Hey all, now that the board is up again, I can get my bandit fix..
YAAAAAAAAAAAAY
I've had the bike for a week or so now, and so, on Friday (thats the weekend here) took it for a spin go to the foothills of the mountains about 80km away. Weather was amazing, light traffic and totally amazing.
So, I'm riding about 35 km out, when my bike starts acting funny. The speed starts going down as if the bike is struggling to keep up. My calves start to feel slightly warm, but I chalk that up to general heat, and the speedo goes from 120k to 100k, revs going down too till it holds steady at 6000rpm. This is wierd.. (my mind is telling me to stop) but I figure its because the road is going slightly up, so I shift one down into 5th and give it some more gas. The revs go up to 8000 but the speedo is still stuck at 100k.
I figure somethings wrong with the throttle so I let go and give it gas again, no dice. So I stop by the side of the road for a few minutes. Start her up and she's going well again.
Another 20km down the road, she's starting to act funny again, and suddenly the bike cuts off. So, I pull over, check the gas, doesnt seem to be much, so I hide the bike and hitch a lift to the nearest gas station. Back in 30min with a bottle of gas, and fill her up. She starts ok, until she gets about 1km down the road where she stops dead..
I try to start her, but three tries later, the battery is dead. So I'm stuck in between two towns, on LEVEL road, in the middle of nowhere. Call up a friend, who suggests I try to push start her. Have you tried doing that on LEVEL road..? 45 min later, I give up, hide the bike again and hike it to the nearest town, find a mechanic and wait till he finishes lunch. Finally two hours later he comes with me, gets the bike onto his truck and off we go, me and him sitting in the back holding the bike (with brakes) while his son drives.
Back at the shop he tells me that, the bike overheated. Check all fluid levels (theyre full) and checks the radiator fan, doesnt seem to work. So what he does is bypass the temperature switch so that the fan always runs. He tells me that should get me back home at least so that my regular mechanic can look at it. Also he tells me the battery is the wrong type for the bike. He says its a bike battery but since these babies dont have a kick starter, they have more powerful batteries than usual.
So, I'm coming back slowly (not overspeeding) and stop for a second. Now, as soon as I turn the key, the fan starts up, since he's bypassed the temperature switch. 10 seconds later, I try to start her, and she doesnt start. Luckily I was at the top of a ramp, so brought her to the end, put her in first, and popped the clutch while I was halfway down. She started and I came home without any stops.
Questions I have are.
1) If the bike overheated, why didnt the temperature warning light come on..? (It comes on when you start the bike)
2) Even if the fan wasnt running, I think 100kmph speed should give sufficient airflow to the radiator for the engine to stay cool. Shouldnt it..?
3) I think the heat might have messed up the alternator, but I have to check that, to see if the battery is charging.. I dont think that running the fan for 10 min off the battery could have caused it to go dry. Or could it..?
4) He's told me to replace the temperature switch. It's a cylindrical thing that has a wire come out of it next to the radiator cap. This I will do.
My overall question to anyone who may be able to look at this is.. Is there much more serious problem with the bike..? It runs like butter usually, and buzzes like the most amazing bee I've heard otherwise.
Sam
Topic: Need some answers. any help appreciated. (Read 10385 times)