what did you wrench on today??

[tkent02]

Yeah, the alternator on the car pumps out way too much current and will risk blowing a motorcycle battery.

Also...never get a jump-start from a car with the engine running--it kills the motorcycle battery.

NO, it can ruin the whole charging system. Don't worry about the battery. Can cook the regulator, the stator, you know the expensive stuff, and a lot of fried wires.

[pete]

Finally got the front brake resivour from the dealer today, he was actually waiting for three 2mm washers to show up, that didn't come from Melbourne, pfffft.
The top was cleaned up and the new plastic rectangular cup fitted with the new o-ring, and the top brake line into the casing was taken off.
The section was blown out, and the line reattached, the line dribbled a couple of drops of brake fluid so I knew the system "should" still be charged and free of bubbles.
Yeah right!
After filling the cup to the limit and squeezing the brake handle a few times a couple of bubbles came out and the brake is still soft.
So looks like I have to bleed the full system, it's a pain because after cleaning the shed up I have to locate the new bleed bottles again, oh well.

Have you tried tying the brake lever back to the handlebar overnight? Did that with mine after I thought I had bled it properly but it was still soft... came in next morning and it was nice and solid.

[pete]

It's been a bad week for my electrics this week... the stator was worse than ever and my starter motor died yesterday leaving work. Despite the stator seeming to check ok the other week, replacing the R/R didn't solve the issue, so I did at least order a stator on Tuesday and it arrived yesterday.

When I pulled the starter out and apart last night I ended up kicking myself... I had forgotten to replace the brushes last service like I was meant to after discovering they were down a bit when I had to repair it a little while ago



Unfortunately no dealer in Brisbane had brushes in stock, so I took it to an auto electrician who fixed it for me. Wasn't cheap, but has never started so well! It's Stator's last chance for a ride on Saturday before going up north to Simon, so I couldn't wait for parts to arrive next week.

He was ecstatic when I brought it home...



The old stator is definitely looking a little fried...



New one went in well and charging problems appear sorted.

One bonus is I got to replace another Athena gasket with a genuine one today. You can't really tell by the photos but the gasket has done what all reports say they do and gone brittle and hard... less than 30,000km's on this motor since the rebuild.





I did take the opportunity this time to remove the bullet connectors for the stator so it connects directly to the R/R and the only connector is the Furukawa one plugging into the R/R.

The positive lead going into the R/R also had a bullet connector from the factory harness, so I likewise removed that and soldered instead, so again the harness goes straight to the Furukawa connector.

Eliminating bullet connectors is always a good thing...

[Gorminrider]

..... PO's solution? Remove one of the float needles and use the fourth carb as an overflow reservoir. .....

now THAT is one for the book! POs are cunning-you have to give them that...

There should be a thread here somewhere for "What The Previous Owner Did To Me!"...

[StubbornDutchman]

I must be a sucker for punishment. Just bought a 1990 KTM500 and a 1972 Suzuki Ts90. Neither runs. $350 for both.

Why don't I just buy a good bike like everyone else.

[pete]

I must be a sucker for punishment. Just bought a 1990 KTM500 and a 1972 Suzuki Ts90. Neither runs. $350 for both.

Why don't I just buy a good bike like everyone else.

Because that would be no fun

[daturat100r]

Gonna have a motrcycle day today,continue bashing out a new seat pan for the old gs and continue cleaning and reassmbling the primary and cylinder head on my 73 T100r,its getting closer to being finished yay!

[gustovh]

I found out why Suzie Q wouldn't start. This is the first bend in the gas line after the valve.

[StubbornDutchman]

I found out why Suzie Q wouldn't start. This is the first bend in the gas line after the valve.

That does look like it would slow the fuel down some....

[srg]

Is that someone's hidden weed stash?!

[DarthTAiness]

Got the fueling issues worked out (kind of) on my 700ES. Carbs are just barely running lean, but not enough for it to be concerning. I've figured out that the reserve on my petcock works as it should. Hopefully I can find a job somewhere and order a new petcock soon, I'll just have to keep the tank full until then.

[themess]

Yeah, the alternator on the car pumps out way too much current and will risk blowing a motorcycle battery.

What I do is use jumper cables and connect my car and bike batter with the car OFF for a few hours a day while I'm working on my bike, just to keep it in good shape. This is like once every one or two weeks.

Use a trickle charger sized for a motorcycle. That means not more than 1.0 amp current. Battery Tender Jr. is the usual recommendation. Others are available. Harbor Freight sells a charger aimed at the same market for as little as $6. Or use a spare wall wart rated at 14V at 200 mA to 500 mA. You probably have one of those lying around, and only need some alligator clips.

[themess]

now THAT is one for the book! POs are cunning-you have to give them that...

There should be a thread here somewhere for "What The Previous Owner Did To Me!"...

There have been several such threads. Each shows that there is no limit to idiocy.

[sinkankan]

Little bleeder.

Before and after photo's of the front brake cup, replaced after the original totally fell apart in my fingers.
Bleeding the brakes was fairly easy using a bleed bottle and two tubes running to both bleed nipples. Took about twenty minutes, and only lost a little bit of paint on the left caliper from the blue fluid, (this why you must protect the tank and front guard from accidental spillage.)
Next job is to replace both switches as the buttons and switches are pretty worn and loose.

[ezmack]

Helped my friend with his new to him Virago for a while. Has a cylinder that keeps dropping out and the battery died on him yesterday.
'Nah man that's not enough voltage let me show you what a charging system is supposed to look like!' I said with pride... So of course mine was barely pushing 12.2v. Guess it's time to reread the stator papers. Shoulda kept my mouth shut