blkbrdrydr Posted August 23, 2003 Share Posted August 23, 2003 Last evening, I accidently duplicated the first event that caused the subequent chain of events that caused my bike to overheat and dump its coolant all over the road. If you read my original postings, you'll recall that I have a set of PIAA 910 driving lights which are connected to a double-pole, double-throw on-off-on toggle switch. One of the leads is connected to my high beam wire, one to the PIAA relay and one was connected to the radiator fan wire as a switched power source. When I connected that wire, I used a vampire tap rather than soldering it properly. Of course, that led the dealership and many on this list to assume that connecting the wire in that fashion is what caused the radiator fan fuse to blow but... Yesterday, I wired that pole directly to my Electrical Connections Power Strip and went for a nice ride. Approximately one hour into the ride, I lost the switch position that was wired to the Power Strip. As soon as it happened, I knew what went wrong: The toggle switch is mounted on the upper inner fairing piece next to the gas tank. A couple of weeks ago, the switch came a bit lose and when I retightened it, I turned it a tiny bit so that the switch position would be a bit more straight up and down. In time, the rear-facing terminal bumped against the frame and caused a short which blew the radiator fan fuse. Since it was over 90 degrees on the day that it happened, the first place to look was at the radiator itself. Then there wasn't enough coolant left in the radiator to keep the temperatures under control while I rode the bike to my brother's house and waited for HRCA to pick it up. I've now securely insulated the frame at that point to insure that the switch won't ground out like that any longer. My sincere thanks to the many of you who offered really great advice to help me get to the bottom of the problem but the overheating simply wasn't Honda's problem... it was mine. NOW... I've got to have HRCA assist me in getting a new right side lower fairing, right side mirror housing and left side engine cover to replace the ones that the tow truck driver destroyed with his straps. <sigh> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted August 23, 2003 Share Posted August 23, 2003 Bill...Glad you solved your OWN mystery ! Props ! The straps....mother fuckers ! I hate that shit...they have now respect for other peoples property ! Do you think HRCA is responsible....or the tow company....???? Thoughts ???? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blkbrdrydr Posted August 23, 2003 Author Share Posted August 23, 2003 Bill...Glad you solved your OWN mystery ! Props !The straps....mother fuckers ! I hate that shit...they have now respect for other peoples property ! Do you think HRCA is responsible....or the tow company....???? Thoughts ???? Dave I"ll know more on Monday when I talk with HRCA. They have assigned the case to to their Incident Management Team and I assume that they work with the towing companies insurance company to get things like this handled. Obviously, they know that they contracted with that company to transport their customer's motorcycles and they would also know that damn few towing companies will admit to destroying a motorcycle's bodywork because they didn't have the proper equipment or the knowledge to transport a motorcycle properly. I'll let everyone know how things go on Monday when I talk to the HRCA representative from Cross Country Motor Club Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey_XX Posted August 23, 2003 Share Posted August 23, 2003 Bill...Glad you solved your OWN mystery ! Props !The straps....mother fuckers ! I hate that shit...they have now respect for other peoples property ! Do you think HRCA is responsible....or the tow company....???? Thoughts ???? Dave I'd think the tow company is first responsible as they decided to take on the job (they can always back out of the job and say they are too fucking stupid to tow a bike). I'd imagine the HRCA feeling (not being) partly responsible coz they are supposed to refer to tow companies that are bike-friendly. I'd expect them to either pressure the tow guy to death or pick up the bill. Hugo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Posted August 24, 2003 Share Posted August 24, 2003 HRCA does contract out with varius tow companies. These companies are supposed to have bike friendly equipment. I bet HRCA talks with the tow company about this, but this is about all they will do. Reason, the tow company is an independent company and they are responsible for the people they put on the road, not Honda. If Honda does pay, it will be on a goodwill basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
severdog Posted August 24, 2003 Share Posted August 24, 2003 Ain't it a relief. Now you don't have to sit there and be paranoid, listening for the fan every time you're in traffic. Sux about your bodywork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in PA Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 This brings up another point I had forgotton about. ALL you guys with hot running probs, install a switch inline with the fan switch (parallel) so you can turn your cooling fan on any time your temp. starts climbing. While in slow traffic etc. For towing without damage use just slightly oversized PVC pipe on the grips and attach straps to the PVC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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