| Author | Message | ||
     Dr_greg |
Well, fellas, I did my best. Got the Uly all packed up; got myself all psyched up; even got Mrs. Greg in a supportive mood (that's never a problem). Left Albuquerque at 6:30 a.m. this morning (Sunday). Beautiful cool morning (for a change). Nine miles N of ABQ the Uly threw a CEL. WTF?! I stopped, then couldn't restart...just clickety-click from the starter. Battery? It's rather new... Here I am, right in the construction zone on I-25 (the helmet is not me; it's an optical delusion)...semis whizzing by three feet away,  Remove the seat and...the battery terminal screws are not very tight. Huh!? Never happened before. OK, battery not getting charged. Well, call Mrs. Greg and have her bring another battery up (I have no idea of its age but it's fairly well-charged). Put it in and I'm off again, with only a 1.5-hour delay. Humph. That's okay, it's STILL a beautiful morning. About 50 miles later, on the southern fringes of Santa Fe, he threw another CEL. Okay, I give up. Turn around, and head S. First the speedo and tach go dead. Then the engine goes dead. Double humph. This time Mrs. Greg brings the '68 GMC pickup. And we load the bike OURSELVES! Not bad for a couple in their sixties and a 32-inch tailgate height! And the Uly arrives home in style...  Y'know, I was REALLY lookin' forward to this rally. But hey, there's always next year, isn't there. Even got some custom "DR. GREG" T-shirts made up for the occasion (slide rule & calculator I used in college).  All I can say now is, have a few cold ones in my honor!  --Doc P.S. This seems like a charging problem; I seem to recall some issues with the stator. Any suggestions? The Uly is my only transportation. Really. Okay, besides pushbike. | ||
| F_skinner |
Sucks | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Doc, Was looking forward to meeting you but instead will tip a brew from Homecoming toward New Mexico in your honor. I also told Pontlee we'd tip a brew towards Spain in his honor. I rarely drink so 2 will be my limit. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Others will know the answer to this: Does the 77 connector have anything to do with the charging circuit? Mrs. Doc must be a saint. | ||
| Rwven |
Cooked the already dodgy 77 connector charging a dead battery perhaps? EG, all the current from the Regulator/Rectifier passes to the bike through the 77 connector. (Message edited by rwven on June 13, 2010) | ||
| Hillis3 |
Sorry you can't make it Doc but the one thing I learned form this is... you have a very nice pickup.  Sorry about your bike. | ||
| Hughlysses |
My vote is heavily in favor of the 77 connector. Here's how to find and fix it: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=d4rbxwr_20dq5khf You can have the bike ready to go in about an hour. If you don't already have a voltmeter of some sort installed, get one. | ||
| Rays |
Hey Doc, that sucks - it sure does sound like the '77 connector as Hugh says. My old noddy guide should get you going quickly if the connector hasn't been melted to death. I have been tending mine regularly for almost 50,000 miles since it first played up If it has then you could bypass it in a variety of ways - soldered butt connections covered in heatshrink would be a quick and effective work-around. PM away if I can help you get on your way. | ||
| Rwcfrank |
All I can say is that the Doc has the patience of a Saint. I would have chucked my Uly off the back of the truck at speed and never looked back. Sorry about your bad luck Dr. Greg.... And one more thing, is the connector any better on the 08 model? I have the Fatbstrd voltmeter set-up just in case.. (Message edited by rwcfrank on June 13, 2010) | ||
| Cyclonedon |
Doc, sorry to hear about your Uly. Your going to be missed at this year's homecoming. I'm not going to miss this year's homecoming but I might have to take the car since my Uly failed me last night and time is running out to get it fixed before the homecoming. | ||
| Thesmaz |
Dr. Greg, I'd check everything in the charging circuit. My Uly is still sitting idle while I wait for parts to arrive (VR, stator and complete set of gaskets for the primary - new battery is already here). If the 77 connector is bad it could point to another problem - over voltage. Good luck. | ||
| Ghostrider |
Surprised I didn't see you. Rode up from Bernalillo to Santa Fe between 9 and 10 this morning on 25. Of course, by the shadow you're throwing in that photo, you were probably home by then. | ||
| Dr_greg |
Thanks, guys, for your advice. Will check out the 77 connector (checked it on Uly 044 so know about it) and the entire charging circuit as my body permits. To add insult to injury, my still-recovering back suffered quite a reversal in loading the Uly. There is a possibility that I can use parts from Uly 044 to fix Uly 564; if my body heals in time I might take a moto-camping trip to Grand Canyon or somewhere in the next week or so. Ghostrider, by the time you passed by I was parked on the shoulder of I-25 southbound, just N of Exit 273. I was down off the side of the road in the shade in my folding chair, watching a movie on my iPhone  and waiting for Mrs. Greg. Didn't quite finish the movie before she arrived. Sure hope everyone has a great time at Homecoming; I was REALLY looking forward to meeting many of you. Man, it was such a beautiful morning and I was so excited to be going somewhere... Sigh. --Doc | ||
| Jphish |
Geez Doc - foiled again. Sorry your missing home coming. I was a bit concerned about the 4 corners trip with the Uly, but had 13k trouble free miles on that trip. How the heck did you & Mrs Greg get that 500# beast in the truck ? Ramps? A mound that the tailgate could rest on, and drive it on ? Inquiring minds... | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I'll take a guess on that Jpish. If you look at the top photo you'll see the ditch next to the road. Drove the truck 90 degrees to the road down and then up the ditch until the open tailgate was on the ground. Push ULY right in. Drive out. | ||
| Ourdee |
The age doesn't hurt him, but the back, ouch. My guess is he sat on the bike and Mrs. Greg pushed him and the bike into the truck. I was looking forward to meeting the famous Doc. Well there goes some stories we wont get to hear. Heal up Doc, Next year in East Troy. | ||
| Nadz |
Bike's already loaded up- just drive the truck to WI. You'll have a hundred volunteers (including the creators!) to help fix it. Beware tho- it might be a supercharged cafe racer by the time they're done. | ||
| Hughlysses |
+1 to that. Best suggestion I've heard yet! | ||
| Ourdee |
Come on Doc. We will even unload it for you. | ||
| Pso |
Doc, my #77 went out, I hard wired it, then the (I think) #69 went out. The deutsch connector between the stator and VR also melted down. I was only getting about 11.1V and hard wired that one in also. Now back to about 14.1v. Best bike for driving riding and handling I have ever had, but the electrical engineer that worked on the Uly should find a new line of work. Stranded 2 times along side the road, and this three day trip had engine die so now I need to clean connectors on ECM. Good luck and tracking down problem. | ||
| Rsh |
If it is the #77 connector, there is a factory upgrade kit, if your bike is earlier than the 2008 model year. Check this part number: Y1312.02A8. | ||
| Gunut75 |
Dammit Doc, I owe ya a beer if I remember correctly! | ||
| Dr_greg |
Well, I tore apart all the connectors (including 77, of course) and everything looked pristine. So I cleaned all connectors, cleaned all battery terminals, etc. and reassembled. Gonna try a shortish test ride today to see what's what. Y'know, NOTHING like this has EVER happened before on this Uly or its predecessor. Mrs. Greg thinks it was an omen that I shouldn't ride to Homecoming. But I feel just torn up over it. As I said, have a cool one (not cold, just cool; good beer shouldn't be too cold) for me. --Doc | ||
| Pso |
I like the slide rule. That is all we were allwed to use in our college physics classes back in the late 60's early 70's | ||
| Skifastbadly |
When we stopped requiring the use of slide rules, we lost the distinction between accuracy and precision, and everything's been going to hell ever since. | ||
| Ghostrider |
Remind me to tell you my theory of how the baby boomers are ruining the world. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Does it have something to do with everybody getting a trophy for participating? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Well, I tore apart all the connectors (including 77, of course) and everything looked pristine. So I cleaned all connectors, cleaned all battery terminals, etc. and reassembled. Hopefully the 77 connector will still turn out to be the problem. Mine had the tiniest (~1/16" diameter) burned spot on one of the two lugs, but that was enough to shut down the charging system completely. I polished up the lugs, tightened up the female terminals slightly, reassembled, and all was good. | ||
| Griffmeister |
Stop guessing and break out the multimeter,check stator and reg. output.Sounds like you really want to get back on the road. | ||
| Dr_greg |
Did an 80-mile ride yesterday (carried spare battery along just in case) and all seems well. I will check the alternator output to confirm. Re the slide rule: mine was a Dietzgen Microglide "Vector LogLog" that my dad gave me for high school graduation in 1965. Used it through my second year of grad school. What students have lost by giving up the slide rule is the ability (a requirement w/SR) to keep "orders of magnitude" in their head; the ability to distinguish a nonsense result from a sensible result. The calculator is an HP-45, bought in 1974. Needed it for statistical analysis in my dissertation. Still have both, and one of them still works. But I digress... Guys, I did my level best to make it to the rally. Events transpired against me. However, I have the vacation time I allotted to still do some riding (back permitting). I will have a good time nonetheless. Plus I can watch the MotoGP races this weekend (I'm a big fan). --Doc | ||
| Pkman |
There's still the Rocky Mountain ADV Rally. July 29-Aug.1st - South Fork Colo. That's closer for you too Dr. I hope your back heals up soon. |
