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Skifastbadly
| | Posted on Saturday, September 08, 2012 - 01:42 am: | 
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Well then…
After returning from visiting the families (here’s a pistol, so shoot me maybe) I have completed the stator transplant. I would like to once again thank the massive assistance that the collective’s intellect, experience, cleverness, and sense of decency provided me. In particular, I would like to thank Grif, whose hints on diagnosis were invaluable, Mark_weiss, whose photos were great help, and Djohnk, whose figuring out the brass hinge as a hack for the gears was brilliant, cheap, and stylish. And of course Al, who’s prompt delivery and reasonable prices make me want to buy groceries from the guy. One thing I know about myself is anytime I do something for the first time, I usually screw it up, and there were a LOT of things in this job that I did for the first time. Here are the highlights, and sorry, no photos, it’s already a job that takes four hands which is twice as many as I have without messing with a camera as well.
As stated earlier, I could have skipped the whole digital multi-meter diagnosis if I had just taken off the primary chain inspection cover and taken a whiff, it smelled like a fried transformer. Following the manual was fairly simple, but there are a lot of things to take off and it’s good to have some boxes or bins to put stuff in.
Getting the flywheel/clutch off was a bi-atch, because of the magnets. And the weight. Once that was all off, it was a pretty simple matter to remove the old stator and put in the new one. Threading the wiring through the back of the case was a bit of a hassle, but not terrible. Then the fun began. Getting the rotor/flywheel-clutch assembly back on was a miserable experience. It’s heavy, it’s hard to align, it’s magnetic, and the whole thing turned into a kind of a Lucy skit, with stuff moving around as I tried to get it all on. The difficulty of putting this assembly on with only two hands was exceeded only by the installation of the cover. That was particularly difficult, because I decided, like a maroon, to put a new gasket on. The old one, which seemed actually to be in pretty good shape, and as a bonus was already stuck to the case, should have been left in place, but I know better, so I removed it. The new one added a dimension of difficulty that’s hard to describe in family friendly language. Initially, I had the gasket sort of on, lined up the hole in the case with the shifter shaft, and started to push it on…but what’s going on, it won’t go. After farting around a bit I realized that the problem was that the primary chain was hanging down and interfering with the plastic tension doohickey, so in addition to holding the gasket on while pushing the cover on, I had also to somehow push the chain up over the tensioner. This actually is harder than it sounds. I got it all together but then the bottom two bolts wouldn’t go in. Wanna guess why? Winner, winner, chicken dinner, the gasket on the bottom had gotten misaligned when I pushed around the primary chain. Had to take it all off and start again. Whew. Ok, FINALLY I got it all put together. Happy happy me. Until, that is, I started assembling the clutch doohickey and realized that I somehow lost the little part that the cable fits onto and then attaches to the release mechanism. WTF? I’ve been VERY careful with all the parts. It’s not under the bike. It’s not under the cardboard I’ve been sitting on. It’s not….oh dear God, tell me it’s not inside….the….well, one way to tell. Tore it all apart again and there it was. So all that all over again.
After that, it went pretty smoothly. Tedious but nothing terribly difficult. The worst part was probably the classic rock station kept playing shit like “Don’t Fear the Reaper Cause All We Are is Dust In the Wind Riding the Storm Out, Lady” which got pretty annoying. My wife, as patient and lovely a woman a guy could ever hope for, reminded me today at 4:30 that I had to go to the store, and by 5 it was all put together, the light bulbs replaced, and off I go. Half way to the store I realize I biffed the shifter location, it’s too high, but that’s a very minor thing.
All in all, I’m pleased with my sense of accomplishment, and I can tell you all that the canary in the coal mine, the Signal Dynamics LED device which alerted me to the problem in the first place, was worth every single cent of the 30 bucks or so I paid for it.
Tomorrow, I ride. |
Afsoc_commando
| | Posted on Saturday, September 08, 2012 - 12:01 pm: |
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Great write up... Laughed my A$$ off...
I have done the same awhile back on my old Sporty... you are correct, you need to be an octopus to do this job with any kind of ease...
Glad to hear your back on 2 wheels... Hope you bought the required "Job well done" beverage after your test ride! |
Skifastbadly
| | Posted on Saturday, September 08, 2012 - 11:31 pm: |
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200 miles today. No oil leaks, the Signal Dynamics LED glowed happily green the whole way, both light bulbs are functioning, the battery started the bike every time, nothing fell off or burst into flames. And yes, Afsoc, I am happily into my adult beverages. |
Buelldualsport
| | Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2012 - 10:33 am: |
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"Good On You" as my Aussie Mates Say |
Tootal
| | Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2012 - 03:23 pm: |
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Yippie! 
I knew you could do it! One thing that will help you, if there's a next time, is to use an o-ring lubricant like Dow Corning 111 or equivalent. It's real tacky silicone that doesn't dry but it will hold that gasket for you so you need one less hand putting the cover on! |
Griffmeister
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 11, 2012 - 12:28 am: |
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A job well done, what's your next project? Some really cool mods?
You probably could have saved some trouble getting everything back together. It's a Uly, just lay it over on it's side and everything drops straight on.  |
Tipsymcstagger
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - 10:55 pm: |
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Just rode my '08 X from NYC down to FL, where it will live for the winter. About 600+ miles of the ride was in heavy rain.
For the last 300 miles or so, I noticed my Signal Dynamics doing strange things. It would go from bright green to a weaker green (not a normal indication). Since I was riding in foul weather, at times I had both headlights on as well as the Piaa 510's. A few times I looked down and saw flashing red on the Signal Dynamics. I switched the Piaa's off and the SD went back to solid green.
With about 90 miles to go, I noticed flashing green on the SD, followed by red (I think), followed by no indication whatsoever on the SD (dark LED). At the same time, my turn signals failed to flash. I have a unique setup for turn signals. Several years ago, I bought some custom LED "inserts" for my signals. I used the power leads from the 12V accessory outlets to power the LEDs, so they are illuminated all the time and act as running lights (the 12V outlets are rewired directly "hot" to a Centech fuse block). The guy who made the LED inserts also made two small modules which allow the signal/running lights to flash when the signals are activated.
When the SD LED went dark, the turn signal LEDs all remained illuminated as running lights, but failed to flash when I activated the turn signals. I was concerned that I could be down to battery power (failed stator/VR) but luckily made it home.
I can't recall what power source I used to power the SD, and I'm a bit confused as to how this is affecting the turn signals, but I have some trouble shooting ahead for sure.
Also wondering what could cause the Signal Dynamics voltage indicator to go dark? Maybe the module itself has failed?
Tipsy
(Message edited by tipsymcstagger on September 19, 2012) |
Luftkoph
| | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 08:57 pm: |
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I finally got to test out my new, cycle electrics regulator that I bought from roadstercycle,with headlight on and driving light and heated grips on,my heads up voltage monitor is showing amber at idle 12-11 volt,the instant you crack the throttle its green,nice very nice.
Now if the weather is half decent in two weeks I can finally go to the slimy crud |
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