comingbackdown

Replaced the gear AND the cable and NOW I have a working speedometer. Sheesh! Now I've got a very, very slow water leak, like it'd take a couple months or more for it to run dry.

Anyone passing is never good news. Sorry 'bout that.

Well daggum, I didn't catch this one. Happy Birthday!

Sawdust. I'm back in business and back in the saddle. Been cutting it a lot closer coming in the driveway so that I don't have to turn it around.

After my test ride today, I went to turn her around in the yard and put her in the garage. Should've looked before I rode through that patch of grass. Wasn't just grass there. Revs shot up, I grabbed the clutch as she went sideways, planted my left and tried to tumble off. Left slipped, bike took the right with it and I did almost a full split against my will. Bike is fine, walked her up and put her away. I'm not fine. Pulled half the muscles in my right leg and it hurts like hell to walk. I've turned her around in that exact spot so many times over the past couple weeks it isn't funny. I made the mistake of assuming that the yard would be free of danger. Not an error that I will be making again any time soon.

Okay, how do I get the thing off of it?

Found one local listed on Ebay. Still don't know how to replace it. This better fix it, and this had better be the last of it for a while. I can't afford to keep throwing money at this thing every time I blink, I already do that with both of my other vehicles.

It's not the cable, it's not the speedo. Cable is good, hooked a drill up to the bottom end and the speedo worked fine that way. So, I guess it's the gear. Does anybody around here have one by any chance, and how the heck do you replace it?

Well, I'm officially a dumba**. That's what you get for working on something after midnight. It did not occur to me to unhook the other end and chuck it up in a drill... I'm guessing since the cable is turning up top when the wheel moves that it ain't the cable. So, I'll hook her back into the cluster tomorrow and see what I get with a drill on the other end. *facedesk, repeatedly*

Got her apart, put a twist tie on the cable end to track position and pushed the bike back and forth, cable turns freely both directions.

No idea what to look for here.

Honestly not sure how to check for a break. Don't deal with instruments much on cars, when I do it's mostly electronic.

Didn't pay attention to the odo. Crap! I'll have to check tomorrow. I guess I'll have to pull the dash apart and reinsert the cable and see what I get. Hoping it's just a stupid little thing. I really hope I don't have to go looking for parts this early in the game.

Took her out on the road for the first time just a few minutes ago. Whaddya know, speedometer isn't working. I thought this might be the case the other day tooling 'round the yard, so I checked the connections on the cable. Checked the wheel, tight. Checked under the dash, loose, but tightened her back up. Couldn't get in there too far without tearing her back apart though... I've just had the dash out recently to resolder that pesky circuit board. Any ideas? Can't ride if I don't have the slightest clue how fast I'm goin'. Definitely can't get a ticket, either. I get a ticket, I'm as good as unemployed. I'm just miffed that I can't ride it again 'til I fix this.

Until today, all I'd done was under ten miles per hour. Still haven't been on the roads. Learning some hill starts, some practice. Thus far, it's pretty epic! I am absolutely in LOVE with this bike! When I was working on her, I was sitting in the saddle, forgot to put the kickstand down and got off the bike. Next thing I know, I'm pinned between the bike and a wood pile. Even better, mom's car was the object in the opposite direction, so if she'd gone over the other way ma probably would've flattened me. Believe me, I found out right then just how heavy she is. I can go to the gym and run 400 lbs on leg extensions like child's play. It took some serious muscle control and thought, and near everything I had to set her back up. That thing is MASSIVE!

Didn't drain it completely, sucked out some of the serious nasty and some of the junk floating in the bottom so that I didn't mix it throughout the fresh fluid I was adding to clean the system. That said, clutch works better, smoother, fired her up, warmed her up. Ditched the clutch feathering, got her all the way released and ran circles 'round the driveway. Yeehaw! Should be getting my safety gear tomorrow afternoon. Whoooo!

I do believe I've found the origins of our mysterious red wire and the cause of the sudden battery light all in one go. When I went to remove said wire, I took a serious look around, and found a spade connector (which I'm assuming was rather poorly crimped to our mysterious red wire) hooked up to a terminal in a connector with a red/white wire coming from it. I'm assuming this is the wire for the battery sensor? Drained the clutch reservoir close to empty with a syringe, refilled, capped, bleed, refilled, bled, refilled... You get the picture. Anyhow, clean fluid coming from the bleeder, no mush in the control lever, seems good. Can't test it as it's nearly two in the morning, so that will have to wait until after work tomorrow. I'm hoping the response will be a tiny bit better with clean fluid.

I was thinking the same thing when I pulled the top cover. Like "dang, they don't make 'em like that anymore!"

Actually, as far as my driveway is concerned, she's been a joy at a snail's pace. Lot of clutch feathering to keep her at such a low speed through the tighter turns though. She really wants to cut loose once the clutch is out. As far as the lot I plan to use is concerned, it's a loop. I could run my truck in circles around it at about thirtyish. I realize this gentleman is not perfect, but he's going to teach me the absolute basics so that I can get the bike going and navigate roads without winding up on my arse ten seconds in. I'm not taking it as the be all and end all, but he can get me started. I have every intention of taking a course. Not only will doing so allow me to skip the skills test for my endorsement, it will also fill in any gaps in basic knowledge that I may have. Issue being, I won't be able to take the course for a month or two due to my work schedule. Rest assured though, it is in the plans.

After a mind boggling amount of successive minor setbacks, I have a working low beam! Thank you all very much! That leaves me with one really good question. Battery light has been on since before the resolder, isn't off now either. So... I pulled the top cover again and took a good look at everything. Wire moved upward a tic for emphasis, but as you can see something is NOT quite right here... http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/sickmusician/Bike/IMG_20140625_002525.jpg It was just hanging loose there, no idea what it is or where it goes, but I suspect this MAY have something to do with the battery light, and regardless it needs to not be hanging loose under there able to put current through anything that it touches. Looks like someone has maybe played with the fusebox a bit.

Wouldn't have mattered much in this case anyway, since they were all rusted half to bits

Low output voltage... Damn I was hoping it was just a dirty contact in the switch... Oh well, I guess I get to tear the CMS out tomorrow night. I guess it could be worse. The other day I went to adjust the bars, took about an hour due to rust and corrosion. Sight glasses on the reservoirs are clouded, went to check the fluid and took the slots out of one screw per cap, wound up replacing three of them, had to use the screw-outs. Finally got the caps off, brake reservoir is alright, fluid is clear. Clutch side the fluid is black. Gotta drain and replace. *sigh* I love repairing braking systems. I HATE bleeding them. Still have to adjust the pegs. Went to adjust the hand controls up higher so I can grip them. Moved the hand controls, was playing around with the throttle. It doesn't return on its own. Pulled the grip off, and got showered with rust. Worked the throttle sans grip, rust coming from everywhere. Looks like I may need new cables. Between that and the rebuild kit for the rear master I've got over $100 in parts. Yay. Talked to my insurance agent today. Insurance is about twenty bucks cheaper per month than my car!

If the bike isn't in a million pieces, I'll fix it if it kills me, so the cost of supplies. If I hurt myself I'm screwed, but I can live with that. Okay, got a multimeter. What's my next step? Gotta get that light working. Got a service manual! Like, on paper. It's a bit vague on where some of the wiring is located. Adjusted the bars yesterday. Feels much better. Warmed her up and ran her around the driveway. Incredible! Had to put a foot down on a couple of the tighter turns but it felt wonderful! Gotta adjust the pegs. I thought this thing would be easier to get rolling in a straight line. Clutch control is substantially more difficult than on my truck. What's the normal launch RPM on one of these? I gave between one and two grand a shot, but it wasn't very clean even with a creeping clutch release.

Looks like I'll be looking at the switch over the weekend. Unfortunately I'm stuck learning on the Venture. I haven't the money to acquire another bike, and the only bike I might be able to borrow would certainly be the death of me. Fortunately, the gentleman I've asked to get me started is a lifelong rider. He's going to ride it to a parking lot, and I'm going to spend some serious time on it under close supervision. It's not ideal, heavy, powerful, and could kill me. Power has never been an issue with me. It's not a toy. Until I can maneuver at low speed without issue, I probably won't be leaving first gear. I'm always up for a challenge, and I don't give up on anything. If it takes me the rest of the riding season to get to the point of leaving the parking lot, so be it. I'm willing. For now I have to fix the dang thing. I'll have to post a pic. I think I found the battery light issue. Looks like somebody may have bubba'd the wiring a bit.

Already got one. Just gotta find a fuse for it since dad accidentally got voltage with it a few weeks ago.