[Roeland]

I had exactly the same when my bike had only 3000 km on the clock. Alternator fried - copper wiring entered the engine - engine seized and cylinder head cracked. I was all covered under guarantee.
Today I fitted organic brake pads and a S/S breaded hose. I could not believe the improvement in braking ability off the bike - this is a must upgrade.

[High On Octane]

Scottie - how long will your bike run without an alternator to recharge the battery?

About 45 minutes with the headlight or about 2-3 hours with the headlight unplugged and using just the taillight.  Then I throw it back on the trickle charger after each ride.  It's inconvenient but better than staring at the bike sitting there. 

Scottie

[Land O Aches]

Got the rims and spokes back from Seattle Powdercoating. Got to take them to Wheelmasters in Auburn for reassembly this week. Pictures when done...

Lando

[Ducati Scotty]

Today I fitted organic brake pads and a S/S breaded hose. I could not believe the improvement in braking ability off the bike - this is a must upgrade.

Good to know, those are on my winter to-do list.

I had to get a flat fixed.  Weird.  I had the tires and tubes done some time ago.  Coming home the back end felt a little soft.  Checked the tire when I got home, way too hot and 0 pressure.  I dropped it at the shop.  The odd part was the hole was on the top of the tube next to the rim band.  The tech sanded the rim in that area to be safe, though there was no obvious problem, and gave me a new tube. 

Scott

[barenekd]

The odd part was the hole was on the top of the tube next to the rim band.

Sounds like it got pinched by a tire iron!
Bare

[Ducati Scotty]

Didn't look like it and it's been on there for months doing just fine.

Scott

[Dazzler]

Went on a motorcycling weekend with a couple of colleagues and a friend of theirs who happened to be 86 years old and mounted aboard a 1976 BMW tourer.  He told me the designation but I don't remember it exactly.  I know it was 1000cc and he had Toyota rings in it which cost him about one quarter of the price of original BMW rings!  My colleagues were aboard a Yamaha FJR 1300 and a Suzuki SV1000 respectively.  Then there was me on my dear old C5 Enfield panting along in their wake.  We did over 700km over the weekend covering gloriously empty roads winding their way through the high country of the border regions of south east Australia.  I discovered I could cruise pretty happily at around 70mph provided I lay down over the tank on the long inclines.  On the flats I had little problem with 75mph (lying down over the tank again) without being flat chat but all the same only held it there for a minute or two at a time.  I have to say the bike felt very secure at that speed and  vibrations seemed to be very minimal.  No matter what the absolute speed was, when I lay down on the bike it felt like I was doing a million miles an hour and it was difficult wiping a maniacal grin off my face!  My colleagues were very considerate and kept their cruising to pretty much match my pace.  There were a few occasions however when we would crest a rise and there stretching before us was a couple of miles of open road dipping down into a valley and rising up the other side with free vistas of open tundra to either side.  The temptation was too much and they disappeared like arrows released from a longbow hitting 180km/h before reigning it in.  Good times all round.

[gremlin]

Dude .... you really need one of the Harbor Freight bike service tables in there.

The Man Cave


Scottie

[rep_movsd]

Finally got round to installing the Thunderbird 500 fork assembly on my fireball. The RE service people won't sell me all the odds and ends needed, so I had to improvise...
The handlebar mounts are from a Suzuki Shaolin and the ring nut which locks the steering head was unavailable, so I cut an older nut to 1/4" and used that. The handlebar locking mechanism of the new TB500 ignition switch needs a small tab with a hole on the steering tube into which a pin slots. I made one out of an old brake shoe, since it has 2 holes and a round Y shaped end. Drilled and bolted it onto the steering tube of the frame. Works fine.

The headlamp holders are made from old shock springs and wrought iron rod, over which I ran some nylon electrical stretch braiding. It's a bit heavy (2 KG a piece) , but it looks awesome.





 

[rep_movsd]

Designing a completely custom wiring harness - The design goals are

1) DC lighting
2) No high current live wires going up the frame when ignition is off
3) Isolated fused circuits for lights, horn and ignition
4) Switch gear carries only microamperes of current
5) 30 Hz flashing tail lamp (makes it more visible)
6) All components within the glove box
7) No messy tangled and failure prone connections inside the headlamp area

Everything is driven by P-Channel TrenchFETs and low current signals from switchgear are carried by LAN cable with RJ45 connectors.

Indicators are LED based, as is the Tail lamp bulb.
I'll have two LAN cables, and three 15 AMP cables going up along the frame, and one two core cable for the indicators. I intend to modify my fuel float so that instead of driving a meter, it merely drives a warning LED when the fuel level goes below a certain limit - a sort of "reserve before reserve" system.

 

[GreenMachine]

Great job on your springer front end....Do you think that the RJ 45 connections will hold up with the thumping and road conditions where you're at....I just did a cursory overview of your schematic and that's what caught my attention....Is the LAN cable solid or stranded (comes in either)..I  like the concept and the schematic looks straight forward. Can't wait to see your results .GM

[gremlin]

Designing a completely custom wiring harness -

Q9 is not long for this world.
use multiple U1with DC outputs in parallel.
Is C1 necessary ?

[rep_movsd]

Great job on your springer front end....Do you think that the RJ 45 connections will hold up with the thumping and road conditions where you're at....I just did a cursory overview of your schematic and that's what caught my attention....Is the LAN cable solid or stranded (comes in either)..I  like the concept and the schematic looks straight forward. Can't wait to see your results .GM

RJ 45 connect pretty solidly, and the connector quality is good. LAN has single strand and twisted pairs as well as a reinforcing nylon core that lets the wires slide within the covering, so I believe it's pretty much the best thing for controls.

I have replaced my wiring harness thrice since 2008, so this time I want to blackbox it for good... Usually something would stop working, or something would burn out. 
The last fiasco was my ignition switch catching fire on the road. I had to stop and chop in a jiffy... For some strange reason the engine was happily running even then

[rep_movsd]

Q9 is not long for this world.
use multiple U1with DC outputs in parallel.
Is C1 necessary ?

There will be a reverse kickback protection diode added to Q9 and probably to Q1 thru Q8 as well - a diode is only a few cents and it cant hurt.

There is also an error in the diagram, I dont have any room left in the connector for the front brake switch, I probably have to have just one idiot light for the indicators in the front panel.

Do I need 2 rec/regs if I paralell the 4 wire alternator to a 2 wire output?

C1 helps me start the bike on a dead battery - This has happened thrice to me and once out of those three times I had C1 so I got home safe and sound. Off course, I switch out the battery and keep only the cap until the engine catches and then switch back the battery in.

It's strictly not necessary, but a Fireball has a lot of compression and a marginal battery sometimes will fail to fire it after a couple of days parked. A lot of the batteries sold in India come with marginality built in. It's not uncommon for a brand new battery to stop holding much charge after a couple of months use.

Ideally I would get a Shorai Lithium, but maybe I just rig one up using old laptop battery cells which is a cheaper deal!

[DanKearney]

Designing a completely custom wiring harness - The design goals are

1) DC lighting
2) No high current live wires going up the frame when ignition is off
3) Isolated fused circuits for lights, horn and ignition
4) Switch gear carries only microamperes of current
5) 30 Hz flashing tail lamp (makes it more visible)
6) All components within the glove box
7) No messy tangled and failure prone connections inside the headlamp area

Everything is driven by P-Channel TrenchFETs and low current signals from switchgear are carried by LAN cable with RJ45 connectors.

Indicators are LED based, as is the Tail lamp bulb.
I'll have two LAN cables, and three 15 AMP cables going up along the frame, and one two core cable for the indicators. I intend to modify my fuel float so that instead of driving a meter, it merely drives a warning LED when the fuel level goes below a certain limit - a sort of "reserve before reserve" system.

If you're going to use LAN Cat5/6 cable, suggest you select braided, not solid core.  Vibrations might cause cracking at bends with solid core.


Cheers,


Dan K.