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Xbeau12s
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 12:13 pm: | 
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sometimes you get a lemon! No matter what bike you have sometimes you get a real son of a biscuit! I've got lucky with my two XBeez although the 07 Uly I have now only has about 5K on it. Nothing showing up yet. The PO re-wired the whole thing. I think to so not to have any problems. I ride it every day and my rear tire shows. The 04 I used to have is still running to beat hell with no problems at all either. I had to fix an oil fitting and a intermittent short at the bars but that was it!
I bet you would like a Suzuki V-Strom. I've heard they are very reliable and have good power. I just couldn't justify sitting on such an ugly machine myself but that's just me! |
Dr_greg
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 05:13 pm: |
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Hey guys, I FOUND IT!! When I went to retrieve the error code I turned on the ignition and the CEL started flashing like crazy and the interactive exhaust valve began cycling continuously...WTF?
So I dug into the wiring, and found that the WHT wire emanating from the "65" connector (vehicle speed sensor, or VSS) was shorted to ground! This is an input to the ECM which should ordinarily be a square wave (or something similar; it's from a geartooth sensor).
I trimmed both ends of the 3-strand cable and resoldered it (taking appropriate care). Now the CEL behaves correctly, and the ol' Thunderstorm 1203cc fired right up!!
You know those wires down there are kind of a mess; some have insufficient length, etc. That's a potential trouble spot for sure.
Dunno if the VSS was damaged; gonna take a brief ride soon and check things out. If everything looks good I'm gonna take a 400+ mile ride tomorrow up to 10,000 feet. Visit my son who's camping with friends at Hopewell Lake, in the beautiful San Juan Mountains of north-central New Mexico.
And no, haven't worked out of my towing service yet, so Mrs. Greg may get a phone call sometime during the day...
--Doc
P.S. Earlier in the day I was griping to my Ducati dealer about not having a bike, etc., and he offered to loan me a (used) Multistrada 1100 for the weekend. Don't need it now, but I thought that was very gracious of him (after all, I did drop his Multistrada 1200 demo bike). |
Armymedic
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 05:33 pm: |
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Glad to hear it Doc. I just finished a 2000 plus miler on the Uly. I always start a long trip like that with the feeling something is going to go wrong but she purred like a kitten and ran like a cheetah the whole way. I hate the feeling something is going to happen as I never had that worry with any other bike. I am happy my Progressive insurance covers any possible future towing I might need.} |
Ejbeert
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 05:40 pm: |
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sweet
zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance |
Cyclonedon
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 05:55 pm: |
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God bless Mrs Greg! Buy her something nice Doc before you leave on your trip so she'll be close to the phone in case you call her. |
Whisperstealth
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 06:11 pm: |
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Please, Please let my 09XT be free of all the demons that have plagued your 06. I have not the money or ability to be stricken like you!
Have an awesome trouble free trip! |
Skifastbadly
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 06:15 pm: |
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So now what's going to happen is the good doctor will have an absolutely trouble free summer on the Uly and when he gets the call from his Duc dealer he'll think....hmmmmmmmmm
Maybe I should go to radio shack and buy a bunch of wire and redo the whole damned bike.
(Message edited by skifastbadly on July 02, 2010)
(Message edited by skifastbadly on July 02, 2010) |
Rcf2
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 07:05 pm: |
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Have a nice ride and post the pics from the mountains! we will be waiting. |
Maximum
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 07:20 pm: |
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Way to hang in there Doc. I have done so much cutting and soldiering (some fixes and some mods) that I have thought many times that I should just order an entire new wiring harness and start fresh...just seems like a lot of work. May do it if I ever pull the engine out for an overhaul or to get the frame custom painted. |
Dr_greg
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 08:24 pm: |
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Well, not so fast here. As I went on my 20-mile shakedown cruise after fixing the electrical short, I noticed the front brake's grip was noticeably diminished. Hmmm, gotta check into that, cuz tomorrow's ride has lots of downhill decreasing-radius corners.
I should have already deduced it. On '06 Uly #044 it happened at 45,000 miles. On '06 Uly #564 it happened at 31,000 miles.
Fork seals. However, I have ALL the parts already on hand (self-congratulation for proactive thinking there, Doc). Mrs. Greg has promised her help in disassembling the forks Saturday morning; we'll get the seals in no problem.
So that'll shift the 400+ mile 10,000-foot ride to Sunday. My Son & Co. should still be up there, if I can find them. I have a much better outlook now.
See, if you just keep at it, things generally work out. Keep the faith!
--Doc
P.S. Got a phone all from the Ducati dealer: they were told that all MTS 1200 deposits rcvd in April-May (that's me) will be delivered by the end of July. We'll see. With Uly running I'm less troubled... The Uly is my only xportation: commuting, everything. When it's down, so am I. |
Ourdee
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 08:37 pm: |
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I hope the backs getting better. |
Blasterd
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 08:52 pm: |
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Have fun on your trip Doc! I'm so glad you got it mostly worked out! |
Sharkguy
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 09:36 pm: |
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Doc, that H P Lovecraft story you were reading must have been the re-animater. Hope you got it figured out! |
Towpro
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2010 - 10:17 pm: |
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Doc, when it fell over loading it in the truck, you might have hit the front brake lever when it was upside down. If the master cylinder was a little low, it might have sucked a little air into the system when hit the lever? This could cause a mushy brake. Just an educated guess. |
Hooper
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 12:10 am: |
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I don't wanna' say that I've got a 2006 Uly with 16,000 miles and no problems. I know, not many miles, but...
I do hate the think that there was a QC/QA problem in Troy... |
Thesmaz
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 03:06 am: |
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Glad to hear that you're going to be back up and running fairly quickly. I'm going to tear into mine this weekend and replace the entire electrical system (stator, VR, batt) and fan. I hope that once I fire it back up nothing else was damaged by the extra voltage while I was trying to get it home (I was in Greece when the troubles started). |
Tootal
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 02:19 pm: |
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Thesmaz,
I was blowing headlights when my stator went. I was too stupid not to check the stator before change the VR. My stupidity cost me another VR after I fixed the real problem. No problems with the new stuff. It seems the replacement parts are better quality than originals. Time and mileage will tell. I rode to homecoming and back and had a great time. Bike did wonderful. It ran strong chasing the locals on the back roads. Hit over 110 a couple of times. I ran the superslab at 95 degrees on the way home without issue. I think I'll check my throttle butterfly screws for tightness after seeing a lot of failures out there. Might want to put that on your list too! |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 04:31 pm: |
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It seems the replacement parts are better quality than originals.
They always are.
Pesky Elves...always kept making improvements....  |
Thesmaz
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 04:50 pm: |
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Tootal,
The way my lucks been going with this bike, I'll get everything fixed, again, and then that will let me down at some far away destination. It's not the screws, its the shaft that's snapping, right?
Dr Greg,
How's the fork rebuild going? |
Thesmaz
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 05:22 pm: |
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Tootal,
I just read the other thread about the throttle shaft, I'll check it while the bike is down for repairs. |
Tootal
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 06:03 pm: |
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It is the shaft snapping in half but it breaks at the threaded hole for the butterfly screws. My theory is that, if your butterfly is tight then there should be no flexing at this hole as the strength of the butterfly is added to the shaft itself. If a screw were to loosen then it would allow flex to happen which eventually breaks at the weakest point. I guess I should state again that this is my theory after looking closely at a failure. Those wiser are welcome to inform me otherwise. Lot of good heads out there! |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 09:51 pm: |
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Somebody should start making a screw/nylock nut setup - something that will 'capture' the butterfly plate to the shaft.
Or...if anyone has a spare...I have an excellent machinist who might be able to program one for us (and yes...he *is* a rocket scientist!). |
Motorfish
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 10:23 pm: |
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Maybe a little locktite on the screws may be a temporary fix. Nylon lock nuts are a good idea, but I`d be a little paranoid of them somehow getting sucked into the engine. |
Tootal
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 10:43 pm: |
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The best thing would be to remove the TB and the tps sensor. Tighten any loose screw. Rotate the butterfly 180 degrees. Place a rod up though the intake port end to back up the screw head and take a center punch and reset the flare on the screw. If I found a loose screw that is what I would do. Red loctite should work and can be done without removal. That's got to be your decision. |
Dio
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2010 - 10:57 pm: |
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Tootal - refer to the broken throttle shaft thread a couple down, and post your thoughts. |
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