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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: 80CX100 on October 19, 2017, 09:26:44 PM
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When I fully digest my major serving of humble pie, I will post a follow up on the cause and solution to the charging problems I had been having with my Lemans CX100, that I recently posted about. Suffice to say, that with the information and help from members here,,, in particular KiwiRoy (pm'd me great information and diagnostic steps to take) I solved my charging issues by simply reconnecting the black sensing wire to the R/R. The bike and charging system are running great.
The cause of that debacle is quite embarrassing,,, I'll post a full explanation, when I hopefully have summoned up some of RK's literary prowess, to ensure that you end up laughing with me,, rather than at me,,,, that might take a while, lol,,, my excuse is that I'm busy riding and taking care of my job list,, yeah right!
I make this post with a sense of urgency, in the hopes that I might save someone out there, from making a similar stupid mistake, that I made today. I used up one of my cat's lives, and the guardian angel on my shoulder, is a little battered and bruised, but still in one piece.
The picture of my bike above, was taken today at the start of Snye Rd (White Lake area), "Geoff from Almonte", had previously told me about this road. I think Geoff had described it as 100 curves in 10 kms? his description didn't do it justice,,, no wonder he's finding the limits of the frame and suspension on his CalVin,lol. Snye Rd was like a roller coaster ride,,, I quickly learned that 4th gear was out of the question,,, I basically left the bike in 3rd, throttling out of the corners and up the hills and straights, and lugging the engine down, on the really tight curves.
The Lemans was in her element,,, the new suspension was tight and composed,,, the high bars were comfortable,,, engine braking set up the turns nicely,,, and if need be,,, I felt very confident in the linked brakes composure in slowing me down, approaching or going through some turns,,, that confidence would later come back to haunt me.
When I finished my ride in the White Lake area,,, I made my way home through Waba towards Pakenham. I've been accessing my riding area using other routes to the north and the south,,, so I hadn't taken this exact route yet this year,,, but I remembered there was a particularly dangerous, hard right hand corner, just on the NW edge of Pakenham. I have spoken personally to people, have have been seriously injured, or have lost a loved one on this corner,,, I remember getting into trouble myself on this corner in previous years,,, but poor memory of fine details, complacency and over confidence almost became my undoing.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have spent a lot of time at 80 mph on the Lemans and today was no exception,,, I had a full head of steam coming south up the straight part of Waba Rd, downshifted to 4th and ripped through a nice left hand sweeper 130 degrees? and then approaching the dangerous right hand curve. The enclosed satellite link shows that it is a 90 degree sharp curve,,, but what it doesn't show,,, is that this piece of road is slightly downhill & off camber,,, it's very hard to see the very poor pavement condition until you're in it,,, which I'm sure is part of what causes riders trouble here.
https://www.google.ca/maps/dir//45.3658662,-76.3434794/@45.361964,-76.3596794,3082m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e0?hl=en
When I set up the right turn, I was going way too fast,,, I think I was down to 3rd gear as I tucked into the inside at the apex of the curve,,, but the pot holes, broken pavement, road debris, in my lane,,, all prevented me from scrubbing much speed off,,, pot holes, debris, speed and inertia all combined to force me out and wide over the center line, into the oncoming lane,,, I was very lucky to hold her onto the roadway and pavement ,,, let alone my own lane on the right side of the road.
Thank god it was a weekday with few drivers out and there was no oncoming traffic. Other than new shorts,,, no damage.
In hindsight, I think part of the problem was, that over the last few rides, I've been conciously keeping hard to the right on curves,,, due to many oncoming vehicle straddling the center line,,, you can't do that here,,, very poor road conditions on the inside of the turn don't allow it,,,
In a nutshell, way too much speed for the road conditions, and a very poor set up for the turn,,,
I like it when I can screw up royally and come out of it unscathed and in one piece,,, but I'm not stupid,,, I will learn from this lesson,,, it's one worth sharing.
I will be more mindfull of riding the road I "can" see,,, not what I "hope" is there,,, when I get around the corner.
Ride safe and take care
Kelly
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Slow in , fast out , eyes open , brain engaged .
Oh , we will promise not to laugh at your charging issue too much .....maybe :evil:
Dusty
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If you're not familiar(ridden lately) with the road don't assume it's in good condition. :wink: Glad to hear you didn't get spanked.
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Ummm...WOW. That's a wake up call!
Glad your OK!
Tom
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Thanks - that's my favorite kind of mistakes to learn from - Other peoples !
As for the charging system, you'll have to work to catch up to me for batteries killed through my own mistakes.
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Lots of riders are smart enough that they don't try to out-ride their bikes, their tires, and their brakes.
A smaller number are smart and experienced enough that they also don't try to out-ride their vision. and reaction time.
Let's all try to be part of that second group. :wink:
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Glad you are ok! Thanks for sharing your story.
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Thanks for recounting your close call! This is a cautionary tale for all of us. Too much speed on an unfamiliar road is a potentially toxic recipe...
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I�m sure we can all tell a similar story if we admitted to it. It�s always great when we come out the other end unscathed and learn from it. I know I am.
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Great story and lesson - thanks! Too easy to let the adrenaline rule...
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Well done coming out of that one with a happy ending!
I went through a charging issue this last week that drove me crazy. The charge light would come on at 2K and get brighter the faster the engine ran. But the batter was charging normally. Finally discovered the source was the connections to the voltage regulator - the wires hidden in the plug were all corroded. It's important to remember the wires and connectors are an integral part of the alternator.