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Uncle Mike's BIKE Dead on Chicago Expressway - Coil question

Baatfam said:
And BTW...I am not working on any bikes today...;):p
Click to expand...
Not to worry, Bob ... I just sent Mike off on the next leg (ten minutes ago) headed AWAY from your place, hehe! I294 North to I94, through Milwaukee and Madison, and up to Minneapolis/St. Paul, where one of my brothers lives.

After looking at the weather radar and listening to the forecast, it looked like the northern route might provide a little relief from the heat, though not much. At any rate, it's not as boring a route as across IL, hehe! ;)

Regards,
 
Also sent him off with a care package of several nice grilled hamburgers, chicken, and buns to make some good sandwiches ... he looked happy, and can use the "freeze packs" to stay cool when the food's gone! :D

Regards,
 
Nice meeting you and yeah...these guys are pretty decent for sure.

UncleMike said:
Anyone in Chicago want to buy an 1150? Mechanic's special!
Click to expand...

Yes! I love that bike!

%255BUNSET%255D.jpg
 
Wow !!!!

THAT'S what I call roadside assistance !!!

Great job to all who helped Mike out !!!!:)
 
Truly inspiring example of GSR fellowship here folks. Makes one have a bit more faith in the human race.

Good to see our intrepid traveler is back on the road. Nice work fellas! :clap:
 
Redman said:
I suppose it is easier to remove a rear wheel when you have a lift AND a 3rd leg.
Click to expand...
Yippee ... my knees are in that picture! LOL! :p:D;) We were in the process of getting the axle back in when that was taken ... job almost done!

Regards,

PS. That picture IS the answer to "How many GSR'rs does it take to get UncleMike's rear wheel back on his bike?" Answer: "four" Krusty is hiding behind Uncle Mike (legs visible) and I'm obscurred by the bike (blue jeaned knees visible)...
 
Last edited:
So, just back to the original problem: What exactly was wrong with his fusebox?
Was it internally shorted? Shorted to the frame? I know you got it replaced and a work-around was ready off the orange-green wire but I wondered what exactly was found out.
This thread has been great. Glad Mike's back on the road and it was great to see the massive effort put forward. :D
 
NeyborDayfid said:
So, just back to the original problem: What exactly was wrong with his fusebox?
Was it internally shorted? Shorted to the frame? I know you got it replaced and a work-around was ready off the orange-green wire but I wondered what exactly was found out.
This thread has been great. Glad Mike's back on the road and it was great to see the massive effort put forward. :D
Click to expand...

It appeared to be an open circuit inside the box. There was no power to the fuse...
We didn't take the time to open it up and see, but Mike took it with him and maybe he will when he reaches his destination.

The real mystery is why the bike quit on the expressway Thursday....
We really didn't fix anything that night...just tinkered with it, checked some stuff and it finally started.
Mike rode to Joe's, changed the tire and then back to the city the next morning with no issues...
Went to start it again and no power at the orange and green wire....:confused:
 
NeyborDayfid said:
So, just back to the original problem: What exactly was wrong with his fusebox?
Was it internally shorted? Shorted to the frame? I know you got it replaced and a work-around was ready off the orange-green wire but I wondered what exactly was found out.
This thread has been great. Glad Mike's back on the road and it was great to see the massive effort put forward. :D
Click to expand...

The fuse block has not yet been disassembled, but it would appear that internally the 12V supply voltage to the signal circuit has been interrupted. Could be a corroded connection, a cold solder joint, etc.

The outside of the fuse block shows no signs of heat damage, so if something shorted out and broke, it's not visible from the outside. I imagine that Mike will dissect it when he gets to CA so that we all get to see what caused all the commotion, hehe!

Regards,
 
Thanks Baatfam and Planecrazy,

I'd love to see pics and further investigation.
No need to hurry Mike. You just go enjoy some trouble-free miles.
You guys are all great. :D
 
If you took some pictures of my misadventures, would you be so kind as to email them to me? PM me and I'll send along my address. I want to collect everything into a Flickr folder and share.

And some additional information that may help us figure out what happened on the Chicago expressway if not what caused the fusebox failure.

After all our fixes, I noticed my tach needle bouncing a lot more. Now, it was never rock-solid, but now it wanders quite a lot especially between 5-6K rpm. This could be a capacitor in the gauge that's gone, which I hear is quite common, but I had another thought while ridind ( I had a bit of time to myself to think.)

The readings for the tach come from the coil voltage, no? Given that the bike died during a 100 degree day while traffic was so bad I was barely moving, wouldn't that point to coils that go bad when hot? And perhaps this wanderlust tach is indicative of that very symptom?

Obviously electrics are not my strong-suit, so tell me if I'm way off.

Also, the mileage on the bike was horrific between Chicago and Rapid City, SD. I'm assuming that had to do with the incredible wind as it returned to normal once I got off that highway and away from the wind-raped plains, but just thought I'd pass that along. Coupled with the high speed, mileage would go quite low. But more than that, the bike would act fuel-starved way before it was out of fuel. I'd put it on reserve and it'd come back to life and when I'd pull into the station it'd only need around 3.8 gallons - just like after getting off the Chicago expressway.

Interesting, no? After leaving the highway at Rapid City, it never happened again. Even during the high-speed burn between Utah and California, although I was running at a much lower speed on average during that stretch.

Just some thoughts.

Additional casualties from the trip -

1 pair of sunglasses. Good thing I had two pairs of backups.
1 starter cover bolt.
I developed an oil leak around my front sprocket. Haven't had the willpower to go check that out further.
 
I was running my XS400 at WOT on route 17 outside of Bath NY a while ago into a really strong headwind, so strong I couldn't get the bike over 80 and it actually cut out until I backed down to 65.
I think the petcock lost vacuum and cut off fuel. I had plenty of gas so I went to PRI and took it back up to 80 and it stayed there.

You may have had the same thing happen if it was running wide open, a loss of manifold vacuum on the petcock valve.
 
UncleMike said:
If you took some pictures of my misadventures, would you be so kind as to email them to me? PM me and I'll send along my address. I want to collect everything into a Flickr folder and share.
Click to expand...

Sorry Mike I didn't see this until today...
Amy took a bunch of pictures at our place Sunday...I'll pass them to you tomorrow...
 
duaneage said:
I was running my XS400 at WOT on route 17 outside of Bath NY a while ago into a really strong headwind, so strong I couldn't get the bike over 80 and it actually cut out until I backed down to 65.
I think the petcock lost vacuum and cut off fuel. I had plenty of gas so I went to PRI and took it back up to 80 and it stayed there.

You may have had the same thing happen if it was running wide open, a loss of manifold vacuum on the petcock valve.
Click to expand...

Sounds likely, although that definitely wouldn't account for the issue that put me on the side of the road during rush hour in Chicago.
 
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