One of those DUH moments!

I had to quit working on the new '04 (Around the first week in August) I bought due to the ride coming up and I decided to get the other '04's coolant leak fixed and let Brett ride it. Since then, I really haven't had much time to get back to it. Just a few minutes here and there, but nothing to spend time to really figure out issues, like it now not starting!



I couldn't even get the starter to spin, just got clicking out of the starter solenoid, and my first thought, the battery. So I got a new one, put it in and still nothing. So now I'm thing it must be either the solenoid, starter switch or the kickstand switch.

Last night I got a brilliant idea to jump the solenoid and make sure the starter wasn't stuck. Nope, the starter wasn't stuck, I had it in gear all the time!

It is still striped down, although I do have the instrument cluster zip-tied on. But I never even noticed that the Neutral light wasn't on....like I said, I haven't been able to spend any real time on it and just didn't look! :banghead:

I got it out of gear and now the starter works just fine. I'll start it up this weekend and let it run for a little bit!

That's not so bad. If it would have been me, I would have had it on the sidestand and it would have started and went through the garage door!

schlep1967 said:

That's not so bad. If it would have been me, I would have had it on the sidestand and it would have started and went through the garage door!

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I have it sitting on my operating table (HF Bike lift) sitting on the tires, not center stand, with a wheel chock bolted down to the lift and tiedown straps, strapped to eye hooks. Although it did lurch a little, enough to tell me it was in gear, it wasn't going anyplace..but it did catch me off guard when it moved! 4:

The "duh moment" is always easily trumped in my mind by the "that was an easy fix, yah!, on to the next thing" moment!

Had a friend who just bought a HD ultra, wanted to show off the exhaust sound so he started it up in gear and it crashed into some parked vehicles. Who knew they don't have a neutral interlock switch…...

schlep1967 said:

That's not so bad. If it would have been me, I would have had it on the sidestand and it would have started and went through the garage door!

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cddjake said:

Had a friend who just bought a HD ultra, wanted to show off the exhaust sound so he started it up in gear and it crashed into some parked vehicles. Who knew they don't have a neutral interlock switch…...

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Was it a new used? From the factory they have a neutral/clutch safety switch.

It was new with fuel injection. If it had been a carbed engine it probably would not have fired right up….

Karen said:

Bob, if it makes you feel any better I just tore apart a light fixture on one of my fish tanks. The light stopped coming on...replaced the timer, the power strip, the switch and the starter. I was getting ready to replace the ballast before I thought to check the bulb....

Florescent bulbs don't burn out very often, but they DO burn out!

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Sometimes we just over-engineer the simple things! LOL

T_C said:

Was it a new used? From the factory they have a neutral/clutch safety switch.

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The one I rented one time did not. The guy running the place made sure and tell me several times to be sure and start it with the clutch pulled in just to be safe.

I drove to a city to attend a class about 3 hours away. Stopped for meal before the class began and the bike wouldn't start when I got back. Tried self-push starting, even jumped it to no avail. Finally walked my ST1100 about 2 blocks to get to the class late (they are pretty heavy to push that far). While in class I had an idea that the kill switch had been inadvertently pushed(my mind often wanders). Sure enough, it started right up after I switched it back.

I turn my bike off with the key switch. More than once, I have returned to the bike and someone had messed with the bike and left the kill switch turned off, so when it doesn't start, that is usually the first thing I check. Glad it did not take out the front of your garage.

Don't feel bad. I had to suffer the "worst" embarassment. A couple years ago, I was gonna make a small garden. Just big enough for some tomatoes. So I dug out the tiller....pulled...pulled...& pulled. Checked the plug, etc...nothing. I just wouldn't go.

Wife comes up...."what's the matter...won't start? DID YA CHECK THE GAS"? You guessed it...filled it up....second pull. HUMILITATING!!!! They should not be allowed out of the house.

She still reminds me to this day....Better check the gas.

I guess I won't mention how I swapped out a battery and tore apart my wife's scooter for not starting, and was about to give up... until I reset the kill switch!
I guess I just did. :

Though that tiller story was a good one. :grin:

I came home and noticed the freezer wasn't running.... multiple outlets were off, but not all of them. Breaker wasn't tripped (reset it anyway). The longer I diagnosed, the more outlets I had torn open trying to find what I thought to be a disconnected hot wire or a toasted wire termination. In the mean time, stuff was getting warmer in the freezer and I was getting frustrated. It was then that I walked by an outlet I hadn't torn open and noticed it was a GFCI outlet... and it had tripped. One quick button push and the freezer came to life.
:

Out in the middle of nowhere in the California Central Valley on my BMW boxer. It died and I assumed I had ran the tank down and needed to switch to auxiliary. Being a bit dark by that time, I made sure the petcock was set to the German AUF, but AUF is actually ON, and I really needed to move it to RES, which I couldn't see. I pushed that ?*€?!% bike five miles on farm roads until I got to a street light, and by that time I was almost too tired to ride it home.

After all of these stories, I feel SO MUCH Better!

Wow I feel so much better now after reading this.

Not to worry Li'l Bro, getting older and forgetful isn't all that bad it just hurts more. ;-)

Put diesel into my K100LT once...

Superdirk said:

Put diesel into my K100LT once...

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A small amount would not hurt, just some good lubrication for the cylinder. But they don't like full diesel.