My First Fix It Experience

[katrina ratcliffMember]

I’m bubbling with joy … so much so that I had to share the experience.

Have been out riding the last two days up at Ourimbah Forest with BMW Dave and the girls doing lots of practice. I’m close to keeping up with the girls now thru the MX course. My new exhaust that was put on during the week was well worth the $ as the bike has grown balls and my inner muscles are working harder to hold on… yee ha.

I thought everthing came to a screaming holt late yesterday as I was preparing to do the last run for the day. The bike wouldn’t start…. dead.. bottom lip went. I looked at Dave and he thru up his shoulders… Is this it for me this weekend…..

NO BLOODY WAY… Got home and pulled the bike apart… for the first time and scratched myself… didn’t know what I was looking at. Manual didn’t help with any trouble shooting. I did find a loose wire under the electric starter button that must have hit the bar and maybe shorted things out.

Time for stiff rum and coke… bit of dinner then search the internet for help….. I search OBT but didn’t see anything. I knew TB was away at Condo… so I justed asked myself what would TB say to me…..”Give it a go”.

So after reading the online manuals last night till 1am I knew were to start. I hit the garage at 6am in my PJ’s with strong coffee and found the starter relay box. Took me for ever to get the clip off. :unsure:

When the fuse came out I think I woke the neighbours with my scream of joy… a blown fuse…..I noticed they placed a spare fuse at the bottom of the box. So didn’t need to scare anyone at the garage looking for new fuses.

OOPS… didn’t take notice which way to put the fuse in… oh well I’ll push and see what happens…..placed the cap back on and BINGO I’ve got lights, camera and ACTION…..

I could just imagine TB comments…..

Reading the OBT topics about doing bike fixing stuff has given my the confidence to give it a go and it feels great to succeed.

[Mick DMember]

There is a great deal of personal satisfaction in doing your own repairs and it also puts you in good stead for when things go belly up on the trails. It is good to know the workings of your bike. Congratulations Katgirl for having a go and fixing your problem, some unscrupulous operators may have charged you an hours labour to do that job.
Cheers
Mick

[JoeMember]

good on ya Katgirl
The more you know about your bike the easier it is on the trails
when you have these gremlins.

[MalMember]

Well done Katgirl. As Mick said it is a good feeling when you find and repair problems with your bike. Don’t be scared to post up any questions or issues you have with your bike. Even if TB is away there is always someone floating around to offer advice.

Now you know the fuse may be an issue you can carry a couple of extras in your backpack.

[Mick DMember]

mal5.1 wrote:

Quote:

Now you know the fuse may be an issue you can carry a couple of extras in your backpack.

Good call Mal….. wonder what caused the fuse to blow in the first place?

[MalMember]

Could have been the loose wire on the leccy start button. That’s why I carried a few spares on the Sherco. If the fuse blows as soon as you put it in then you start looking deeper for the issue and you still have spare fuses.

[katrina ratcliffMember]

mal5.1 wrote:

Quote:

Could have been the loose wire on the leccy start button. .

Morning Mal5.1

I think you’re right. There was a loose wire on the leccy start button and I think it might of hit the handlebar and maybe caused the shorting out of the fuse.

I seriously need to buy a tool kit. I used the one that came with the bike and they remind me of tool kit you would give kids to play with as toys….

The list of things to buy is growing…. Need to start waving the plastic card again. :woohoo:

[MalMember]

Morning Katgirl. Or afternoon for me, I’m off to bed soon after night shift.

Yeah a good tool kit is handy. TB will show you what he carries at his service clinic then you can workout what you need in yours. There are some good basic kits on the market at the monment. Crash won a Kingchrome one at last years Xmas party. It looked pretty good.

[PaulMember]

KatGirl wrote:

Quote:

mal5.1 wrote:

Quote:

Could have been the loose wire on the leccy start button. .

Morning Mal5.1

I think you’re right. There was a loose wire on the leccy start button and I think it might of hit the handlebar and maybe caused the shorting out of the fuse.

I seriously need to buy a tool kit. I used the one that came with the bike and they remind me of tool kit you would give kids to play with as toys….

You should also look at why the wire came loose, fix that and make sure the insulation is not going to let you down.
If the wire needs soldering or something let me know, I am good at that (electrical tech.).
Also it may need a cable tie or two near the start button, loose flappy wiring can put stress on the connections causing them to break.

You’re right about the toolkit, I often wonder why they include crap tools with new bikes (and cars), it’s almost an insult :angry:

[GregMember]

Go Kat Go Some of the best problem solving is done after walking away for a while and starting with a fresh mind

On the Honda fuse thing I have seen 2 CRF 450’s blow the main fuse have the fuse replaced nothing else done and not blow again for 12 months :blink:

There is a re route for CRF cabling that I saw at GHR, we can check it out at the maintenance day

TB

[simon burkeMember]

welldone Kat

Big fan of you getting up at 6 am just to have a crack at fixing your bike
if mine breaks down one day i will give you a call

Bol :woohoo:

[Bruce CurtisMember]

KatGirl wrote:

Quote:

I seriously need to buy a tool kit. I used the one that came with the bike and they remind me of tool kit you would give kids to play with as toys….

Have to agree, I actually gave the Suxuki and yamaha toolkits to my Son when he was 4, and there is an unopened one in the shed somewhere from our old ’92 ZXR750

Plasticine is always handy, I reckon old Bert Munroe coulda melted them down and made something useful for a motorbike out of them………….

BC

[murph the surfMember]

Old Bert was a bit of a legend in his day, for a Kiwi :ohmy:

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