Stuff Happens!!!

[Da Ace]

And for something completely interesting again.... posted in my South African FB ST site

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SOME Trips are the ones, like my recent one from Johannesburg to Capetown and back (±2.000miles) in a week type of “fun” trips.
In October of 2020 after the Covid19 pandemic subsided a little, I set out for a journey to CapeTown from Johannesburg to do some work for a customer in Atlantis.
Before I left I decided to go with ST1300 #2, as she had yet to trip the 200,000km mark and No3 had already done so… I had a small maintenance issue with a oil leak out of the inspection hole showing that the oil seal on the water pump was “tired”. So I decided to refurbish the whole unit with a new mechanical seal, oil seal and bearing. I also saw that the right hand side fork was leaking so I had this repaired at the local Biking Brakpan shop.
After this job was completed I felt that it was safe to set out on the voyage. All was great on that Sunday until i had done about a 1,000kms. I fuelled up in Beaufort West and left for the last 500 plus kilometre part of the journey. It was already after 1:30 in the afternoon when after only about 19kms the re was am amazing red cloud of (thought blood at first) coolant water spraying around me. I stopped very quickly and then looked at the damage…..
The main water “T’ piece had blown apart. A kind policeman stopped and helped me. He called for help from Attie from Beaufort West, who came out and towed me back we stripped the bike and he made another “T’ piece. We fitted it and all seemed ok. I left again at around 6:30pm. I didn’t get far at the temp gauge shot over themas mark before i had even left town… Then we looked for the real culprit…
The thermostat was broken so it didn’t open and caused pressure and the water temp rose too high very quickly… Attie “jippoed” (made a plan) and jammed the thermostat slightly open. I slept over and set out very early to get to Capetown and my customer to do the work I needed to do.
I travelled via a shorter route shown by my iPhone’s GMaps and went through Ceres and Malemsbury. I have to go back to ride it again, but slower with no rust to be somewhere.
Now just for the interested, my fuel consumption was very high because the bike was running so cold, with the thermostat jammed open … My mate, whom we’ve discussed earlier, John Peel’s son Mike (whom had taken over his father’s ST1300, after john passed on), had asked me to stop over when I passed that way. When I told him of the problem, he made a plan to get me a new thermostat from Honda CT, and on the Friday he collected it from his place in Wellington. What a friend! We meet up and rode to his place together. He was riding a Bajaj 200cc motorcycle. More about that bike later…
On the Saturday morning we stripped the bike down and fitted the new thermostat. PS while in CT , and where I met Mike, I visited a bike stop that had many old Pan Europeans.. I bought a secondhand tappet cover for the RHS cylinder bank (It was damaged in my 2012 Taxi accident and I had patched it with Partly Putty for all these years. So I decided to also change it. Simple job.
While we had the covers and fairings off, Mike noticed something that I have never seen: there were cracks on the “down arms” of the frame that hold the motor in place. I had most likely ridden over 100,000kms with the frame arms totally broken off…….GOD LOVES ME!!!!
I am going to leave out one of the best exciting rides of my life for the want of space...
There was one or two more twists in this tail. When I had re-fitted the side fairing I got the wiring crossed up and almost set the bike alight when, on the Sunday I switched on the lights and phone’s USB connection, and was about to leave. Another half hour later I had thing sorted to a point that I could leave… But as they say in the ads…”that’s not all folks!”

A little while later I filled up the bike and found that there was oil all over the right hand side of the bike… It seems that I may have forgotten to tighten the oil filler cap when I put the tapped cover on… Haha

Anyways got home and stripped and prepped the bike for the welding of the “down Arms”. It was slow going trying to grind in the small restricted areas. After about 3~ 4 days I found one could just pull to the broken pieces and grind them clean very easily, Duh!!!.

Then Dillion welded the frame…. And found more cracks and just welded them as well…..
At Last ready to go -
She passed all the tests (±200kph, wiggles and shakes) and somehow I find the bike seems to be more SOLID than it's been for a loooong time…
I wonder why…???

A big shout out and THANKS to all involved win this FUN trip.
You always seem to remember the hard trips........

 

[Da Ace]

More Pix
Bike is back on the road and going very well again...

 

[Da Ace]

Forgot the pix of the Tee Piece... etc
Looooong day that was....

 

[BakerBoy]

^Wow! Good on ya for getting through all that! The pic with the boots says it was a long day.

I didn't follow every point, but was this bike (with the various broken frame pieces) involved in an accident at one point in the past?

 

[Kevcules]

Wow again! ..... It's nice to look back on all the adventure, good thing you weren't hurt though with the breakdowns and cracked frame. As said above, was the bike dropped a few times or involved in an accident?

Take Care....

 

[Da Ace]

And so stuff keeps happening:

I awoke at 3am. Well I eventually finished my short 4month job contract in Kzn, and was given the clear to leave on Friday 3rd Dec. At around 11:30am I was heavily packed and on the road to Gauteng and home, some 560kms away. After about 150kms my ailing alternator gave my old battery a big boost and blew it up.
The alternator/ rectifier/ regulator had been giving me warning for over a month that it was not happy, sometimes giving up to 21vDC output if I revved the bike over 3,000rpms .
I purchased a brand new battery an fitted it into the RHS pannier. I even ran wiring into the box to use as a "jumper" to start the bike if the old battery failed.
On the road there was fine rain, and near Curry’s Post, the whole shebang died on me.
My mate Alain amazingly came all the way from Bronkhorstspruit (over 600kms away) to get me with his vehicle and trailer.
It took him over 8 hours as the Van Reenins pass was blocked by striking truck drivers... go figure this is Africa!
So he travelled via Sterkfontein Dam and Little Switzerland to get me.
He eventually got to me. the rain had stopped a half hour before but it was cold and dark by the time he got to me. We left with the loaded ailing bike at around 8pm. We returned via the pass at Little Switzerland and found to our dismay that the trucks were unable to make the narrow turns. It took 5hrs to travel 2kms.
No exaggeration.

We got back home by 8am on the Saturday.

I have today (2021/12/12) found that the ECU seems to be blown.
It may be the end of my riding days, if it’s too expensive to replace.
I also have to strip bike down for the alternator etc etc.
So maybe, unless I can come up with the funds, it’s game over

She’s only done 206,500odd kms.

My first one - St11000 did 63,000kms
My No1 ST1300 did 118500 odd kms before I sold her - high milage
My No2 ST1300 (this girl) has only 106,500 odd - allows the one in the big accident - previously mentioned
My No3 ST1300 was sold around 6~8 months ago at 204,500 odd - needed the money :-(

So all in all I've had a good run

Did over half a million kms on the old GL1100 Gold wings - even built a side car on one
So that's way over a million kms on bikes.... cheers

 

[Peppermint]

Well that bites! Talk about going out with a bang!
I truly hope this isn't the end of riding for you, that would indeed be a pity.
Don't lose hope - sometimes the stars have the strangest way of aligning.

Take care

Patty

 

[Da Ace]

Hi Peppermint. Looking for an ECU... Now I hear there are two different types??

 

[Al st1100]

never leave the battery in the plastic. If it was at 21v the alternator is fried too. Most auto ECM's have a 16v shut down safety mode, don't know why the MC ECM would be different. There may be other issues wiring related.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Hi Peppermint. Looking for an ECU... Now I hear there are two different types??

The part number for the ECM for 2007 and older is different form the 2008 and newer. I read that the connectors are different so they won't fit anyway.

There are also different part numbers for the civilian and police model ECM.
As far as I know, a speed limiter built in to the police model ECM is the only difference between it and the civilian model. I have read that the police model ECM can be used in a civilian model, but I have also read that it can not because the connectors are different between the two.

Maybe some of the guys who rebuild these bikes can confirm one way or the other what ECM will fit what. The more interchangeability that there is, the more options there will be in the used market.

 

[Da Ace]

This is the ECU that was in the bike.
The alternator/ regulator/ rectifier failed and caused the ±21VDC surge when bike was raved over 3,000RPM...
ECU No: 38770-MCS-G02

 

[Da Ace]

Well its time for for an update:
I replaced the alternator, which may have been the cause, and the battery, which also may have been the cause..??
I found the correct ECU with HISS Immobiliser and Transponder Key from eBay UK.
There were a few other things in the package deal.
When the missus returned from visiting there, I fitted the HISS component and the ECU and took the transponder out of the key snd swapped it for mine.
So no major work swapping the ignition key unit or the fuel cap (simple enough).
Didn't even use the ABS unit(didn't think I would need it ,but it was part of the package deal)

And then the moment of truth came ... Bike started...eventually.... but the fans were running from the switch on (which is wrong), and the temp gauge showed the bike was overheating...right at the turn of the ignition key..??
Stripped the whole lot down ( air box, throttle bodies etc) to the alternator level again, and found the plastic on the wires of the temp unit were brittle and had bared, and were toughing each other.
Sorted that out.
Re-assembeld and then the bike started first time and everything operated correctly.
HAPPINESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am back on the bike when I thought it was eventually all over....
As Steve McQueen said at the end of the 1973 movie "Papillon"..."I'm Still Here!!!!"