Went for the first ride in at least a month today,La Nina has had it raining for way to long.So I prep the bike yesterday,pump the tyres check the oil and attempt to start it.Lots of turnover and a few belches and then it starts on what sounds like 2.I give it the Italian tune,a few big revs and it comes good.Thats a first I say,usual fowl a plug and its toast or a the least needs a rub with a wire brush.So today I gear up nice and early and again it does not want to start,again the belches and way it goes.I head off but its really down on power,sounds alright but no punch.I get to my mates place and pull the plugs and do the Wilson EI test,select F with the plugs out and they cycle through the spark advancing at intervals,really cool trick.Zero spark on No 2 so I replace it with a spare in the tool kit and all is good.We head up to Wollomi Pub,140ks there and 140ks back.I get 10ks from home and it dies halfway up a hill with noware to get off the road and heaps of traffic,SHIT.I end up backing down the gutter 300m with cars whizzing past really close and end up in a bush walking parking area at the bottom of the valley.10 minutes later I discover the broken earth connection on the Wilson EI.I stripped the wire with my teeth,note,more tools in the brake down kit,and jam it under the battery earth connection and ride home with it again running on 2,maybe all the fowling was caused by the intermittent earth connection,we will see.Time for a little drink I think.
Intersting Day on The Bike
- Thread starter Vince
- Start date
jotajoe
Hero member
- Location
- Warwickshire UK
Glad you came home ok albeit " on a Wing and a Prayer "
Aren't car drivers a bunch of X ossers ! is there any need to drive so close to a break down ? I think most of them don't look any further than the grime on their windscreens
joe
Aren't car drivers a bunch of X ossers ! is there any need to drive so close to a break down ? I think most of them don't look any further than the grime on their windscreens
joe
Dellortoman
Hero member
- Location
- Tasmania, Australia
I once had a car driver whizz by me so close that he demolished his side mirror on the end of my handlebar. Fortunately no damage to my bike (Kawasaki Z1B - built tough!).
I had a flat rear tyre and was wobbling along the side of the road at not much more than walking pace trying to get to the end of an armco barrier so I could pull off the highway. He hit me doing about 100kph. Must have missed my hand by a couple of millimeters and connected with the handlebar end-plug. His mirror was obviously pretty flimsy because it exploded into a shower of black plastic and glass pieces but the bike barely gave a shudder.
The stupid prick. I hope it was an expensive mirror.
I had a flat rear tyre and was wobbling along the side of the road at not much more than walking pace trying to get to the end of an armco barrier so I could pull off the highway. He hit me doing about 100kph. Must have missed my hand by a couple of millimeters and connected with the handlebar end-plug. His mirror was obviously pretty flimsy because it exploded into a shower of black plastic and glass pieces but the bike barely gave a shudder.
The stupid prick. I hope it was an expensive mirror.
It was a shockingly bad spot to brake down,2 lanes both ways into a big valley on my bit it was also a big sweeping BLIND left uphill bend with no room to get off or turn around or cross over.It was not fun sitting on the dead bike slowly rolling backward in the gutter and occasional jamming hard up to the gutter for a good 15minutes not seeing what was coming up behind me till I got to that parking area.I found why it was only running on 2 on the way home,I had left No 1 spark lead off the plug.There was a bit of blind pantic going on at the time.I fixed the earth connection as well,had to use visegrips to crimp the battery connection onto the wire.Mr Wilson uses very thin wire for control and signal connections,the bloke who rewired it didn't like them,they might work to handle the tiny control current but need gentle treatment when tugging on them.Johns EI is so good you end up leaving the plugs in way to long,the old ones were slightly past there use by date but still sparked not to bad,the new ones are like the spark off a stick welder.
Dellortoman
Hero member
- Location
- Tasmania, Australia
Vince said:
Yeah, that will tend to make it misfire.
Glad you got it sorted mate.
I cannot beileve today is the first time since I had the brakedown that I have got out on the bike.Its been a bit wet lately but 9 weeks is really suprising.So I was keen,so keen I arrived an hour early at a mates place,he has seen me have a couple of flat tyres and the earlier broken wire and I get the why dont you get something more reliable pisstake comments quite a bit.So today we head to Wisemans Ferry via Berowra Ferry,me on my 3C,him on his K1200s and his wife on a 696 Monster.All is well till we arrive at the ferry and his ulta modern all bells and whistles BMW dies,battery is dead,and then he sees the Gyprock screw right in the middle of the rear tyre,Ho Ho Ho.Made me smile.He borrows a stand by battery and cables from the boatys next to the ferry and they limp home while I backtrack and do a quick lap of the Old Rd.Stop for food and a call to make sure he got home.Just another intersting day on the road.
Spub
Hero member
Vince - very scary, that is always my nightmare, breaking down in the wrong spot....I once snapped the "1" cable of the "1" into "2" throttle cable on my Darmah SSD while in the fast lane on one of our busy LA freeways....had to pull over three lanes of traffic with no power....bought a Verlicchi dual cable throttle the next day....