| Author | Message | ||
     Huxley |
I crossed the line from lusty infatuation to something more permanent last week. When I rode into to work it was a brisk 40ish with only a slight cloud layer, when I stepped out again to ride home I was greeted to an 1" of snow and a nasty sleet/snow/rain mixture I'll just label as crappy. I have to admit to being a little hesitant I'm a socal boy and the only thing I've ridden in snow are a pair of ski's. I started out slowly testing my traction and turning with minimal lean and after a little while I found I was motoring along quite comfortably. So comfortably in fact I realized I had a big stupid grin hiding under my helmet. I don't know when it appeared but I lasted the whole ride home. I'm sure all the people in cars that past me felt sorry for me being caught out in the weather. Funny, because I felt sorry for them trapped in their cars sipping drive-through starbucks annoyed that they couldn't drive as fast as usual. The next day turned sunny again and I set off back road exploring. Found some great routes, one in particular that after a nice section of twisties that abruptly turned to dirt on the back side of a rise, luckily I had slowed in anticipation of the unknown. Even so, for a brief second the fact I was on a "street bike" made the oh shit light go off in my head. Just as quick I came back to reality and greeted the opportunity with a healthy dose of throttle, stepping out the back end and dissapearing in a cloud of dust. 5 or so miles of mixed hardpack and gravel later I popped out on another road that presented a run of corners with great banking and excellent line of sight to the exits on nearly every turn. After a couple hundred miles of intoxication I just couldn't get over how great this bike is. Picking my way back through the roads on my way to work was painful, relieved only by the fact that at the end of the night I'd still get to ride home. So out to the Uly I go eager to find a new route home that would change my 35 mile commute into 75 miles or so. Thumb the starter, let it warm and ride out into the night... Not 2 minutes into the ride I know something is "off". Then right before I turn on to the Interstate for a short stint it happens. Gauges go dead and check engine light comes on. Luckily there was no traffic and I was able to cut across several lanes to an open gas station/pizza/verizon complex. As I pull in the stuttering, stumbling bike I catch a glimpse of some jackass in Verizon with a big grin on his face staring out the window at me apparently enjoying my struggles. Too focused on the bike to pay any attention I coast to a parking spot just as the bike dies. I turn the key off and back on only to see that the needles are not doing the little sweep dance that lets me know it's happy. Hit the starter out of curiosity and I'm rewarded with the clicking applause of a dead battery. O.K fine no big deal. At this point I dismount the bike and catch a glimpse of sir dick head still at the window I'm now parked in front of. As I turned back around from placing my lid on the back rest I was hit with a little disbelief and the words The words "•••• You Seacrest" past over my lips. I was being mocked by a life size cardboard version of Ryan Seacrest staring happily at the world. After getting two strangers to help me in unsuccesful attempts to bump start the bike I call my buddy who to lives close by and he shows up in a minute or ten with jumper cables and a running vehicle. As he gets out of his truck he shakes his head and comments on how as he was driving across the parking lot he kept wondering who the asshat in the window was smiling at me. Score two for seacrest. Damnit. Jumping was succesful but it only ran as long as there was charge in the battery, just like a dead alternator. Fast forward to today and my worst fears are realized, the dealer found nothing wrong with the bike. Which means either a) I will pick the bike up and it will die 10 miles down the road or b)I will have a nagging gremlin in the back of my mind everytime I ride for quite a while, just waiting to be stranded. It looks like even if i does not fail I will be going over the charging system with a very fine tooth comb this weekend, hopefully I will be able to allay my fears quickly so I can enjoy the 4-day holiday I've been given (Message edited by huxley on April 14, 2006) | ||
| Brotherbuell |
Huxley, Check the wire sheath tie wrap on the steering head. A couple of folks here have found it to be too tight and the source of a few gremlins. | ||
| Eor |
Yep...that tie wrap and broken wire is suspected in some electrical gremlins on my bike...spontaneous clock re-setting mostly. | ||
| Huxley |
Thanks for the heads up, I'm picking the bike back up in the morning and will give it a going over. I only took it to the dealer to prevent any issues getting warranty service down the road. At 430 miles I haven't even reached the first official service yet. But with the dreaded "we can't find anything wrong" response looks like I'l be doing my own troubleshooting anyway | ||
| Rays |
Huxley, I was one who reported on the tie-wrap and and to date have had 3 (different) wires broken in the loom where it flexes around the steering-head. The tie-wrap contributed to one of them but the other two were broken right where the loom exits the curved plastic guide. The sharp edge where the cast lug is machined had cut through the loom covering and two wires (one earth and the neutral light). See red arrow in attached picture.  The dealer ground the sharp edge off the lug and attempted to repair the loom. This hasn't been successful yet and is the source of great irritation to me but I won't bore you with a rant on warranty claims when you aren't living in the US! This potential loom cut might be worth looking at but given the very low miles on your bike I wouldn't think that there has been enough cycles for this particular issue to have surfaced yet. My broken wires didn't show up until about 7500Km and that was with a daily commute so the handlebars got moved into lock many, many times in those km. Your particular symptoms look like something in the alternator/regulator circuit. Looking at the circuit diagram the 30Amp battery fuse and the ground connection from the regulator would be places to check. | ||
| Huxley |
Thank you for the pics Rays, they are a great help. I honestly don't think my problem is coming from that area either but it will be a good preventative measure to check that out. I was 99.9% certain that the charging system took a dump, but the dealer couldn't find a fault. I'm quite disappointed since I bought a new bike to avoid these kind if issues, but I'm hopeful that it is an isolated incident. | ||
| Rays |
Sorry, I failed to mention the two connectors behind the pulley cover - one between the regulator and the alternator stator and the other between the regulator and the battery fuse / ground connection. These would be other obvious spots for an intermittent charging connection on a new bike. I hope you find a smoking gun somewhere - we are all old enough to know there are no fairies in the garden or electrical problems of that magnitude that 'go away'.  | ||
| Dale |
Use die electric silicone on all connections and always check battery terminals. | ||
| Huxley |
Well I picked up the bike today and all seems well so far. I have other commitments to tend to so tomorrow will be the day for investigation, oil change etc... The battery terminals and every connection I can find will be checked and coated in dilectric grease. Feels good to be back on the bike but now she's home and parked until tomorrow. My bike was built on in Sep of '05 so I hope I'm not experiencing early production gremlins. So far I've had the front tire rubbing on the chin fairing, my seat has rubbed through the finish on the back right corner of the front cylinder rocker cover, and the screws holding the flyscreen on were loose. One had nearly threaded itself all the way out. Oh, and it left me stranded on the side of the road. Mostly minor stuff but I'm starting to wonder if it was assembled on Monday by someone with a nasty hangover. Hopefully my service manual will show up soon and I can check the torque values throughout the bike. On a side note it was running rather rough when I picked it up, but a fill up at a decent station seemed to cure that. My last re-fill was at a back woods general store type place so I wouldn't be surprised at all if they had bad tanks. Or if the 87/89/93 octane was all the same stuff.  | ||
| Huxley |
Went over the bike today and didn't find any smoking guns in the charging circuit. All looks well. Did find some other interesting tid bits though. I took it out for a ride to warm up the bike before changing the oil and noticed it was shifting very poorly, it needed a strong boot to downshift and didn't feel good at all. When I returned home and popped off the primary inspection cover the entire backside of the cover was filled with what looked like butter. There was also a small amount on the upper portion of the engine dipstick. I was shocked to find this much condensation as I really haven't ridden the bike less than 30 or so miles each time I get on it and I don't baby it. The tranny oil was in pretty poor shape and the mag plug was covered in shavings, the engine oil still looked basically new. Anyhow the oil change seems to have corrected the shifting and will be getting changed again tomorrow just to make sure all that crap is out of there. I guess with the temps still in the 30's-40's here the drivetrain just isn't getting up to temp. Also I had the airbox off and noticed that the buddy-nut on the adjuster for the exhaust servo valve cable had come loose, and the adjuster was spinning easily. I dont' have my manual yet. Can somebody tell me the proper amount of slack to set the cable at? | ||
| Huxley |
For anyone curious I snapped a couple pics of the condensation build-up http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/corey_m_davis/detail?.dir=500b&.dnm=82a1.jpg&.src= ph | ||
| Debueller |
My insp cover has looked like that every time I've removed it. I've only had the bike since Oct. & here in western Washington the winters are very moist and chilly. (30-50 degrees). Someone here described XB's as very "ambeint involved".....I agree. I've very seldom had the engine so warm as to not be able to firmly place my hand directly on the primary inspection cover. I too, seldom ride less than 30 miles at a time. I was rather shocked the first time I seen the "cream" on the insp. cover but realized that by using a quality oil and changing it at least as often as factory recommends there is probally nothing to worry about. | ||
| Bobbuell1961 |
CHECK THE STATOR PLUG BEHIND THE SPROKET COVER AS MENTIONED.I MADE ABOUT 500 MI ON THE FIRST WEEKEND I HAD THE BIKE (ALSO MFG SEP 05) BEFORE BRAKING DOWN BECAUSE OF A DEAD BATTERY. I DESCOVERED A DEFORMED TERMINAL,RESHAPED IT AND HAVE BEEN TROUBLE FREE SINCE,BOB | ||
| Huxley |
Thanks for the feedback. As of yet there have been no further issues. I wouldn't have been too worried about a little condensation but I felt what I found was a bit extreme, certainly a good reason to to check/change fluid before the 1000 mile 1st service. I'm fairly certain damage would have resulted if I continued to run it. The shifting was terrible to the point where I was worried WTF was wrong with the bike. |
