Much as I love the music of a Japanese four with a megaphone exhaust, I haven't been riding the GS much the past few years. The weekend boulevard cruise, the occasional freeway bullrush, then home and to the yard, which is more like an orchard/farm, and very high maintenance. This Sunday I gave the GS a going over, which took a couple of days and included, sad to say, clearing some cobwebs with a toothbrush and cleaning rag. Changed the oil and filter, washed and re-oiled the pod filters, tightened bolts and fasteners, lubed the cables and chain, aired the tires and set off on what would become about a 40-mile out-and-back ride along the Sacramento River near where I live and into the California Delta. Great two-lane roads, long lazy curves with good pavement, much of it atop narrow levees with steep drops into sloughs on either side. Good riding. About five miles from home the bike starts coughing through the air filters, then sputtering, then dying at 65 mph, which was a good thing, since it gave me momentum to find a wide place to pull over on Interstate 5, which I'd taken for a high-speed leg home. After marveling at the amount and variety of debris on the shoulder, I set my helmet a few feet back from the rear tire, popped the seat, took a screwdriver from the rear cowl, took off the side cover and looked at the fuses. The 15-amp main fuse was dark gray in its glass tube. After replacing the main with a spare, the bike started instantly and accelerated hard to highway speed. When I exited a mile from home the air filters coughed again on overrun, and the bike sputtered into our driveway. The teenage girls across the street were not impressed.
In the morning I rolled the bike out of the garage. The main fuse was intact. The engine started promptly, as it has always done, but soon began coughing and sputtering. I shut it off and touched the headers. All hot, except number three. I rolled the bike back into the garage and felt the electrical connectors in my brain heating up. The known knowns are a good battery and generally sound electrical health: the headlight works, low and high, as do the turn signals, the horn, the brake light, oil pressure light, neutral light, speedo and tach lights. I think it's got an Electrosport R/R that's at least eight years old, and an Electrosport stator, installed at the same time. Dyna coils and ignition. Valves were inspected and within spec 300 miles ago.
As a prelude to the methodical tracing of wires and connectors, riddle me this: is there an obvious connection between the blown main and misfiring third cylinder, or are there many possibilities, with patience and study required. Been looking for a non-agricultural project, and suspect I have found one . . .
In the morning I rolled the bike out of the garage. The main fuse was intact. The engine started promptly, as it has always done, but soon began coughing and sputtering. I shut it off and touched the headers. All hot, except number three. I rolled the bike back into the garage and felt the electrical connectors in my brain heating up. The known knowns are a good battery and generally sound electrical health: the headlight works, low and high, as do the turn signals, the horn, the brake light, oil pressure light, neutral light, speedo and tach lights. I think it's got an Electrosport R/R that's at least eight years old, and an Electrosport stator, installed at the same time. Dyna coils and ignition. Valves were inspected and within spec 300 miles ago.
As a prelude to the methodical tracing of wires and connectors, riddle me this: is there an obvious connection between the blown main and misfiring third cylinder, or are there many possibilities, with patience and study required. Been looking for a non-agricultural project, and suspect I have found one . . .
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