Trouble Shooting 101?

[Allie]

Hi,

I guess my point was that if you take the time to properly maintain your bike nothing on that list would be an issue.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

It's actually not a question of proper maintenance, the bike was rougher than Tom Wait's voice after an all night bender when he got it, and he's pretty much had the ENTIRE bike apart, cleaned/replaced countless parts. I think it's more an issue of 'OMG where exactly did I go wrong in all of that to make the bike not run'. I can sympathize, it's easy enough for something to go wrong just working on one part of the bike let alone the whole thing.

Yes I know a lot of that info is obtainable by searching but I get that he's thinking out loud and trying to get his symptoms together. The question seems reverse engineered to me, but I get that too - lateral thinking is a mark of desperation.

Y'know folks, for those of you that don't have the patience to deal with this thread, you can always just move on to another one instead of all the preaching. No one is forcing you to waste your time hear.

That's right, even Allie can be grumpy.

[koolaid_kid]

One thing that I have learned after many decades of wrenching is that many times one issue will mask other issues. Brian alluded to that in his post, I just thought I would isolate it and discuss it ad nauseum.
In the testing world we call it peeling back the layers of the onion.
The charging system on our bikes is a good example. The bike stops charging. We test the stator and it fails. We replace it but the bike still fails to charge. We check the Regulator/Rectifier and it fails. We replace it and the bike still fails to charge. We then go through the wiring harness and several connectors are damaged. We replace them and the bike now charges. We are pleased, but we should ask ourselves "What made the house of cards fall down?"
If we can answer that question and resolve the underlying issue(s) the charging system may never fail again. Ignore it and it is dealer's choice.

And I never want to see Basscliff being short with a member, Allie pizzed off when I am around, or Brian angry. Any and all would be a bad thing IMHO.

[Allie]

You know Paul, maybe your trouble is that you're NOT shooting. Elvis was a noted shooter, he shot things that didn't work properly. A TV set and a Pantera come immediately to mind. You might give that a try, it may not fix the mechanical issues but it may be very therapeutic.

[duaneage]

I took mine completely apart and rebuilt it. Fixed everything that way.

[Redneck]

I prefer to beat people with Rattann swords for therapy. Thank you for the role of Defense Attorney Alli. I actually don't currently have any running bike troubles other than the bike is not quite to the point of running yet. I simply was thinking out loud ( as you caught on) about how many people might think hey I am doing all this maintenance to prevent something. What am I preventing?

I make a living solving problems I am a career military man who would not be as high ranked as I am if I could not fix things. I understand that trouble shooting is most often a very complex puzzle in which all the pieces must fit together and sometimes you have to go back a few pieces before you find the problem piece. But no matter how you look at it when you begin your trouble shooting you begin it one step at a time eleminating what the problem isn't is as much a part of the process as discovering what it is. People say it is layered like an onion. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn't. Some problems may cause other parts to fail, some problems just cause other parts not to operate as they were designed to. I was just trying to break down all the maintenance steps we preach over and over to people and trying to give them a single thread that would possibly help someone trouble shoot the problems they do have. I am not advocating by any means to not do the maintenance we preach I am just trying to demonstrate what could happen if it is not done, and what sypmtom could point back to one part of the maintenance not done correctly. If someone was to follow the Newbie Guide or Basscliff's Mega welcome, what is truly the likely hood that they would have multiple problems related to the the parts they performed maintenance on. Well I have to go put some my carbs on my bike. Later.

Paul

[Allie]

I am just trying to demonstrate what could happen if it is not done, and what sypmtom could point back to one part of the maintenance not done correctly.

Oh well that's an easy one.

[Redneck]

And i thought that was just the culmination of a good night in bed.

[tom203]

And i thought that was just the culmination of a good night in bed.

Let's skip this and get that bike running good ASAP- spring is coming early to Southern Maine.

[Redneck]

Let's skip this and get that bike running good ASAP- spring is coming early to Southern Maine.

If I stay on Pace should be up and running by the end of March.

Paul