addon/login/controller.js b/lib/login/addon/login/controller.js
index a4d61ca89..55c865d4b 100644
--- a/lib/login/addon/login/controller.js
+++ b/lib/login/addon/login/controller.js
@@ -149,7 +149,9 @@ export default Controller.extend({
       var pass = $('.login-pass')[0];
 
       if ( reload ) {
-        reload.focus();
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          reload.focus();
+        }, 250);
       } else if ( user ) {
         if ( user.value ) {
           pass.focus();
diff --git a/lib/shared/addon/components/cluster-driver/driver-googlegke/component.js b/lib/shared/addon/components/cluster-driver/driver-googlegke/component.js
index c5fe2fdd5..4ca96e6ae 100644
--- a/lib/shared/addon/components/cluster-driver/driver-googlegke/component.js
+++ b/lib/shared/addon/components/cluster-driver/driver-googlegke/component.js
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ export default Component.extend(ClusterDriver, {
         diskSizeGb: 100,
         enableAlphaFeature: false,
         nodeCount: 3,
-        machineType: 'n1-standard-1',
+        machineType: 'g1-small',
         zone: 'us-central1-f',
         clusterIpv4Cidr: '',
       });
diff --git a/translations/en-us.yaml b/translations/en-us.yaml
index 4c2c3037c..04178dadd 100644
--- a/translations/en-us.yaml
+++ b/translations/en-us.yaml
@@ -695,7 +695,7 @@ clusterDashboard:
   scheduler: Scheduler
   controllerManager: Controller Manager
   value: Value
-  notActive: This cluster is currently in <b>{state}</b> state.  Areas that require communicating with the cluster will be unavailable until it becomes Active.
+  notReady: This cluster is currently <b>{state}</b>; areas that interact directly with the it will not be available until the API becomes ready to communicate with.
   noNodes: There are no nodes.
   alert:
     node: "Alert: Node {node} is not active."