Diary of a Weekend Warrior

[gsdapollo]

Captains Log - 14th day of November, 2012.

Turn key, no power at all. Test entire starting circuit, solenoid is bad. New solenoid installed, bike turns over but no spark. Test the whole ignition circuit, replace plug wires and ignition points, now I get spark. A little gas, a splash of starting fluid, bike finally fires after two years of sitting still. Pull tank back off, break fingers putting carb boots back on, reinstall tank and fuel lines. Turn key, press starter - nothing, bike is dead, back to square one. Turn around, punch wall, scream "F%$CK ELECTRICITY!!!!!!". Drink a beer, talk to the bike a little. Tell her you love her but you have no problem lighting her on fire if she keeps this up. Grab wiring diagram and multimeter, start chasing volts all over again... Trying not to kick bike over.

Getting tired, quittin for the night. Gonna cook a steak, drink the rest of this case of beer and stare at my disassembled TV thats in need of a color wheel that isnt shattered.

Captain J...

Out....


End Log

 

[Corsair]

I feel your pain.....

Great post!

 

[Flugtechnik]

When dealing with the electrics, my best advice is to drink that beer and try again tomorrow.


END OF LINE

 

[Basement rat]

Ahhh the homotron.

The one gay electron that goes around blowing everything.



A bad joke me dad told me years ago.



On another note, how old is the battery?

 

[john83]

Bumped something while installing the tank or carbs perhaps?

 

[gsdapollo]

When dealing with the electrics, my best advice is to drink that beer and try again tomorrow.


END OF LINE

Thats exactly my plan man!!

Ahhh the homotron.

The one gay electron that goes around blowing everything.



A bad joke me dad told me years ago.



On another note, how old is the battery?

The batt is brand new. No issues there, putting out a good strong 12.6V.

Bumped something while installing the tank or carbs perhaps?

Im assuming thats probably the issue. Although, I had to disconnect the rectifier (to separate connectors) so I could move the airbox back a little to get the carb boots back on. So really, those are the only two electrical connections I touched. I get power when I turn the key, but the solenoid is not clicking when I press the starter. So, either the solenoid went bad which I doubt because its literally a week old, or Im not getting power to the starter button, or theres a short somewhere. I did check both fuses on the solenoid and they were good, although I did look at the two connectors from the rectifier and they looked a little green. Oh well, back to the multimeter and flow chart. I'll be so happy once I get this sorted out and only have to worry about fixing MECHANICAL problems lol...

 

[Basement rat]

Have you checked fuses?

 

[gsdapollo]

Have you checked fuses?

Yup. Just double checked voltage on battery, dropped to 11.71. Thats probably my culprit. Def surprised me as its brand new and it had absolutely no problem starting the bike yesterday, it was turning the starter really well. Bike ran for about 5 minutes, i turned it off then pulled everything off to put the boots back on. Which might means im having a problem with my charging system as the battery probably got drained while the bike was running. Ah, more problems. Need more beer...

 

[JustinLonghorn]

If the bike was just idling, it wouldn't have charged your battery. Most of these old scoots don't really start charging until you get up in the RPM's a little.

 

[gsdapollo]

If the bike was just idling, it wouldn't have charged your battery. Most of these old scoots don't really start charging until you get up in the RPM's a little.

Correct. To be honest, i've been suspect on the charging system for a while. There were a handful of times years back before i tore the bike apart where it died on me while riding and had to call some buddys to jump me. The battery was pretty old then too, unfortunately I bought a new battery about 6 months before I tore it down and didnt really ride it that much with the new battery so I never got a chance to find out. Im gonna test it anyways. Battery is on the charger now, will see if it fires in about an hour...

 

[john83]

Good luck. If the battery charges and the bike fires up its a pretty quick check to see if the charging system is working.