Triumphrat

mabugner · 06-29-2006

So I am ready to leave for work, go to start the T-bird, fires once, and then just cranks. Turned fuel to reserve, full choke, still not starting; no choke, a couple of twists to the throttle, no start, not even a pop.

At this point 15 minutes past my time to leave to get to work on time, throw the gear in the house push the bike into the garage, and hook up the Battery Tender.

Things I do know:
New Battery - installed 6/3/06
1/3 to 1/4 tank of fuel. Turn to reserve thinking some cr***** clogged the screen.
approx 25,000 miles on bike, 12,000 on sparkplugs, do have a fresh set that I will swap in tonight.

Any thoughts are welcome?

[ This message was edited by: mabugner on 2006-06-29 09:58 ]

Rincewind · 06-29-2006

Kickstand was up, clutch was pulled in?

Could be the kickstand sensor...

mabugner · 06-29-2006

Quote:

On 2006-06-29 10:17, Rincewind wrote:
Kickstand was up, clutch was pulled in?

Could be the kickstand sensor...

Clutch in: yes,
Kickstand up: no, - will try that, could be the switches. In my rush this morning didn't even think of that. I did kick it into gear and back to neutral, but did not bring the kickstand up.

Thanks for the idea.

[ This message was edited by: mabugner on 2006-06-29 11:08 ]

Avatar · 06-29-2006

Number thee's HT lead is easy to pull with the tank on. I suggest pulling it, fitting a spare plug, grounding the plug to the chassis, and turning it over. See if you have spark.

cafetbird · 06-29-2006

Doesn't sound like a big deal - mine will do this every once in a while when it has been sitting and not on the trickle charger. Sometimes they just need a fully charged battery aftyer sitting a few days. Also, check the fluid level in the battery regularly in summer months. They tend to boil off.

Keep it on the battery tender when sitting. I'll bet it will start when you go and hit it again...

mabugner · 06-30-2006

We're riding again.

I got home last night, first thing first lets see if it will start. Climb on, kickstand up, crankover, no start. Kick it into 1st gear, back to neutral, pull in clutch, and fires right off. Run it for a little bit, shut off, kickstand down, off the seat, and sure enough I am able to restart.

Now this morning, it starts right up with the kickstand down, clutch pulled in, let it warm up a moment while I put gear on, climb on, kick up the stand, shift into first, and dies. Restart without a problem.

So it looks like I have a few switches that need to cleaned.

Thanks for the replies, gave me something to ponder while I was at work yesterday.

Tre900 · 06-30-2006

I found that a nice bit of WD40 after moving that ruber cover for the kickstand switch made all the difference in the world for me.

Glad is was something that quick and easy.

Mojoinco · 06-30-2006

I fought this 'feature' on my old Yamaha Virago in the mid 80's. then I got tired of the silly switch, cut the lead off of it, soldered the two wires together and heat shrunk them. Never a problem again. One could probably go even further and remove the relay (or jumper the leads for it) if they reseached the wiring diagram. This is the same kind of thinking that brought us vacuum petcocks: demon of the leak.

You wont die because this switch isn't there. Not that many bikes have this 'feature'.

Feature: a needless item designed to minimise knowledge of, or involvement in, the maintenance or user awareness of an item. Usually implies raising the operator ignorance level or lowering the long term reliability or resale value of a vehicle (see dealer enrichment & obsolescent design or long term parts availablility).

jimmyj900 · 06-30-2006

Quote:

Feature: a needless item designed to minimise knowledge of...

A place I used to work, a 'feature' was a 'problem' that engineering didn't have time to fix before the scheduled product introduction. :-D

mabugner · 07-17-2006

More to this Tale.
Go away for the Moto Guzzi National rally in Elkader Iowa. Beautiful ride to Elkader on Thursday, nice short ride around town on Friday, 90 miles on Saturday along the Mississippi River on the Iowa side. Go to Start Sunday morning after packing up camp and low and behold it doesn't start. Go through all of the steps I went through before, stand up, clutch in, clutch out, pulled the plug wire and was not able to detect a spark. At this point decided to track someone down with a trailer that was going my direction, hopefully should have the bike in my garage tonight so that I can see what is wrong.