Snaggletooth

One of my riding buddies that just got back into bikes a couple years ago has a black CT50, stock lights and nothing else. He leaves his house at 2:30 AM for work. He's had some close calls in the dark from every angle. He showed up last year with a HI VIS mesh vest with the Neon Yellow panels over a neon safety orange. I got to say he stands out like a lightbulb now. No doubt where he is at night when the head lights hit him. He won't ride day or night anymore without it. In the daylight it still stands out like it's plugged in. I don't recall the brand but I know he got it at a local bike shop. Military specs to as he goes on base a lot. Zipper front, fits well over his gear and tucks in nice in the bags. Don't waste your money on those vests at WW. I wore them when I was doing photography for the dirt buggy boys at the track. PITA to wear and lost the shine real fast. I tossed 4 of them out.

Thanks Swifty. Just trying to keep up with what you've done since this R/R install started. All I've been able to do is offer information on I've learned here and pass along what I know from my own experience what works. or should work. At this point it's past anything I can figure out. I wish I could be of more help but there are guys here with a lot more knowledge than I have so I'll leave it in their hands. Hope this works for you soon.

I got to say I'd think the Tender, being on all night should be at least in the Green by now and showing a higher reading. If it don't go Green or into flashing Green by the end of 24 hours I'd say pull it and have it load tested for condition. The results of that testing would help you decide on your nest step and get you rolling again. As far as the anode, think battery post. The best connection is the flat lug from the battery cable attached directly to the surface of the post. More contact between the two the better flow of current. Anything between the two effects the flow.

Every thing helps when protecting those inner fork legs from damage. Road debris, sand grit and even dead insects can build up and cause excessive and damaging wear on the seals as the fork seals move over them.

Thanks Bob, Yeah, the directions from the R/R were a lil odd. I wasn't clear on what he actually ended up doing with that black one. I was trying figure out if that black wire, unconnected, would cause his problems. I'm still getting my electrical education here to. I hate sparks.

I mean what does that mean? They didn't have their seat belts on? Like they had a choice. Geesh. Sad news, but not all that hard to belive with the behavior I've seen by some riders.

I've got the TourMaster Deluxe covers. Found them on MotorcycleGear for about $23.00. They are great on those long, really wet days and high enough to fit up under the rain gear pants. I have the lower wind wings on the '84 that makes most the difference when moving at speed, and usually wear the Red Wings that are treated with mink oil but the covers keep things dry no matter how bad it's coming down. I hate soggy pants legs and wet boots. These take care of that problem.

Swifty, I need to ask you something as I'm trying to follow what's happening with this. I remember your directions for the R/R said to attach the Red and the Black wires together and attach them to the pos post of the battey. We agreed that was incorrect and led you way from that and went with only the (1) Green wire to ground. What did you end up doing the Black wire? Did you leave it loose or ground it? Not that it may make any differnce, but was curious about that Black wire. I'm still learning here myself. Mike

Yep they should have. As a general rule these bikes charge pretty low at idle speeds. Just barely at the battey static level (12.6) or even lower. Once you get past 1,500 or 2,000 RPMs the charge jumps up. Book say in the 14.5 range but most show lower than that. Depends a lot on the battery condition, the stator being used and the preformance of the R/R. I'll asume you still have the OEM stator and R/R. Never outstanding from the git go, but functional. As long as the battery is charging it should keep the battery fully topped off. But any normal draw with the bike key turned off, like the presets, should not cause an AGM to drop that low. I've ridden home at night with all the lights fired up and shut the bike down with the battery showing a bit low. The next morning the volts meter was reading higher than it was when I shut it down. The AGM's are a different animal as far as batteries go. Yours is not behaving well. There are so many things that could have effected your battery at the end of last season and caused issues now. But if I go into the things on that train of thought you'll be riding a Honda before the thread dies out. We'd rather see you get past this problem. Keep us posted on what you find. Mike

All depends on the wife and the firearm of choice.

Based on my voltmeter readings the "at idle" is going to be about right. With the DEKA being discharged quite a bit it does take a bit longer for the reading levels to come back up. The DEKA is basically a 12.8 volt battery right out of the box and from my experience with them that is pretty much where they will settle back to at rest every time. If you're seeing the battey drop that quickly to 12.0 volts at rest there is a problem. Either you have developed a major drain or the battery is faulty, I don't know what you are taking your test reads with so there is always the question of how accurate the readings are. If you have an opition for another voltmeter try that also and compare. When I have used the Tender Jr, on AGM's it shows it is charging at 14.5 volts until it hits full charge then steps down to about 13.0 volts. And I'm going to ask. You mentioned jumping the bike. Did you have the jump vehicle running when you did that?

I run a TomTom XXL and it lets me select to avoid Interstates and does fine with it. But the downside to that unit is it does not allow to program waypoints on a long trip. Got to go leg by legs on the long ones if you have points off the suggestest route.

I don't have an answer for that. Never had a reason to find out. I'd contact the provider you brought from and see how they handle that. If you can to a charger at 2 amps at about 14.5 volts over night and then pull all the fuses and any added connections that should tell you what's happening. Let us know what you find out. Mike

Mine has been in the bike for going on 5 years. It rarely sits more than day without riding unless there is snow on the ground. Never been on a Tender for any reason until recently. Had to dig mine out after all these years. I've had DEKAs sit on the shelf all winter with no charge to them and they don't drop more that 1/10th of a volt or two over several months. This winter, after sitting for quite a while the volts had dropped less than the usual 12.8 or 23.4 at the worst. It still cranked like new and was charging fine but it did take long to bring it back to the top. When I load tested it, it still showed 12.8 and rated "Good" on the test unit but the battey "Health" only showed 25%. Well it took a few years, lot of miles and a whole lot to starts to get it to 25%. If a DEKA, or any AGM is draining that fast I'd look for a parasitic drain from some connection on the bike. Check the volts at the battey posts and see what you get both static and at 2,000 RPMs. If there is a problem with the battey itself I belive they will stand behind the 1 Year replacement policy. Mike

Yep, probably is real. I looked at it really close.

Paul, Glad you got the call. Hope it works out for final offer for a position. Good luck. Mike

I'm curious for a better answer myself. I have two merc sticks myself that I keep in the unheated garage year round. I noticed the spring before last I had the bubbles. I could tap them down a bit not get rid of them. Looking at the bubbles they appeared cloudy so figured it was condensation build up. I drained both sticks into a glass test tube while filtering them through medical gause. Stuffed a cotton ball in the top of the test tube and set it out in the sun for a couple hours. I knew heat would help but heating mercury with a heat gun didn't strike me as being all that great of an idea. I settled for solar. But it seemed to help. The bubbles went away. Until this spring. So I do think moisture causes the problem. And I have the Morgan. But I still like my sticks. NOTE: I do not belive my method is EPA approved. Just sayin'

If I'd known I would have sent some sheets along with the pump parts. Most providers use the ABS panels on their racks and displays. Shouldn't be too hard to find an old display being tossed.

Looks good. I do like the blue. I'm sure you guys are going to enjoy that for a long time.

Yep, got mine from a NAPA store. Just matched them up. At the time I bought chunk a solid core 7mm plug wire from the bulk roll and made a whole new set of wires. I mean as long as I was in there ya know. But one cap and trim the wire back a 1/4 of an inch and you should be good to go.

I've done every damaged mounting tab or crack with two part epoxy and laminating it with thin sheets of ABS plastic I got from advertising signs from a grocery store. Same material and if needed it can be shaped to a curve with a heat gun. I'd cut a piece to shape, rough sand the surface and wipe it down with alcohol to prep it. Treat both sides with epoxy and clamp them together. When it cured I'd shape and drill to fit. It the repair was a bit too thick I'd sand the new sheet down a bit. The repairs I did several years ago are still intact. I broke one tab on the side cover during the cold winter weather but I had leaned against it with my knee. Had that one coming. Re-did the repair and it's holding up fine. There are very few spots where the fixes are seen without looking for them. The way the panels overlap they hide pretty well.

16 is not good at idle. Not good and high revs either!! Don't see how the hook up could go wrong but the R/R is doing something wrong. The most I see on mine is 14.5 at revs on mine. I'd be concerned about the battry at 16.

Hey Steve, I've done that!! I got to ask, is it you cannot see the vids from the camera display on the camera menu or from the "Drift" file on the computer? I had some I could not see from the display menu but could from the "Drift" file when patched in. I learned as soon as I get back to the computer to patch in with the USB cord and from the "Drift" file in the directory then create new sub directory files for the clips to save them to. I name the files for the area or event or person. Then going through the Drift file from the directory on the computer I copy the files I want to save and move them to the new files I made. Then I rename and date them there and they stay put. At that point I delete all clips from the camera. You think the camera shots from the helmet looks fast, mount in down low on the crash bars and take a run through traffic. Looks like one of those crazy Russian UTube vids.

Or two DEKA AGM's

I guess I need to step up here and say thanks to each and everyone of you for what has been happening here today. I'm still sort of reeling from the responses to this post. Your words of support and well wishes has made my day a little lighter. I wish I could find the right words to express what I feel right now but I'm not sure I could do that as well as I need to. So for now all I can do is say thank you for everything. With all my heart, Mike