I feel bad. I seem to only have time for this forum when something goes wrong... It's not like that you guys, I swear. I think about you all the time and ... stuff. (nothing weird though! blokey stuff!)

The weather has been **** lately in Sydney, I think the past 3 or 4 weekends have all been fairly wet. There was a point where it seemed like it rained for a fortnight. Evil, evil weather. Fark me it's been a while since I had a decent ride! Over 2 months ago I think.I been commuting a lot but that just just seems to eat at your soul.

So this weekend was the first weekend me and the girl have both had off in a while, and the weather man says it will only rain a little bit (if at all!) and she has never gone on a big ride out of the city, the most she has done is 2-300 K's in a day so I promised her I'd take her camping somewhere in the hunter. (something like this Pacific Hwy to Herbert St - Google Maps some sweet-sweet roads in there)

Anyway whaddya know, but the bike dies on me late last week. flat battery. I jump it and it doesn't even have enough current to run. Knowing how much dodgy **** I have done to the electrical system on this bike, I assume some of the corners I have cut have come unstuck, I park it at a friends house ( it was late) take the battery home for a charge and pick it up the next day. After dicking around with it for a bit in my spare time over a couple of days I decide that nothing i have done seems to have failed, so I naturally decide the reg/rec is toast. (has there ever been a vehicle in the history of mankind that didn't have a weak reg/rec?)

I jump online and order one, and then do the math in my head (t his was only a few days ago) and it's never going to make it here in time. (I'll let you all believe I bought the tried-and-true electrex model you guys keep recommending, not the $10 blackbird one I found ***NEW FROM CHINA - UNOPENED IN BOX*** on Ebay...)

So anyway, I call the camping trip off and have a brew or 2... and then after about the 8th (when I start making little sense and get a little defiant) I decide that is unacceptable, and pull out a note pad, and go to work devising some kind of plan that will get my beloved steed back in + voltage territory...

I wake up with a wicked hangover and a sweaty crunched up piece of paper with a cat and what looks like half a mouse drawn on it. Then my Fiance asks me if we can still ride on the weekend. "No I told her, my bike is broke"

" but last night you said you could fix it. You said you could just make your own rectumfrier..."

Realising this was one of my better drunken ideas I set to work. I remember back when I was riding FJ1100's I once put a regulator form a car on my bike cause the internal one died. I went down to the tiny inner-city auto parts shop near my place and asked them about it. The kid behind the desk just had a vacant look on his face as he searched his computer and said "we have one in stock for a magna? It's installed inside the alternator.

I give up on the kid and talk to the old guy next counter over. His eyes light up and says the RE-55! I remember when we had to replace these used to put these in our Toranas! (my old Torana is where I actually got the one I put on my FJ...) EW had a good chat about useless kids and I started feeling really old and left (I'm only 30 I sear! Almost all the Toranas are older than me!!)

SO I re-wire her a bit and hook that up, still using the rectifier in the Honda unit, but still no Joy. I really should have tested this before I went for the regulator (but that's usually the part that dies... and I'm lazy...) I could see a nice 3 phase current form the alternator though, so I turned my hand towards the rectifier...

A rectifier is pretty simple really, it's just a matter of making one robust enough to cope with a bike electrical system. Charging a battery takes a lot of juice, and with the vibrations and dirt, the components have a ****ty life. I went to the electronics shop and bought 2 of these 400V 35A Bridge Rectifier - Jaycar Electronics and wired it all up.

IT worked!! woohoo! 13.5 volts @ (what I guess is) around 2000 rpm. Sadly my jubilation was short-lived as a puff of smoke rose from the engine bay and my volts fall to 11... **** that little thing got hot! So back tot he electronics shop for another one and a big heat sink. with 3 of those rectifier bridges I can split the 3 phase along 6 sets of diodes to halve the load on each unit and then bolt it all to this big ****er of a heat-sink to try to keep temperatures under control. I rode her to work just now and it was fine, hopefully it holds out for the weekend until my $10- I mean electrolux RR arrives!!

I just realised I forgot my picture. It looks simply awesome. I'll post a shot when I get back home...

Anyway sorry for the long rather useless post. Interesting story I guess, maybe one day it will help someone else if they ever get stuck. If it holds up I'll make a how-to post with proper instructions or something.

Have fun guys.

TIm.

 

There is a god, and he hates me...

On the way home, my girl, who also finished work at midnight was at the local kebab place getting some food. I slow down so she can see me, then she gestures that she'll meet me at home and I take off. now, there was here and 2 other cute girls at the kebab shop, so I gave it a bootfull, and ran it up towards the redline in 1st, around 7k it coughed and spluttered and dropped a cylinder. ffaaarrrkkkk....

I do some blocks around my area and sure enough, as soon as it comes onto the main jets it drops a cylinder. it's 12:45am at this point... I weigh up the options for a minute then give in and pull the carbs for a lightening-quick midnight clean. It was quick and dirty, I just dropped the bowls and pulled and flushed the jets and galleries, #1 main jet was full of scum. In one hour I had them back in the bike and priming it. I did it so quick I even forgot to drink my beer! anyway the 2am test run confirmed she's back at full steam so all's well that ends well I guess.

Whilst I was fooling around with the charging issue I let it run pretty low on reserve, I guess it didn't like that too much. I'll add flushing the tank to the list of things I really should get to one of these days...

Tim.

 

Haha! Nice story.
I hope it holds on for you.

 

Yeah, a good read for sure..."rectumfrier"

 

That's some funny stuff there! Glad it worked out.

Ern

 

Top stuff mate, nothing beats the quick at-home fix! I swear to God my first bike was held together with clipties, paperclips and duct tape. Not even joking hahaha....

Thanks for the read and hope she goes well after the carb fettling. Definitley know what you mean about feeling 'old', too; I'm only 23 but generally have a good yarn to the guys down at the pub who are 50+.

Cheers - boingk

 

Well after 900+ K's of twisty back roads and wine country it worked flawlessly. I don't think I'll even bother putting the 'real' one on when I get it! If anything ever fails with this one I just need an electronic store for repairs...

On another note, that was the first 'real' trip the fiance had taken on her little GSX250, You should have seen her through the corners! I was so proud of her. She even kept up with some sport-bike riders on the old pac. (The local haunt for the majority of the weekend warriors) Though they were doing suspiciously close to the speed limit on a heavily-policed road...

The best part was when we pulled up at stroud after the little mountain pass there and she said it made her grin, and we should take more roads with corners like that

TIm.

 

You definitely keep company with all the right kind of women Tim ..All good man.