Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Shakedown

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Shakedown

    Well, tonight I took my bike on a shakedown run to test out the new tuning I had completed the previous night...and it was a really great ride!

    As soon as I got home, I was inside, changed footwear, grabbed ATGATT, and was back outside beside the bike.

    She started up first try, no choke, within seconds of hitting the button, and sounded almost perfect. It was perfect riding conditions IMO.

    -late afternoon(after work).
    ~24 degrees out with a slight breeze. nice and warm in the sun, and cool under the canopies of trees, which lined the road in spots.

    I told myself it was going to be quick ride to see how the bike was running, and then back home to make supper.

    ...

    So after an hour I found myself back home for 30 seconds to grab some water, then hop back on the still running bike to go check out some possible twisties about 20 minutes from home. yeah yeah, I know, short rides seem to become longer rides pretty easily if I let 'em.

    So off I go to check out what looks like twisties in google earth.
    My bike is running great, full tank of gas, I'm off to have some more fun.
    After 15 minutes or so into one of the best rides I have had yet on the bike, she stalls pulling up to a stop sign on a small hill.

    I tried to restart the stalled bike, and not a whole heck of a lot happenned. The battery had no juice left in it at all. Tried bump starting, no good, and I don't have a kick on the 650. Did they make them with a kick start on them? I would love to have a kick start on my bike, might be a heavy kick though!

    Luckily I was somewhat near a couple farm houses, so I start pushing.
    No lights and no one home at the first house except for a loud dog.

    Luckily there was someone home at the second house who could give me a boost! We hooked the cables up and she fired right away, so I immediately thought bad winding in the stator, or R/R. I offered the gentleman some money, but he would have none of it, he just said to help the next person who needs it. Nice guy, cute daughter. (She answered the door, and came out to "help" us boost the bike )

    I took it pretty easy on the way home, mostly gravel backroads to get home asap, and some nice long paved straights. I kept the throttle up when coming to a stop just in case. There is a whole lot of nothing but farms in the area, some country blocks have no houses, just barns, so long push down empty roads to get another boost if I stall it.

    The bike ran nice all the way home, and seemed fine, but once I got home and turned it off, the battery was still dead as doornails. nuts.

    I read through the stator papers after I got home, and I will be doing all of the diagnostics tomorrow night. Here's hoping it's just a bad ground from the R/R to the battery, but I doubt it. Knowing the way this bike has (not) been maintained by the PO's, I am betting I have a project on my hands here.

    The way I look at it, if the stator even seems close to out of spec, I'll pull it and rewind it. No problems there, it's cheap to do, easy to do, but as boring as my day job!

    Oh well, I guess when I am done it's going to be like a new bike, since I've changed or rebuilt most of the rest of the bike already.

    The only reason I am not mad that the bike manifested another gremlin for me to deal with is that I am glad it happenned now, and not in the middle of a long trip!

    I will also check the tank for rust to see if that may have caused the stall, or does deceleration cause enough of an extra strain on the electrical system which may have caused a stall due to the battery not being up to buffering duties? hmmm...

    Maybe I will be lucky and it will only be the battery. I can at least buy those cheap from where I work.

    So, if the R/R turns out to be flaky, should I go electrosport R/R, or get a Honda R/R from Mr. Duaneage? Opinions? Anyone out there tried both?

    #2
    Try a fresh battery. Make sure that you trickle charge it overnight before installation. Clean all grounds as well.
    Then, do all of the tests.
    Good luck to you and best wishes.

    Eric

    Comment


      #3
      That's what I was thinking.

      I was planning to buy a new battery soon anyway. The current one is of unknown age/condition. Looks clean, but who knows. I guess today is the day to buy a battery.
      Now to make sure we have one in stock.

      Comment


        #4
        Get an AGM (absorbed glass mat), they come charged and last longer than the wet cells. Mine's going on 3 years with no problems.

        Comment


          #5
          +1 on the AGM, install it and forget it.
          sigpic2002 KLR650 Ugly but fun!
          2001 KLR650 too pretty to get dirty

          Life is a balancing act, enjoy every day, "later" will come sooner than you think. Denying yourself joy now betting you will have health and money to enjoy life later is a bad bet.

          Where I've been Riding


          Comment


            #6
            Check your battery and go through the stator papers. It is also common practice to run a dedicated ground wire from the R/R ground to the battery. And +1 on the AGM battery my lead acid only lasted 1.5 years. Good luck!
            Last edited by Guest; 09-09-2009, 02:16 PM.

            Comment


              #7
              AGM battery

              I would love to get an AGM, but I need the battery for tonight, and we only stock lead-acid batteries :O(

              I work in a UNI select parts store, so limited selection of what you need, and a huge selection of stuff you'll never use. I mean really, who needs 4 different brands of the same trouble light??? That type of stuff.

              I already bought the battery, filled it, and it's sitting on the charger right now. And as an added bonus, my dual banjo hydraulic brake light switch was waiting in the pile of mail for me when I got to work! I guess I was meant to work on the bike tonight anyways.

              I will look into ordering an AGM, but I can't see myself buying one until the spring now.

              Hmm... Now I am thinking of turning the old battery into a small anodizing tank, good size, if a little small, but perfect for those tiny aluminum parts for my paintball guns... maybe even fit a carb body in there. Something to think about, maybe I'll do up a how-to if I decide to go that route.

              Thanks for all of the input, and here's hoping it's something simple.(or at least cheap)
              Last edited by Guest; 09-09-2009, 01:07 PM. Reason: bad spelling while trying to eat lunch at the same time.

              Comment


                #8
                Well, you can run that non-AGM until it gives you trouble. It's not like it won't work. Just make sure your charging system is working, and do the maintenance on the battery.

                Anodized carb bodies, eh? Interesting...
                Dogma
                --
                O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you! - David

                Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed from deep nonsense. - Carl Sagan

                --
                '80 GS850 GLT
                '80 GS1000 GT
                '01 ZRX1200R

                How to get a "What's New" feed without the Vortex, and without permanently quitting the Vortex

                Comment


                  #9
                  Hey, if you find your stator is toast, lemme know. I have a bunch of GS stators kicking around. Some good, some bad. They all came with my bike. You ain't too far out of my way this weekend. I'm heading up to the grandparent's place in Orangeville and would love a nice little tour.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Macguyver View Post
                    And as an added bonus, my dual banjo hydraulic brake light switch was waiting in the pile of mail for me when I got to work! I guess I was meant to work on the bike tonight anyways.
                    You found a hydraulic brake light switch that plays "dueling banjos?" That's kick ass.

                    Just to be a bit 'on topic' definitely install a new and freshly charged battery and see how your charging system works then.

                    Chris

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Pacman View Post
                      You found a hydraulic brake light switch that plays "dueling banjos?" That's kick ass.
                      Chris
                      Oh great, now you have me wanting to put a musical horn on my bike!

                      Just one more doo-dad, that's all I need right now. hehehe

                      A friend of a friend just put a new horn on his old beater farm bike, it sounds like a really big, really loud cow! Imagine the shock and confusion that could stir up in bumper to bumper gridlock!

                      On an off-topic note, how many people have replaced their stock horns?
                      And with what?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Macguyver View Post
                        Oh great, now you have me wanting to put a musical horn on my bike!

                        Just one more doo-dad, that's all I need right now. hehehe

                        A friend of a friend just put a new horn on his old beater farm bike, it sounds like a really big, really loud cow! Imagine the shock and confusion that could stir up in bumper to bumper gridlock!

                        On an off-topic note, how many people have replaced their stock horns?
                        And with what?
                        I replaced mine with genuine Taiwan made "mega Blaster" horns ($20.00 US) that I found in our local Fleet Farm supply store in the auto section. Wired through the relay supplied with them they work fine.

                        On another note, where is that dual banjo fitting brake light switch available from? I need a switch that actually works instead of that sliding contact junk that Suzuki put on the brake handle.

                        You could put on the musical air horns.........

                        Comment


                          #13
                          My GS never came with a horn. Dunno what the PO was thinking. I stole one off my FJ1100 the day I got the safety done.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            hydraulic switches

                            Originally posted by DanTheMan View Post
                            On another note, where is that dual banjo fitting brake light switch available from? I need a switch that actually works instead of that sliding contact junk that Suzuki put on the brake handle.
                            I bought it off of ebay. Here's a link to the guy's store.

                            He had single and dual banjo's, in the correct thread pitch to boot!

                            I agree with the summation of the stock brake switch. When I opened it up to clean the contacts, I was like WTF?!??! it was just poorly designed, the contact pads seem really small for carrying that kind of load, so they'll wear faster and be glitchy if they aren't lubed and spotless.

                            I still have not had a chance to install the brake switch or my shiny new stainless lines on the front since I wanted to finish the diagnosis of my electrical problem first. Which as it turns out is the R/R. Good news is that the stator seems OK, but I may rewind it before I can get a new R/R anyways.

                            Hey, does anyone have a bad stator for a 1981 GS650 G they wouldn't mind parting with so I can wind up a new one? I would like to keep the current good(but old) one as a spare. Heck, if you have 2 of them I'll even go so far as to rewind them both and send one back to you!

                            Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Dennis Kirk has them I used one on my Norton rear disc conversion

                              http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/produc...afCatId=&mmyId=

                              http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/produc...afCatId=&mmyId=

                              Originally posted by DanTheMan View Post
                              I replaced mine with genuine Taiwan made "mega Blaster" horns ($20.00 US) that I found in our local Fleet Farm supply store in the auto section. Wired through the relay supplied with them they work fine.

                              On another note, where is that dual banjo fitting brake light switch available from? I need a switch that actually works instead of that sliding contact junk that Suzuki put on the brake handle.

                              You could put on the musical air horns.........
                              Last edited by 850 Combat; 09-11-2009, 09:41 PM. Reason: More data
                              sigpic Too old, too many bikes, too many cars, too many things

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X