Mis-adventure in the Big City: Tale of two 850's

[1_v8_merc]

I can remove my key with the Ignition On, or the bike On, and nothing happens.
I thought that was normal? lol

[DanTheMan]

I can remove my key with the Ignition On, or the bike On, and nothing happens.
I thought that was normal? lol

That's worn out detents in the key switch. I had mine fall out once, on top of the engine, luckily. Now, I've got a lanyard on it that I hook over the mirror.

[mf70]

What a wonderful story! Who says the days of adventure are over?

On the kibitzing side, having a persistently dead battery may be due to a systemic problem with the charging system on Suzi GS's. There's a lot of material on this site about this. (Long story short, a bike revved to 3000 PPM should have a system voltage of 14.5V or so.) I used the advice, and have been a happy biker for four years.

On hypothermia, in my young-and-stupider days, I came back from a bicycle ride so cold that I could barely move. I was curious to know what core temperature I had, but I couldn't get the medical thermometer mercury up out of the bulb!

[Tim Tom]

What a wonderful story! Who says the days of adventure are over?

On the kibitzing side, having a persistently dead battery may be due to a systemic problem with the charging system on Suzi GS's. There's a lot of material on this site about this. (Long story short, a bike revved to 3000 PPM should have a system voltage of 14.5V or so.) I used the advice, and have been a happy biker for four years.

I'm glad so many people are enjoying hearing of our mis-adventure. I finally got around to ordering myself a new helmet, I was waiting for the one I wanted to go on sale (a sweet black and gold Scorpion EXO-750), and I've diagnosed the problem to be not with the charging system, but rather the battery. The battery in the bike that day was 3-4 years old, not maintained at charge its entire life, and combined with the cold, not so good at doing its job. I've had my spare on the tender since then, and gonna run some tests with it to see how it fares. The battery from that fateful day is on its way to the grave.

Thanks again for reading our story.

[shwaz]

me too! makes me smile every time i see a new email about this thread.

glad to hear about the new helmet, though it seems like winter may have finally set in here! hopefully only for a little while though.

having some issues with my charging system too - it just charges low (i think it's about 13v @ 3000). need to do some investigation to see what needs replaced. thank god for my kick start - that's all i can say. the electric starter works fine once the bike is warmed up and has been running for awhile, but it's worthless for starting it cold.

had another nice 'almost adventure' when my engine started sputtering and eventually died out on Route 3 in New Jersey, and that with my wife on the back. Luckily i felt it coming and got to the shoulder, and we had just passed an exit ramp so I was able to walk it down. Eventually got it started by flipping the cock to PRI and it ran fine. Now just trying to figure out which petcock to buy for the bike to replace it - the ones at Z1 don't mention my model specifically :/

anyhoo - hopefully we'll have all these issues sorted by spring so we can get a nice, non-malfunctioning ride in

[Dodik]

that sounds like a great adventure thru NYC, next time you guys decide to head my way drop me a line, i might join you.

[platinum2]

wow thats enough to make someone never want to ride again!

i dont understand switching oil caps though? wouldnt it have been better to let him go check for your cap and wait?.. he was riding with out the cap yes? after you lost your oil? lol,
check the ignition wires under the tank for shorts it will kill batteries!
i rode my 750 , new battery out of town! got back mile from home bike started dying, ... well got home checked battery no acid! filled it went dead, shop guy gave me a new one, same thing happened only on long out of town rides around town ect... well come to fun out the wires under the tank rubbed bare and was shorting it out, yes i checked all of them when i first got the bike so im still at a loss as to how it happened lol, i thank GOD it made it home 2 times before not working anymore

[pmong]

Great story, and ride. Left NYC in Jan for sunny LA, where the weather is considerably nicer. Was out yesterday with my son on a weekend ride, but nothing exciting except for a few crazy car drivers as usual.

[1_v8_merc]

That's worn out detents in the key switch. I had mine fall out once, on top of the engine, luckily. Now, I've got a lanyard on it that I hook over the mirror.

Ok, good to know.
I've already embarrased myself with this problem.
I rode like 20 minutes to the store, pull in the parking space, and reach down to turn my ignition off....only there's no key!
I look behind me, and the key is sitting engaged in the rear-seat release.