Snaggletooth

But you're not alone........ I think this was the guy that came uo with the idea of a water cooled HD.

You know you can just wash the bike in the driveway right?

The 1st gens, like mine, don't have the tube but I'm assuming the 2nd gens have that coming from the weep hole in the pump to keep it from running all along the frame. That indicates the seal in the water pump is not holding. My '84 started with a mild and random drip last fall. It started getting worse this spring so I did a swap with a rebuilt pump. Only been a couple days but no drip so far. I hate random drips. Never leads to good things for the future.

I had the switch apart about a year ago and it was in good shape. Hoping it still is but may take another look. I called a buddy last night and "borrowing" a new battery from his shop to swap out and try that this morning to see what happens. I checked and cleaned all the grounds the other day while I was doing the water pump and going over the bike. Might add another one to see what happens. I had some gremlins living in my garage when I did Dano's engage clutch upgrade. They pulled the rotor off for me while I was sleeping. I guess they moved out. The bike is still apart this morning. Lil buggers are never around when you need them. I gotta hire some new help around here.

You really, really sure you want to try that one? Ran the front of one trying to get home a few years back. My daugher was waiting for me in the garage when I pulled in just as it hit. Her eyes were wider than mine. She couldn't figure out what I was laughing about. It's a rush I got to tell you. Do want to that again? Not if I can help it. I ran across this by Daniel Meyer who writes the "Life is a Road" book series. Sums it up.

I've done that. Once was enough for me. Make sure to hit the can before you take off. Pit stops can be crappy.

No doubt I've put that DEKA through the wringer. When I was chasing cupcakes for Hostess I'd start the bike 20 or more times a day, 6 days a week. Not to mention driving home 30 miles with burned out R/R. I thought that would kill it. That was several years ago. That was why I had it load tested this morning. It was still showing 12.7 volts static and 80% power on my tester. The load test was good showing better than any other battery he'd tested. But like you said, four years is four years. I'm goin to try a different battery over the week end and see what happens.

Thanks Gary. I'll take a look at that. This is why I did the seperate harness when I installed all the new stuff. Wanted to avoid this type of headache. Figures if I ever had a problem it would be a quick trouble shoot and be done with it. Jsut can't figure out which part to shoot at this point. I keep going back the R/R but I've never seen one act like this. Usually get a big flux and going way high. Maybe tomorrow.....

Yeah, once you get used to the good stuff everything else seems like a failure. It still is charging the battery fine and keeps it topped off. No drain there. But............ ya know...... don't feel right. It's like a cutie flashing ya. Wanna see it all the time.

Not according to two different multimeters. They all show the same flux.

What ever happened to magnetos and kick starters? Life was simple back then.

Not until needed. I just installed a new water pump and went through all that. The fan is never on when this happens.

I had have a charging problem develope and it's driving me up the wall. I'm always bragging on the set up I have as being the most reliable thing going. I have the digital voltmeter in the dash. Down to the 10ths. When the bike fires up it always shows 14.4 volts unless I add a lil drain with the driving lights. Then it only drops to 14.2 at the lowest. It's developed a trick where going down the road it will suddenly drop to 13.8 to 14.0 range with no load. With the driving lights on it drops to 13.2 to 13.4. All of a sudden it will go back to 14.4 again for a while. This is all randon and unpredictable. Never exceeds the 14.4 volts. I figured a connection was the issue. So I spent the day stripping the bike down and checked all the wiring. I have the charging system on a complete seperate shielded harness and found no weak spots. The wiring for the driving lights are on their own harness to. No problems found. All connections clean and tight everywhere. Even pulled the Hella Projectors out to check wiring in the bucket. It's tight in there I always think about a wire getting rubbed. All my stator and R/R wires are soldered and shirnk wrapped. The Buckeye upgrade stator is putting the same reading as it always has. The DEKA is over four years old but preforms as always. It's fully charged and I had it load tested today. Still in top condition. The R/R is the Shindengen I installed a couple years ago. (but it's becoming suspect) Checked and cleaned all grounding points and cable connections on the bike. Even doubled checked wiring for the trailer and convertor. This can happen hot or cold. Don't seem to matter. It started doing its act today running on the stand with all wires exposed and nothing being touched. I'm open for suggestion here guys. I'm at a loss.

John sent me these pics of his problem Thought I'd add them on for him. They are from his cell phone so a lil small.

Yep, the high reading sounds like a failing R/R. Mine did that about 30 miles from home. Barely made it back.

It didn't fall in there by accident I know that. It was inside the spring. But only on one side. I guess he didn't want that side to bottom out anymore. What the word everybody uses these days? Maroons!!!!!!!

Ouch. Can't say nothing today. Just did my water pump and got the "L" sealed up.

Hydrualic oils are a basic 5wt. I tried it when I was playing around with the ride on my '84. Being a bigger guy at 265 lbs I went back to the 10wt for a little firmer feel. This was all during the use of the Progressive. It does work and it is alot cheaper. A lighter rider wanting a softer ride may be happy with it.

I've been into 6 sets of MKI forks and never seen them. I've only had three sets opened up from the MKII's and only two had them in. Not saying the one set missing them didn't have them at some point. Probably a MKII thing at best guess. Gary has done a lot of research on the oil flow through the forks and the anti-dive systems so I'm sure he can say exacty what they do and rather or not you could get away with not using them. I got this thing about if it came out, it's going back in. Makes it interesting when you only get one part out of two forks. I'm still trying to figure out the purpose of a section of rebar I found in one set.

I got to say the there must be something that attracts drivers to homes of bike owners. Remember when Godlover had uninvited guests in his garage? Makes a guys wanna live a mile from the road down a dirt path. We have a family here that has had their house hit three times by drivers missing the curve. They finally set a row of sawed off telephone poles all around the property to fend off the cars. Set in the ground 6 foot deep, four feet tall and 8 foot apart. So far so good. Haven't seen them on the news for a while.

It sits inside, dish down, in the lower leg of the fork and the oil lock sits inside of it. Only found on some models. A few pics thanks to Dingy and his research. Gary could tell you more about it when he pops in I'm sure.

Yep, your good to go.

See, I knew it. Just toss it away like, like ... .ah damn, like a used motorcycle. Make sure it gets a good home and tell the new owner about us so we can still visit the old girl. But understandable. I'll cross you off the list. Now go get some shiny stuff for the new ride.

That's the plan. All three and a 10ga tail for the main fuse on the short positive cable.

who's bragging here? My good intentions are going with Bongo. Sometimes the sidetrack is more fun to take. yep.