xorbe
May 28th, 2014, 11:54 AM
So Sunday my 63yo Dad pops in with his '83 Honda cruiser, and says "Hey let's ride 30 minutes that-a-way and have lunch!" I hop on my 250, and the next thing I know, we're near the base of Half Dome in Yosemite, still hungry, and his antique air-cooled bike has a dead battery, stuck in Memorial Day weekend traffic, some sort of emergency blocked all lanes in the park. People walking around asking for gas cans, everyone idling for so long ...
:doh:
With no cell phone coverage, we waited about 30 minutes, hit the key, and it barely started. For some reason, at the next gas station, he turned it off with me me screaming DON'T TURN IT OFF!!! uselessly through my helmet. It would have died anyways.
So, it turns out we both have battery tender pig tails. (This was nice, since he requires tools to remove his bolted-on seat.) I wrenched my pig tail off, reversed the leads on the battery, took out the fuse on mine (his had no fuse), and plugged them together. (Yeah we had the maneuver the bikes very close together!) I got out the crescent wrench, jammed it where the fuse goes, and had him hit the started 3 seconds later. (Don't leave the pig tail wired backwards, the exposed hot can now touch the grounded frame.)
Turns out his old bike won't charge the battery unless the rpms are above a certain level. Known deficiency of that model. He had to ride with the rpms high for the next 80-freaking-5 miles else it would die! I had to jump that thing 3 times. But we made it back in time to give the dog its meds that night!! And damn, we were still hungry when we got back, lol.
:dancecool:
Some time during that trip, my crank case to air box tube blew off, and splattered a bit of oil about. Found a clamp and fixed that asap.
:doh:
With no cell phone coverage, we waited about 30 minutes, hit the key, and it barely started. For some reason, at the next gas station, he turned it off with me me screaming DON'T TURN IT OFF!!! uselessly through my helmet. It would have died anyways.
So, it turns out we both have battery tender pig tails. (This was nice, since he requires tools to remove his bolted-on seat.) I wrenched my pig tail off, reversed the leads on the battery, took out the fuse on mine (his had no fuse), and plugged them together. (Yeah we had the maneuver the bikes very close together!) I got out the crescent wrench, jammed it where the fuse goes, and had him hit the started 3 seconds later. (Don't leave the pig tail wired backwards, the exposed hot can now touch the grounded frame.)
Turns out his old bike won't charge the battery unless the rpms are above a certain level. Known deficiency of that model. He had to ride with the rpms high for the next 80-freaking-5 miles else it would die! I had to jump that thing 3 times. But we made it back in time to give the dog its meds that night!! And damn, we were still hungry when we got back, lol.
:dancecool:
Some time during that trip, my crank case to air box tube blew off, and splattered a bit of oil about. Found a clamp and fixed that asap.