Ha! Ha! Ha! All I Can Do Is Laugh

[Darci]

THE BEST 17.9 MILES OF MY LIFE

Saturday morning started off good. I got home from work at 4:15am (I bartend on the weekends) it took a while for me to get to sleep. I was excited about picking up my battery and getting the Old Boat anchor going. I had been having one problem after another after another with this bike over the past 10 months or so (See "Wiring Master Needed" thread)

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=110716&highlight=wiring+masTer+needed

and today was the day i would be able to ride her. Or, so I thought.

I woke up around 10 am. Ran the few errands and then headed home. My hubby and I mounted up on his bike and headed to the shop. I had butterflies in my tummy. I was so excited.

We got to the shop, put the battery in and Vroom!! She started right up. 1st, 2 cylinders and then all 4 fired. What a sound for sore ears!!!

Richie (the shop owner) took her for a test ride and came back with a smile on his face. "She's all yours...she needs to be ridden!!"

the smile on my face showed my enthusiasm. I geared up, and off we went. 1st stop...GAS!!! Filled her up and then my husband and I were off.

Our first ride together. It was great. It was hot outside, but I didn't care. We headed up Loop 375 and I was able to wind her out. Boy, how she purred. It was magical. I was in heaven. We headed towards the local mall. There was supposed to be a bike/car show at Hooters my hubby said. As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw nothing indicating a bike/car show of any kind. We parked and talked about where to go. I didn't care, All I needed was some water and more riding.

We decided on a spot and as I pressed the starter button...i got nothing. My heart sank. I looked at my odometor and saw I had only ridden 17.9 miles. No, this could not be happening. not here, not now. I tried the button again and nothing...one more time...she started to turn, slowly and then she kicked in. yes...I gave my hubby the thumb's up and started to pull out...then it happened...

I could smell that sweet weird smell of burning wires, I looked down to see that smoke was pouring out of underneath my starter wires. I turned her off immediately and got off the bike. My hubby rushed over to wear i was only to find me kneeling on the ground with tears in my eyes.

I took my helmet off and the rest of the gear. It took about a minute for the smoke to stop coming out of the bike.
That was the moment i gave up. i was hot, thirsty and felt like i had just been kicked in the gut. All I wanted to do was go for a ride.

I called a friend of ours and he said we would come get us.

We went to Hooters to have a drink. Lemonade and Water never tasted so good. My hubby was happy. I guess my bike picked a good place to break down. Of all the burger joints to crap out at!!!

We ate our onion rings and drank our lemonade and went back out to meet our friend with the truck.

when we got out there, I said What the He!! and tried starting her up. Boom..no problem. She started right up and purred like a kitten. no smoke, no thing. Just like nothing had happened!!

we loaded her on the trailer and headed home. a few hours later, my hubby went and started her up and again, no problem. no smoke no nothing!!!

At that point, All I could do was laugh, hystarically.

I then, put a for sale sign on Craigs List! motorcycle mechanic mentor, Richie, thinks she will be fine and has all the bugs worked out, but, i just don't want to chance it. This was the 2nd time she left me and I think we have irreconcilable differences.

Thus, the best 17.9 miles of my life!!!

[smagnusen]

crumb, that stinks... sorry you're losing the bike too.

[harry69koi]

Sounds like a minor problem chuck,dont give up on the girl :shock:

[Flatline_Racing]

I had the same thing happen to my 1000 one time, I hit the button and nothing, hit it again and had smoke and a glowing orange color coming from the left side cover. At the time i just wanted to get home from work so i gave her a good bump start and off I went. Checked everything with a multimeter and the only problem was the ground wire that decided to combust. I replaced the wire and have been problem free for the last 2 years.

[Darci]

Well, You'll never guess what happened. Our friend that came to pick up the bike Saturday afternoon, took the bike back to his house where it could be parked in his garage. When he arrived, I decided to try starting it for giggles and grins and it started right up, no problem. No smoke either. I wanted to scream. When we got to our friends house, The guys sat me in the living room with a bear and told me to stay put. I guess my frustration showed on my face.

A few minutes later, Leo came in and showed me what the problem was. Part of the starter wire apparantly had made contact with the starter cover. The boot had melted and the wire was touching the top, thus the short. Easy fix, they said. We'll just take the wire off, clean it up, wrap it in electrical tape and put it back on. I told them to let me take the starter wire off, because if that post moved, just a little, then it would ruin the solder underneath. "We got it, we know what we're doing, go back inside, you don't need to be looking at this bike right now" the told me. I told them about the mark on the post that you made and told them they had to be very careful.

i obeyed their commands and wandered back into the house like a zombie to finish my beer. Not 5 minutes later, i cold hear cussing coming from the garage, I went to check, hoping what I thought had happened, hadn't. I get there, and see the starter cover still off and everything hooked up and the guys trying to start the bike. They were getting nothing.

I just looked blankly at them and said "You moved the post, didn't you?" I looked at the mark and yep, it had moved. "If you would have just dropped it off at Richie's shop or let me loosen the nut, this never would have happened. Load it back on the trailer and take it home." I then walked back into the living room and had another beer.

eventually, we got the bike back to our house and now, there it sits. A guy was going to come look at it tomorrow. He is interested in buying it for $800! Can't really sell it to him now, as it isn't running!

Ahh, the luck of the Irish is upon me!!!
](*,)

[snowbeard]

The guys sat me in the living room with a bear and told me to stay put

I don't think I could sit still with a bear either!! :shock:

I wonder if you can just replace the starter entirely? there's gotta be something can be done about it besides losing money on a bad sale...

hope it all works out for you, either on this bike or the next!!

[DanTheMan]

I don't think I could sit still with a bear either!! :shock:

I don't know, it all depends on if the bear was buying the BEER!!!!!!!!!!!1:-D:-D

[Darci]

OOPS...I meant beer!! UGH!! Now my luck is infecting my typing!!!

A new starter through Stockers is almost $200. I really don't feel like putting more money into her. After all that has happened, i think the motorcycle Gods are trying to tell me something, This time, I am going to listen!!!

[Jon Kram]

Good ol' wire gremlins... lots of practice fending them off thanks to my job. Getting good at it, but still don't like them

[mf70]

Don't sell. You KNOW what's inside. If you buy another, you'll be playing hide-and-seek again with an entire new family of gremlins.

And once you've learned what is going on in there, don't let "experts" wrench your ride.

That's what I was thinking of in:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=112936

[Bill C.]

The Wiring/Switch Monster

Don,t give up. While I was comming home from work tonite I am rolling along about 50mph and boom no lights. Two lane road in the county no street lights no nothing. Got stoped and thank god had a spare fuse in my saddle bags, but no flashlight. Ever change a fuse by feel. I had had this problem once before and knew which fuse in the block was for the lights. I think it is the headlight switch. There is not many of us GSer out here in the southwest. Just hang in there and work it. Maybe one day we can meet in El Paso and take a ride together. Good luck.

[gustovh]

If the starter out of an 81 GS 650 G/GL or 81 GS 750 L will work I will send it to you for shipping. Send me a PM
V