Losing all power, engine and electrical, is never good. At least I wasn't relying on power steering. That would have been scary.
I sat at a stop light forever. After it turned green, I turned to the left and everything died. No power. The starter wouldn't even click. I was about 5 miles from home and just a couple blocks from the school where I teach. I tried for a few minutes to find a short but had no luck. I pushed the bike the few blocks to the back parking lot at school where I called my wife to pick me up.
Then I called my dad to have him pick me up at home with his trailer so we could go get the bike. Then daycare called and I had to take Child #1 to urgent care. No worries, just some medical glue to fix the cut to his forehead. It was one of those "You should see the other guy" moments, even though the other guy was the television.
Just before dinner, my dad picked me up and took me to get the bike. We tried to pop the clutch but that didn't work either. We loaded it in the trailer and took it home. Later that night, I played around and found the master fuse by the battery. It is a piece of metal, not a normal fuse, but I could tell it was snapped and it was brittle. I pulled the whole thing and went to the auto parts store to try and find a replacement as my Honda shop was closed and too far away. No dice.
This morning I went to Honda Town and spent $2.76 on three replacement fuses. I bought three just in case. After I got home, Child #1 helped me replace the fuse while Child #2 slept in her car seat. After adding the fuse, I got the electrical to work. However, as soon as I pushed the starter, everything went dead again.
The fuse was fine. I started jiggling wires and was able to get the power back. I discovered that I had a loose battery connection. I pulled the battery out, tightened both connections and tried to start the bike. Fired right up!!!
I put the battery back, covered up the fuse, and put the tools away. I wanted to fire it up again but didn't want to risk waking up Child #2. So Child #1 and I set about fixing the seat again. Fixing it means ripping off the old duct tape and re-taping it in a different way that will, hopefully, last a bit longer.
Now, that Child #2 is sleeping and Child #1 is grocery shopping with Mom, I think I'll head out and fire it up again (just to make sure) and to put the seat back on.
Happy cycling!!!
I sat at a stop light forever. After it turned green, I turned to the left and everything died. No power. The starter wouldn't even click. I was about 5 miles from home and just a couple blocks from the school where I teach. I tried for a few minutes to find a short but had no luck. I pushed the bike the few blocks to the back parking lot at school where I called my wife to pick me up.
Then I called my dad to have him pick me up at home with his trailer so we could go get the bike. Then daycare called and I had to take Child #1 to urgent care. No worries, just some medical glue to fix the cut to his forehead. It was one of those "You should see the other guy" moments, even though the other guy was the television.
Just before dinner, my dad picked me up and took me to get the bike. We tried to pop the clutch but that didn't work either. We loaded it in the trailer and took it home. Later that night, I played around and found the master fuse by the battery. It is a piece of metal, not a normal fuse, but I could tell it was snapped and it was brittle. I pulled the whole thing and went to the auto parts store to try and find a replacement as my Honda shop was closed and too far away. No dice.
This morning I went to Honda Town and spent $2.76 on three replacement fuses. I bought three just in case. After I got home, Child #1 helped me replace the fuse while Child #2 slept in her car seat. After adding the fuse, I got the electrical to work. However, as soon as I pushed the starter, everything went dead again.
The fuse was fine. I started jiggling wires and was able to get the power back. I discovered that I had a loose battery connection. I pulled the battery out, tightened both connections and tried to start the bike. Fired right up!!!
I put the battery back, covered up the fuse, and put the tools away. I wanted to fire it up again but didn't want to risk waking up Child #2. So Child #1 and I set about fixing the seat again. Fixing it means ripping off the old duct tape and re-taping it in a different way that will, hopefully, last a bit longer.
Now, that Child #2 is sleeping and Child #1 is grocery shopping with Mom, I think I'll head out and fire it up again (just to make sure) and to put the seat back on.
Happy cycling!!!
