Breakdown, good experience
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Road Master
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 911
Likes: 1
From: Orem Utah
Breakdown, good experience
Went for a scoot yesterday and about 90 miles into the ride the bike just quit running. Pulled the seat, bags and side covers and find the big 40 amp fuse on the outside of the fuse box is blown. The guy I'm riding with knows more about this stuff than I do and suggests a dead short, which sounds logical to me. We pull the outer fairing and unplug the main hot lead. Try to jumper the fuse and it sparks.
Decide to pull the tank and look under it. Peal back a bit of the rubber looming to look at a potential problem area but all looks good there. Trace another big red hot wire that loops back under the tank and goes down the other side of the bike. This leads up to the voltage regulator. Unplug it and presto, I can jump the fuse now and get ignition. The bike sure looked funny off the side of the interstate all stripped down. We reassembled the bike, unplugged the light and accessory fuses, and ran home on battery.
It was still a great day for riding and I know much more about my bike now than I did yesterday morning. It only took about 1.5 hours from break down to back on the road. The real cool thing was I had all the tools to do all this. I did find a few things I'm going to add, but all in all it was as good of an experience as a breakdown can be.
Decide to pull the tank and look under it. Peal back a bit of the rubber looming to look at a potential problem area but all looks good there. Trace another big red hot wire that loops back under the tank and goes down the other side of the bike. This leads up to the voltage regulator. Unplug it and presto, I can jump the fuse now and get ignition. The bike sure looked funny off the side of the interstate all stripped down. We reassembled the bike, unplugged the light and accessory fuses, and ran home on battery.
It was still a great day for riding and I know much more about my bike now than I did yesterday morning. It only took about 1.5 hours from break down to back on the road. The real cool thing was I had all the tools to do all this. I did find a few things I'm going to add, but all in all it was as good of an experience as a breakdown can be.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,121
Likes: 489
From: sunny florida
break downs add to the memories down the road, I have pics along side the road over the years working on one friends bike or another, when I look at the pictures today some of them 20 years old or older all I remember is the fun times we had
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 809
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From: south bend in,
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Joined: Jan 2010
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From: Leonardtown, Maryland
Wish your buddy had been with me when my 40A fuse blew. Please post a pic of the shorted wire/connector when you find it. HD of Annapolis fixed mine under warranty and I can't see where or what they did. Bike runs good now and that't the main thing!
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Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 911
Likes: 1
From: Orem Utah
Either a bad voltage regulator, but have never seen one close a loop like that before, or a bare wire leading to it. I'll find out tonight when I dive into it. I'm hoping it's a chaffed wire that I can repair.
Tourer
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 285
Likes: 0
From: Charlotte NC
Breakdown
Would have used my extended warranty and called them to come get me. $50 deductable, they send a flatbed and fix the bike. Also supposed to supply me a loaner if they can't fix it immediately.