Search Messages

 
Author:
Search Start Date:
Search End Date:
Sort Order
Sources to include:
OR Message ID:
 

Display Mesage #116727


Very strange "repair" (long)
Written by Leland Sheppard on 9/23/2012 at 12:00 am

Hi Coasters,

I had a really weird one happen on the PCH ride a few days back.

Tuesday, while heading north on CA49, we stopped for butt and potty
breaks at North San Juan. When we got ready to leave and I went to
start up the '89, it fired up, died and then went completely dead. No
lights, no dash lights, nothing. Turned it off, back on, still nothing.

Got the bike out onto the road and with someone pushing, I tried to bump
start the bike. It coughed, tried to fire but it sounded like it was
running on 1 plug, not even one cylinder. The tach was bouncing all over
the place and it was NOT about to go.

Pulled off the road, turned off the key and turned it back on again.
Nothing.

Lifted the trunk, pulled out the battery cables I carry with me on these
rides, and decided to see if someone could give me a jump start. Got
the cables attached to the battery and, rather then set the other end on
the ground, I set the cable ends in the trunk.

Unfortunately, I got them too close and they touched and arced. Gary
Mick spotted the problem (I had looked away after setting them down).
Gary hollered and I turned around and grabbed them and separated the two
cables. But they had been touching for possibly as much as two or
three seconds.

From the arcing, though, it was clear that whatever problem I was
having it was NOT lack of juice in the battery.

About this time, since the battery had juice, just for grins I turned
the ignition key on again. We have lights. So I hit the starter
button. We have Action! It started.

Huh?

I unhooked the battery cables and put them away. I closed up the trunk
and we started out again.

Bike is running fine.

And now I discover something interesting...

My idiot light is now staying green at higher speeds. It appears that
the arcing of the battery cables fixed a problem somewhere (welded
something that needed welding?) And to this day, the electrical problem
I had been having for the past 2 or 3 years seems to be resolved.

I don't get it...

The history of this is that the electrical system on my '89 has been
acting funny for a couple of years. I had an upside down voltage
situation that never got resolved. Battery was new, stator tested fine
and regulator had been swapped out with a known good one but the upside
down voltage problem continued. Also had swapped the new battery for a
near new one that I knew was working; no difference.

And then it disappeared. I had let the bike sit while contemplating my
navel and what to do with the bike next. Finally, I turned it on and
miracle of miracles, it was better. I only got upside down voltages some
of the time.

So I started using the bike again and, to this day have just continued
to use it even though my idiot light stays yellow much of the time
except at idle where it turns green.

I started plugging the bike into the battery tender at night and that
has been keeping things up even when I wasn't sure that the
stator/regulator were doing it.

The first night of the ride, I had to charge the battery because for the
last few hours of the ride that day, it was looking as though the
battery was run down. So I put it on the charger that night and it took
a while for the full indicator to come on so the battery actually was
down... That was after 3 nights NOT on the battery tender and 2 days of
riding in between.

And then the next day my inadvertent "welding" job occurred and all has
been better since. My idiot light stays green most of the time...

I have no clue as to what actually happened but, at this point, am not
looking a gift horse in the mouth...

If anyone has thoughts on this, I'd appreciate hearing them.

Thanks.

Leland



--
Leland Sheppard
Placerville, California, USA

...Life is good on the Pacific Coast...

'94 Pacific Coast, "Black Beauty", 211,500 miles
'89 Pacific Coast, "Shadow Dancer", 147,750 miles
'90 Pacific Coast, "Red Baron", 124,025 miles
'96 Pacific Coast/SuperSport sidecar, "Handsome Hannigan", 31,972 miles
'02 Ural Patrol, "Boris Blueanov", 15,506 kilometers
'02 GL1800, "Copper", 66,925, '07 Aspen Classic, "Copper's Camper", 2,793 miles
iPCRC #72; IBA #10582; AMA #481368

Mother of all PC800 Web Site Lists: http://www.pc800links.net

Message Thread for message #116727