I know you people love stories where I fuck something up. Jerks. Anyway, here ya go.
I'm pretty much the anti-mechanic. It's just not my thing. When I bought my motorcycle, I kept reading about what a simplistic design it had and how easy it was to fix. Recently, the bike went nutso. When I would turn the key on, all the gauges would go crazy and it wouldn't start. I tested the battery, and it was reading 12 volts. Then I fried my volt-meter. Oops.
After determining that the battery was OK, I took the whole damn bike apart. I posted on internet forums and scoured my Haynes Manual. Obviously this was an electrical problem, but where to start? After looking at the wiring diagram, I determined that the starter relay was bad. I took a trip down to Monticello to pick up a new one, but it didn't fix my issue. Obviously, that wasn't the problem.
I spent the next several hours doing various tests. I hotwired the ignition, jumped the battery straight to the ignition coil, bridged the battery lead to the starter solenoid with a screwdriver, and checked every ground circuit on the bike...all sorts of crazy shit that I had to learn how to do. Nothin'.
Since I had fried my volt-meter and needed a new one, I decided I may as well bring the battery to the store with me and have it tested. Can you see where this is going? Sure enough, it's got 12 volts, but 0 amps. Yeah, it turns out batteries have to have amps, too. Lame.
One battery later, and the bike starts right up. Wow, do I ever feel like a moron. What could possibly make me feel dumber? How about taking it for a ride and running out of gas, then having to push it home. Yep. Did that.
*Sigh*
Even my wife laughed at me.
At least I learned some things about my motorcycle that I didn't know before. Like the fact that I should bring it to a qualified mechanic next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment