Walneck's Classic Cycle Trader - October 2008 - (Page 21)

BENCH RACING position, hear a couple clicks coming from start motor?, not sure, then all power shuts off, until the bike re-charges, then try again, but same results, afraid to try again. Any suggestions? Ron My first suggestion would be to fill in some of the details. For instance, it would be nice to know the make and model of the bike, whether the problem cropped up after you had installed the harness, or if the harness has been on the bike for a while and the problem occurred suddenly. I’d also like to know what kind of shape the battery is in, why an aftermarket harness is on the bike and whether or not the engine turns over if you try to rotate it by other means (like push starting it or spinning the crank with a wrench. Obviously, you have some sort of electrical problem, but with such limited information, I can’t tell you if the problem is something minor like a dead battery, something major like a seized engine or something in between like a bad starter or starter solenoid. It could even be something as minor as a bad battery connection or loose wire. Your only real option at this point is to grab a voltmeter and start troubleshooting the starter circuit, beginning with the battery. I’m going to pick your brain. The battery in my “04 Road King is 4 yrs old but checks out at 100%. I’ve been told they normally don’t last that long. I’m wondering if I should buy a new one before a road trip in Aug or since it seems strong, not bother. Question is: when they go out do they taper off or just die. What do you recommend? Without knowing how you tested your battery it's hard to make more than a semi- educated guess. Assuming the battery's specific gravity is good, there are no signs of sulfating and that it passed a load test with flying colors than by all means continue to use it. Under normal circumstances, the battery should give you some warning before it fails. Typically the bike will get hard to start or the battery will lose its charge if sits for a day or two. I’d say if it continues to act normally, there’s no need to replace it just yet. Four years is a decent run for any motorcycle battery, but similarly, I've seen plenty of them go five or six if they were well maintained. other lights work) so I installed one and wired it up to the yellow wire (this wire was capped off and went nowhere) coming from the tail light and got the power from the red/yellow wire coming directly out of the stator lighting coil. The tail light bulb is a 6-volt 1154 bulb. The problem now is that the bulb burns out very quickly. I'm not sure how I should proceed next. If you could shed some light on this, it would be most appreciated. Thanks, John First, measure the voltage coming out of the red/yellow wire you’re using to feed the brake light. If it is much more than 6-volts, and my guess is that it is, you’ll need to find another source of power, I look at the feed line to the headlight /headlight switch. So long as it’s hovering somewhere close to 6 volts you shouldn’t have any problems. Alternatively, you could use the connection you’ve already made. If you choose to do so, measure the voltage and then install an inline resistor to cut the voltage down to 6-volts, frankly that’s not the way I’d choose to do it, but it should work. A A A Q Brake light Blues Hi Mark, Send your questions, comments And poison pen letters to at Q Battery Blues OK Mark, I need your help regarding the lighting system of my 1979 Yamaha TT 500 D. I have never seen a wiring diagram for the TT lighting in my factory manual (or any other). The bike had no brake light switch (all of the Zimmemr@aol.com Mark Zimmerman BENCH RACING QUESTION WALNECKS.COM I WALNECK’S CLASSIC CYCLE TRADER® | October 2008 21 http://WALNECKS.COM

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Walneck's Classic Cycle Trader - October 2008 Contents American The Buzz w/Buzz Walneck Motorcycle Tips w/Mike Brown Bench Racing w/Mark Zimmerman 1915 Cyclone Sold for 520,000 Doublemint Whizzer Grab Yore "Trusty" 45 and Head for the WOODS! …. Events Listings & Advertisements British Mid-Ohio Review Biker of the Month J Wood Mid-Ohio Auction Results European 1963 Parilla 125 Wildcat Test 1970 Ducati Desmo 250, 350 & 450 Singles 1955 NSU 250 Max Japanese My Day With a PWK Motorbikes & Scooters Antique Cycle Clubs Parts, Accessories, Want Ads How to Place a Word Ad Area Code Directory How to Subscribe How to Place a Photo Ad

Walneck's Classic Cycle Trader - October 2008

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