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Mat Oxley 1986 IOM TT


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Topics - RDryan

#1
Turning Wrenches / blown main fuse
May 19, 2023, 06:21:06 PM
Hi well it's been awhile but I finally have a problem. Anything electrical is a head scratch for me.  :umm: So last August I was out hammering away on my 250, stock but with the Vape ignition and all the sudden she died. No lights,spark just died booting down the road in maybe 4th or 5th gear. So that never happened before and I almost forgot about that blue wire to the relay. Disconnected it and back in business, bike was running and I made it back home although with no lights. Tore into the matter of the bike dying and I simply couldn't find a shorted wire just looking at the wire harness from the headlight bucket back to the battery.

Although before all this happened I did lose function of my turn signals but I think that maybe a bad flasher relay?...can't imagine that it's related to the bike running.Well I finally discovered the main fuse blown and also that the mounting bolts for my coil pack were loose. So I tightened up those mounting bolts and chalked it up to that having something to do with the main fuse blowing.

Fast forward to the other day and after installing a new clutch cable and clutch lever as well as a quick disconnect/fuel lines I took the bike for a ride. The bike started fine and all lights working except the turn signals that I forgot about fixing. You know just a cold start for a couple minutes with some moderate revving of the engine no more than 2k to 3k on the tach. Ok she's warmed up and take off booting down the road ripping thru the gears :vroom:...Well about twenty seconds into it more or less she just dies again :boom: just like last August when it happened then. Same deal blown main fuse and simply disconnect the blue wire and I was able to ride away in style minus the lights.

Remember I am  admittedly an electrical dummy :'( :shocked: :sad: But I did do a search on this forum and read the thread that Blue400 started regarding his issue with a blown main fuse. Sounded similar to mine with exception that I am blowing the fuse while ripping thru the gears. He stated that his was blowing with the bike not running. It was mentioned that a possible culprit could be a very old battery. My battery is from 2018, when I bought it new for my Honda Ruckus, a Sealed AGM type. So I guess you could say it's old. Now the Vape ignition I bought a couple years later and I believe it has the newer regulator/rectifier with built in capacitor. Not sure like I say if I may have over extended my time using this old battery but will say that it seems to respond well to holding a charge from my battery tender. Also when I connected the postive/negative terminal leads to the battery I got a quick momentary spark which it would always do before this blown main fuse issue.

So any thoughts on this?...do I need to look more carefully for a shorted wire somewhere in the harness? Would the turn signals not working be related to this?...I think that sounds silly but I will say ever since they had stopped working I think I noticed that there is no clicking from I believe was the original flasher relay. Anyways the fuse is wired between the battery and the reg./rec. and....I just don't know where to go from here.  :whistle: :umm:

At least the bike still runs if I disconnect the blue wire from the relay.
#2
General Chatter / banshee trike
December 30, 2022, 05:53:48 PM
Pretty cool custom fab.

https://youtu.be/TnrGqe7WacU
#3
Whilst doing a "2 stroke" keyworded search on Ebay I came across this.  with an opening bid set at $1500 or more of course reserve is not met I left wondering what it's worth? Check it out, wicked cool custom build
https://www.ebay.com/itm/175496785484



EDIT: shortened link
#4

I know, at least I figure, some of you are into hotrods. I have never seen one of these before, quite unique!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1968-chevrolet-corvette-78/
#5
Well here's another Kaplan bike for sale on Ebay. You gotta check out the "buy it now" price. An all time I think for one ?:huh: Well the bike does look nice :whistle:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363775549195?hash=item54b2b65f0b:g:WvwAAOSwamBiOdId
#6
Hey guys well what can I say? Somebody's gotta keep you all posted on the Kaplan Kawi triples. :haw: You gotta check out the buy it now option, not cheap. :whistle:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/393681946846?hash=item5ba945c8de:g:B-AAAOSweGdhg~0Q
#7
Hi everyone and thought this maybe of interest to you as well as me. I hope I cut and pasted this link correctly as it's in my local to me craigslist city which is about 35 miles south of where I live. The H2 mostly but also I would say H1 is my sorta dream/bucket list, "Eleanor" bike amongst bikes. So just got off the phone with the owner of this bike and inquired about it. She stated that she acquired it thru an estate sale. With a number of other Kawi triples, there was a few other H2's along with an S3 and oddly enough they all got sold to a major collector in Japan. I asked why they didn't buy this one and she stated that they just didn't and just as well as she wanted to hold onto it and share the wealth so to speak by seeing if other collectors for it maybe of interest. I don't consider myself much of a collector in that regard although I do already own three motorcycles one being my RD250 and a honda ruckus. I will say that you never see these on Boston Craigslist. So she stated that the crank seals checked out ok ditto for the compression check and the bike does run good with video to prove it although I have not seen the video. I guess she owns a mostly British bike resto shop in the Boston area and Japanese bikes are of less interest to her. I myself am mostly interested in it as a roadworthy registered rider and would more than likely If I were to own it would have the bike repainted in original blue color with decals to match. The bike is missing the white VIN sticker but she claims it's numbers matching. There is no title with the bike but she did go on to say the usual spiel about obtaining one thru the state of Vermont, (this is a stickler as it's a nuisance to title bikes in Ma. and not exactly free and time consuming anyways not that I am an expert on the Vermont title thing). She said thru her contacts of folks that collect these bikes that she could get almost anything for the bike such as the original airbox which I noted was missing. I guess last but not least upon asking me if I would like to make an appt. to see the bike which I politely declined she stated that she already had an offer of $10,500 for it over the phone of course. I thought that maybe a reasonable offer myself but then I still think that the bike would just be a money pit to get a title, repaint it and whatever it may possibly need to be roadworthy. These bikes get so wicked expensive (I know they're money pits,  :rolleyes: LOL) so fast that to start with over 10.5k into it seems like one should just go and get someone else's restored bike. I guess that's my feeling about it. What do you guys think, like I said it took a long time looking to see one local to me.  :whistle:

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/mcy/d/roxbury-1972-kawasaki-h2-750-mach-iv/7400785047.html
#8
General Chatter / I want a sport tourer/adventure bike
October 30, 2019, 04:58:17 PM
Well actually I want one of everything. :haw:...but with limited room and finances to maintain a number of bikes I gotta pick and choose. Currently the stable consist of a 2007 Honda Ruckus I have owned since new and has tremendous sentimental value. A 2006 GSXR1000 with pretty much every bolt on mod they make, I bought it used that way and I really love the bike but it's brutally uncomfortable if you get stuck in any kinda slow riding tempo/traffic. Then there is my 1975 RD250 which was a fun accident of sorts that I bought it at my local bike shop. I consider the RD a blessing because prior to that I was and still do pine for either an H1 or H2, which are just thru the roof expensive.

So the thing is I really don't wanna let of the power of the gixxer but I desperately need something more comfy and reliable to enjoy. I keep looking at the KTM 1290 adventure R or the BMW s100xr. I guess I like all the new gizmos they possess, hard bags, and nearly the same power output albeit heavier than my gixxer. Anybody own these kinda bikes?...what do you all think? I also like the Honda Africa, it's not quite as powerful but it looks sharp and sporty. I really don't plan on off roading but all these bikes seem so dynamic in a word as they can do quite a bit on and off road and swallow the miles in a sporty way. Also I'm only looking at bikes between the years of 2015-2018. Just curious what you allmay think,sharing my bike lust.

I will say there is a 2017 Honda Africa with roughly 1500 miles on it local to me for 9k, seems like a good deal. It doesn't have panniers but it does have a nice crash bar setup. It's the manual model and I guess you can even put a Rekluse clutch on it.   
#9
General Chatter / A street legal TZ750 flat tracker
June 25, 2019, 07:05:37 PM
Hey I just finished reading and admiring the eye candy of this Bike EXIF online article about this fine beast. What a jaw dropping ride and here's the link.

http://www.bikeexif.com/yamaha-tz750-flat-track-racing-motorcycle
#10
Hi, has anyone seen the Ebay auction on this bike? Well I certainly have and as of now I am the highest bidder :devil: ...but the reserver still hasn't been. However I just got an email from EBay saying the seller lowered the reserve further and again the reserve still hasn't been met? Seller claims it's all original with low miles and it looks to live up to that claim. It's a really clean bike in really nice shape. There's approximately two days left in the auction. What do you guys think it's worth? Any further ideas on this bike? I really don't have room for another bike so not sure I wan't to entertain a higher offer than the 4,544 ferns I'm willing to part with but if the seller was willing to sell at that price (I suspect not) then I believe this bike would be a steal. It looks to be investment quality but of course I would have to enjoy it :devil:

Please check it out and let me no what you think, cheers!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/283517843441?ViewItem=&item=283517843441&category=6710
#11
Hi all, just wondering if any of you have seen this listing? Thoughts on it? Is it worth it? Will it handle amazing with modern suspension and brakes?
ps: 
//www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Kawasaki-Other/223521814726?hash=item340af038c6:g:5qAAAOSwq3Rc32Hr

#12
 

Seems like the generator part of the install is straight forward connecting to the new coils but things get a bit confusing when connecting the new regulator/rectifier to the old wiring as well as how to maintain the neutral lamp function as the new generator is missing a wire to connect to that plastic shift cover on the shift drum.

Getting back to the regulator/rectifier it seems like I should crimp on some flat male connectors to the black and red wires of the old harness and simply connect those to the new regulator? Then simply leave the three white wires as well as the red wire with white stripe not connected? All these wires come from the old rectifier. However if I am correct in understanding all of this what do I do with the old regulator? By rights it can be removed?...and if so there is a red with white stripe wire, green wire, black wire, and brown wire all connecting to corresponding wire colors on the old wiring harness.

I did do a search on this forum but really haven't seen anything in regards to this kinda install. This post maybe redundant as I will be in contact with both HVC cycles as well as Economy Cycles but if anyone would like comment on the install with some experience it would be much appreciated.

As an aside I guess it would help for me to have a better understanding of how the wiring and components all play together but fwiw I taught myself how to set up the points and bought this setup after reading great things about it and really just suspect the points/timing  not wanting to stay where I keep it set no matter how much I tighten the screws. So if there's a tip for that like loctite well it's too late as I already spent about 700 bucks on the Vape kit and trimmings so I just gotta make this set up work and in the long run I think I will have a more reliable bike for it.