300 miles away... and now what?

[bexabarr]

I'm in a tight spot. I rode from upstate NY to Baltimore last Thursday. I made it here fine with my old bike (79 gs550l). I brought with me an extra rectifier just in case I needed to switch it. I parked my bike, (smelled a bit hot, which got me worried) and now it doesn't want to start. I checked the battery and it is completely dead. Tomorrow there is a break in all this rain Baltimore is getting and I really want to get out of here before it comes back. I have a worry some feeling that by startor is bad, not the R/R... and that I pushed the bike a bit too hard... I also suspect that the vibrations from all those miles might have advanced or retarded the timing... or might have lost compression... I have limited tools with me... hope I make it out of this one. For now, I plan to take the city bus to some local shop and have them charge my battery so I can start the diagnostics... what an adventure lol.

the good thing is that I do have a place to stay, and to park my bike...

any suggestions? And yes... I know that I shouldn’t have made the trip with a 26 year old bike in the first case…

[Jethro]

You have an electrical problem for sure. Could be stator, could be r/r, but most likely now it's both. I sense you have fried the battery by overcharging it, and the fluid has boiled off. You can smell that for sure. If you have the battery out, is there fluid in it?

As for taking a 300 mile trip with a 26 year old bike, I do that almost every weekend. Except it's usually 500 miles or so, and my bike is 23 years old. This holiday weekend I will be riding it about 2800 miles to another country!

Vibration shouldn't be a problem, and shouldn't affect compression at all.

[satchmo]

Also check the battery -- if you have a bad battery, it's a pretty easy fix.

[Jethro]

Ask Earl about electrical problems and how to get home when you are a long ways from home! Can you secure two car batteries to you bike somehow? Then you can get from Asheville NC to South Florida no problem!

[rustybronco]

bexabarr did you check the water in your battery? sometimes just adding water if its boiled out real low will help getting it started (batterys don't work w/o water) and get you to point b to get it fixed, just did that on the ex's lawn mower, she thought she needed a battery. may not be the case but it doesn't cost much to check.

[nabrams]

I've been in your situation twice (which shows you how dumb I am - not learning from my mistake the first time).
Yes, first add water and re-charge.
Then disconnect the headlight and tail-light and charging system (since the charging system may be boiling out your battery). The headlight and tail-light draw the bulk of the juice.
Your bike should run for about 6 hours like this - of course you'll have to do your riding during the day for now.

[Hoomgar]

If you need to make a midway pit stop send me a PM. I am in south central PA area which is somewhat along your way back up. My facilities are at your disposal. I'll send you a PM with some contact info. If I can help in any way do not hesitate to ask!

Mark

[hp1000s]

Sorry to hear about your plight....I'm right outside of B-more, and my bike is in a thousand pieces. If I've got anything that'll help you, you're welcome to it. I have a 79 1000S that I'm gonna do-up with a Honda R/R and a modern battery. My bike was charging fine when I took it apart. E-mail me to let me know the scoop. hpoffshore@yahoo.com
Hugh

[semerm]

If you get it going bring distilled water with you. Stop and fill the battery if low.

[earlfor]

Do what I did at the Asheville rally last year when my stator and R/R gave up and died. Disconnect the Stator from the R/R. Disconnect the R/R from the battery and/or wiring harness. Remove and throw away your boiled dry battery as once boiled dry, what you how have is a paperweight disguised as a battery.
Go to Walmart and buy a lawn/garden tractor 12 volt battery. Get the good one with the 200+ amp capacity. while in Walmart, buy twe pieces of 12 guage wire about 4 ft long. Buy four 1/4" x 1" long bolts with nuts and 8 of 1/4" washers. Take the lawn/garden battery someplace to have it fully charged, or buy a battery charger and do it yourself. Once charged, bungee/tie the battery upright on your passenger seat. Use the 1/4" bolts and washers to connect your 12 guage wires to the battery terminals and the battery leads in your wiring harness. Wrap the positive conection well, so it does not get shorted out by touching anything. You will be able to run the bike on battery power alone with your charging system disconnected and be able to use headlight, hi/lo beam, turn signals, brake lights and tail light and electric starter as normal. I rode 850 mile on battery alone on my return trip home over 22 hours and still had a half charged battery when I got home.

This way, you can fix the problem at your leisure at home and feel secure that you will make the trip without a problem.

Earl

[ghwrenchit]

Earl,

You are the man! Innovation in a pinch, at it's finest. I'll put your notes in my toolkit any time! Seriously!

ghwrenchit

'ever tell you about the time I drove my 69' Nova one week straight with rope for a fan belt..... na... lets not go there, but it did work except for the knot getting stuck on occasion!! Had a beam scale back then as well......

[MelodicMetalGod]

Can I just say how entirely cool it is that so many people on this thread have offered not only their expertise and experience, but even their physical resources and time to help out a fellow rider! Now THAT is the riding community that I grew up being proud of! Well done all!

[bexabarr]

hey guys, thanks for all the replies. I went out yesterday took the city bus and found a random car shop. They recharged my battery for 8$ !! that seems a bit pricy but under the circumstances... I know sears would of done it for free (it's a die hard battery). The water levels are fine. But the guy who recharged the battery literally said to me "it says it's at 12v so I guess it's fine" ... at that point I took the chance, I knew that a 12v reading is a dead battery. When I got home I checked it with my voltmeter and it read 11.8 or so. I put it on the bike and after a thousand kicks it started up, left it running a little bit without the headlight on and it recharged it some. Right now I'm about to take the chance and get out of here before all the rain starts. I going to one final check to see if the R/R is working fine... if not I have a honda replaceable that I brought with me just in case. It seems that my battery will only charge at 5 + or if I have the headlights turned off... but this is from before. If I make it home, maybe I'll recoil the stator with lower gauge copper wire...for more amp??? well wish me luck! and thanks for all the helpful responses!!!!

[rustybronco]

If I make it home, maybe I'll recoil the stator with lower gauge copper wire...for more amp??? well wish me luck! and thanks for all the helpful responses!!!!

bigger wire less turns can fit in, i think you can go a little bigger but not much.
you have your volt meter check the charging system.

[earlfor]

Y'know, if you would brush op on yer marlinspike seamanship and do an inline splice on that rope, you wouldnt have a knotty problem. LOL

E.

'ever tell you about the time I drove my 69' Nova one week straight with rope for a fan belt..... na... lets not go there, but it did work except for the knot getting stuck on occasion!! Had a beam scale back then as well......