Oh **** boys. Zilla's gone ORANGE

[yamafitter]

Really sorry to hear that Patch got busted up. That is never fun. Having an inside track to a good orthopedic surgeon is always a good thing and I hope the recovery goes well.

 

[rushes]

Rushes, is that you? Holeeeeee foooook. That was an ugly spill.

No, not me. Stolen off the interweb.

When I see someone with a camera I slow down.

Cameras are the cause of a lot of accidents...

 

[scubatech]

Rushes, is that you? Holeeeeee foooook. That was an ugly spill. So, Patch just called me. He's home from surgery and feels ok. Let's see how he feels when the Fentanol wears off. Doc said he had a hard time getting stuff realigned correctly, but he's back together now.
You guys should see the bruise covering my right elbow and upper fore arm. What's stupid is that is from a slow speed fall where I don't even know why I went over. I just went over on the downhill side and remember landing right on my elbow. If I hadn't of been geared up, I would of shattered it.

I'm gonna enjoy riding the soft sand hills here for a while. At least coming off on those doesn't hurt much. With more seat time, I'll spend less time on the ground. However, along with injuries, I ran into a cluster **** yesterday.

During the trip Patch and I shared a room and Eric and Randy shared a room. My share of the entire stay was $117.92. Nice. We checked out Sunday morning and the fat cow working there had to pry herself away from the free breakfast trough long enough to run our cards. We got our receipts and left. Mine said, $117.92.

Yesterday I went to use my card and it was declined. WTF? A call to my bank showed Super 8 Moab charged $117.92 and $922.09 on my card, so the money was being held. No big deal. To get my $922 back quick, all I needed was to get the hotel to send a fax that the charge was a mistake. Here's where it went sideways.

I called and got Ronnie who is the General Manager. As soon as I started my story, she interrupted me saying the clerk made a mistake and refunded my card immediately. Perfect. "How long until my money shows up?" She tells me three to four business days. We had a conversation about how her life would be affected if I took $1,000 from her account for 4 days. The stupid ***** tried to act like it was my fault. I was getting pissed. So I asked her to just send a fax to my bank explaining the mistake and release my money so it would clear immediately. She refused. She finally said she'd send it and hung up on me.

I called Wyndham corporate which is Super 8's parent company and made a complaint. They forwarded that to the General Manager, idiots. After that, I called my bank and still no fax. So I called Ronnie back and she told me the fax she sent failed. She's a ******* liar. This is when I told her she basically stole $922 from me and she should be bending over backwards to fix the problem her clerk caused. IF the fax failed, she should have called me and told me so we could confirm the number and move it along. Instead, she just didn't give a ****. So she finally resent the fax and it worked. All fixed, except while my account was stopped, we had an automatic withdrawal over-draw us and add a $35 overdraft charge to my account. See, we have plenty of money, but only keep what we need in the account to prevent someone from stealing all our cash. That extra $922 being taken out and us not knowing put us behind the curve.

So I called the bank and asked them to remove the charge since it wasn't my fault. They said it wasn't their fault either and Super 8 needed to reimburse me. That was a ******** answer, but technically correct. So, I called Ronnie again. She flat out refused to refund my $35 saying that wasn't her fault. I tried to be nice, and finally the ******* came out. I ended up hanging up on her. I called my bank and pitched a fit, so they finally relented and put my $35 back.

Then I called Wyndham corporate again. They were very nice and are supposed to call me back, but I'll NEVER stay at that hotel again. **** her. Corporate is supposed to get back to me, but let's see what happens.

I got a review request from Super 8 today. Let's see where that goes. Holy ****, ridiculous. All she had to do was be helpful, and I wouldn't have had much to say; mistakes happen. For Ronnie to act like I was bugging her was nuts. I seriously thought about driving back to Moab and choking the living **** out of her.

Next time I'll pay a little more for a better hotel. First time I've ever had an issue like that.

Zilla,

There is a nice family owned Motel middle of town on 191 called the Bowen Motel. This place is very clean and nice, not 5 star and no problems. Lately we have been renting Townhomes if you have a fair-sized group, it's cheaper and they have 2 car garages to put things in. I'm glad to see Patch is all fixed up.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Ok...I need some technical help, and didn't want to post up in the FJR sections.

We went on a ride yesterday after the bike had sat for about a month and a half. I've just been too busy to ride. On Friday afternoon, I went to start it and it fired immediately. It has a Shorai battery and no draw when it's not running, so really, no surprise.

I washed it off, because it had some mud stuck to it, and it needed it. I didn't start it after, so would have a chance to dry. Yesterday morning, it started on the first button push. We took off on the trail and hit some pretty knarly stuff. When we got to a smooth spot, we stopped and turned off the bikes. We had already done that 5-10 times by then. It worked like normal every time.

So, I went to start the bike to take off, and NOTHING! It was like I turned the key off. I cycled the key and the kill switch. Actually, the kill switch was how I turned it off, which is what I do every time, unless I stall it or have eaten **** and it dies. All the key was on and the kill switch was correct. With the kill switch to off, the bike will turn over bit won't start.

So, we started simple. I cycled the key a few times and checked the connections I could see. We checked the battery terminals to be sure nothing was loose. 8 checked the two fuses under the seat and both were good. WTF??

After a few minutes, we decided to try to kick it. Not into a ditch, but by using the kick starter. It fired...yay! I rode the rest of the day, using the kick starter. I continue to try all day, but no electric start at all. Kick started easily and ran like always.

When we got back, I took the start button apart to see if it had broken or corroded. It looked perfect. I jumped the switch to be sure, but it wasn't the switch. Then proceeded to lose the spring down in the bike, so now, my switch is FUBAR until I get a new spring. Regardless of that, it wasn't the ignition switch.

One guy suggested the battery, but I don't think it would be working fine one minute and completely dead the next. It's not the ignition switch, because the bike kick starts. Could it be the battery?

I'm looking at the wiring diagram, but it's printed very small and hard to see. I think I've ruled some stuff out, like the Voltage regulator/rectifier and the ignition coil, just because it runs when it's bump started or kick started.

So, Starter relay or some loose random wire? Am I missing something? Can I check the relay function without just plugging in a new one?

I hate electrical stuff....

 

[mcatrophy]

Much as you hate electricity, a meter is your best friend in these circumstances. Then, follow the voltages.

 

[Bounce]

I wonder if the time between power downs was long enough for the charging system to bring back the battery from the drains placed on it from the last (few) starts. It can take a while of riding to recover from a start. Even more to top off the battery.

As always don't assume the worst until after the easy stuff has been checked. Make sure the battery is topped off with a good trickle charger (over night or more maybe) and then check V at the battery after it's off the charger for an hour or two. Also check to see if there's a V drop below the lower FJR threshold (10.5v?) when you turn on the ignition. You can also take it some place with a load tester and have them do the same things (many auto parts stores will do it for free). These checks will show resting charge and charger under load and can reveal problems that don't shake out otherwise.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Ok...Found a better wiring diagram on my phone. I knew that PDF service manual would come in handy for something. The starter relay is right next to the battery and connected to the fuses I checked.

I cannibalized a spring from something else and fixed my starter switch. Then I pulled the covers off the relay connectors and jumped it. Bike fired immediately. So, off to see if I can find a relay that matches. I kinda of doubt it because it looks pretty unique with slots for the two 10A fuses. If not, I'll order one. It'll take 10 minutes to throw it in and put the panel back on.

Thanks for the responses. I like dirt bikes for being simple, and I'm glad it's not a loose connection somewhere. Lol.

 

[Fontanaman]

Hey Zilla nice to see you got the problem diagnosed and fixed. You are better at fixing stuff than you and some on this forum think!

 

[HotRodZilla]

So, my new $58 relay got here today. Ran my *** into the garage and spent the 10 minutes installing it. Hit the start button and.......NOTHING! WTF??!! It was starting to rain, so I closed my garage door and broke out my LED headlamp to start looking at stuff. I hadn't moved my wife's car out of the garage because it was supposed to be simple, so it was dim where the bike is parked.

I knew I put in a new relay but used the old fuses, so I popped them out and took a look. These are the fuses Patch pointed me to the day it wouldn't start, but both looked good, and the guy I had just met swore they were good. He also swore the battery was dead, so I should have known.

Looking at the 10amp fuses, they looked fine. Then I turned on my headlamp, and right there at the bottom of the little "Z" was a VERY fine break. I'd bet it was 10 thousanths wide, and I couldn't see it without the direct light and the back-light. I put in two new fuses and the bike fired. YAY, but, ****!!

I knew I should have followed my instinct. The fuse was not "blown," it was broken. Looking at it with a loupe just reconfirmed what I already knew.

It wasn't a total loss, I got the relay and three new oil filters, so I have stuff I need. Haha...Too bad I spent $60 when I didn't have to, but lesson learned. I've spent more at the bar after dinner and now I have an extra relay that I'll probably never need, so screw it I guess. Haha...

 

[dcarver]

Having spare parts is coolio, 'Zilla. Especially when the IBR rolls around. I'm gonna make a list of all my spare gen2/3 spares and list them here, somewhere, just in case one of the buttskies needs a partsski.

 

[Bugnatr]

Only 60 bucks-you got off cheap for a KTM. Nice find on the broken fuse, some of that **** can drive you up a wall.

 

[user 6393]

Nice! Congrats AJ!