It's all... me, me,
me...
[ Friday - June, 18
2010 ]
So I've been having hard start problems once again with the 8GS.
The bike was good for about two months and then it's doing it's same
bit again. What is up with this? So I took the bike in last
Saturday and dropped it off at Brown Motor Works for them to diagnose
the problem. Could it be the fuel pump again? It's brand
new. I know the battery is still good because it's also brand
new. What gives? Eddie, the service manager, believes me
in my reports back to him, but when he goes to start the bike up after
a weekend's worth of the 8GS sitting in the shop, the bike goes
"Vroomm!!!" and
fires right up. "What the?" I commented. "That doesn't make
sense." Or does it? In fact, it makes all kinds of
sense. This is the clue I've been searching for as to why my 8GS
is having so many hard start problems. The light bulb
brightening moment comes from
the fact that I had a hard starting problem before I took it to Brown
and once it's at Brown's, it's perfectly fine. Apparently the
26 miles freeway ride from my house to Brown Motor Works at 70
MPH solved the bike's problem. "Oh I know what's going on
now..." Bottom line, the commute to work with a distance of 15
miles
at 55 MPH max and mostly 40 MPH city streets is not allowing the bike
to properly charge the battery. As a result, I've been slowly
draining the battery over the course of the two months, and ultimately
created the same symptoms I've been experiencing for the last several
months. Guess what? The problem is all me, me, me.
I'm the root cause because I don't ride at a high enough RPMs for the
bike to properly charge. Face it, these bikes are built to go...
FAST!
This means the 8GS is perfectly fine
and I just need to put the bike on battery tender at least once a
week to cure my problem. It's a
simple problem and a simple solution. Yeah, I know. The
problem is between the seat and the handle bar.
At long last I can put
this problem to bed and ease my mind with a little bit of maintenance
attentiveness.
Written on: June 18, 2010
Last modified: June 18, 2010
