Just An Update

Dinero · #1 03-22-2014, 09:38 PM

I threw in the towel today.

At about 12:00 noon I looked around and realized the fuel tank was laying over there, the fairing was on the table, the seat was standing up in the corner and I had checked everything I could think of and the accessory fuse was still blowing on start up.

This is the third time in as many weeks that I have had it torn apart, thought I had found the issue, put it all back together only to find that, while I may have fixed something, I didn't fix the basic problem.

I rode to my favorite Indie and the owner, his top mechanic and I worked on it until about 4:30 this afternoon. Once again it was in pieces laying all over the shop.

We checked everything we could think of with meters, eyes, by feel and hooking up a computer to it. So far everything checks good but the damn fuse blows every time I start it up.

I called my sister to come give me a ride home and left it with them. Tuesday the fairing gets pulled as we did realize that the voltage gauge is screwed up (?) and then tear into it to check the stater and coil and starter itself.

I did find one problem with it this morning in the wire that goes into the front fender for the tip light but that didn't fix my problem.

I know when I'm beat and I may be real embarrassed to see what they find but I was just too far down that road and too frustrated to do any more to it. It will be worth whatever they charge me just to have it fixed and to be able to ride it.

Thus ends my confession for today.

Infidel! · #2 03-22-2014, 10:00 PM

Don't seat it Jim. There's nothing to be embarrassed about, you did your best. You need that bike healthy, and I want to see you on it come May. We'll have a good laugh over some whiskey and talk about how a bad cigarette lighter can frustrate even the best of mechanics.

Bluetoys · #3 03-22-2014, 10:12 PM

You always find it in the last place you look...

y2kflhr · #4 03-23-2014, 06:49 AM

I can't wait to mock you in person

Sonic · #5 03-23-2014, 07:25 AM

d j · #6 03-23-2014, 07:43 AM

Electrical...my favorite.

I wait for the machine to talk to me, to let me know where to look.

JK

Hope it's a easy fix.

TalonChief · #7 03-23-2014, 08:04 AM

Try a blowing fuse on something the size of B-52. It'll turn up eventually. Electrical t-shooting is an art.

MegaGlide · #8 03-23-2014, 02:48 PM

When that grommet in the fender for the tip light dry rots, it's best to just put in a new one right then. Easier than you'd think. The connector isn't that high up in the fairing. You can reach it with a pick without even pulling the fairing...

Dinero · #9 03-23-2014, 04:17 PM

I never noticed it before yesterday.

MegaGlide · #10 03-23-2014, 05:12 PM

Didn't figure you did. That was for the guys who are going "What?" right now.

Dinero · #11 03-28-2014, 10:06 PM

I picked up my bike today and rode it about 100 miles and all systems are go.

Put a new regulator on it and found two more shorts -- just pinholes in the sheathing.

I tested everything and it seems to be fine. I'll put a couple of hundred miles on it tomorrow. I hope we found them all.

However, after my ride early this afternoon, I put the bike under the carport and jumped in the truck to run a few errands. Coming back from Dave The CheezHead's new shop I got caught in the first real thunderstorm of any consequence in Central Texas so far this spring.

Hail the size of ping pong balls sounded like a machine gun fight with incoming morters thrown in for the fun of it. Bullet hit the floor and tried to crawl under my seat. My poor pock-marked old truck is starting to look it's age.

So tomorrow I put the bike through it's paces on the CFB Run and after that it should be good to go.

Is the wiring a big problem? In hindsight, no.

How was the regulator involved? The voltage was running from as low as 9 to as high as 15.9. At the higher flow it was very easy to arc to ground and blow the fuse with a dead short that disappeared when I messed with it and the voltage was lower. I'm just glad I didn't fry the stator.