My motorcycle. It hasn't ran for three weeks. Before the new year it didn't run because it gets so cold in the morning that I would wear the battery down just getting started. My stater hasn't been working right for about a year so it would only take one cold morning to require a whole new battery.
Last week, I bought a new battery and charged it. I put it into my motorcycle, watched the lights turn on optimistically, turned the kill switch on, and then watched the lights turn off much to my chagrin. I was devastated. No amount of killswitch-keyswitch-neutral-in would cause the lights to even come on after that. I got frustrated. My dad (an expert mechanic) told me that there must have been some corrosion somewhere that shorted out my battery. I went about taking apart the whole motorcycle looking for corrosion in the connections. I took off the headlight, the killswitch assembly, and the fusebox looking for some villainous pool of water or rust. I couldn't find any, although I should probably go through with navy jelly anyway.
I went to this website for ideas on what to check. It mentioned that the good battery + no kill switch action was the worst case scenario. I agree. That means there is something wrong with the electrical connection, and thats the thing on the motorcycle that I understand the least. I should have studied Electrical Engineering in college, something useful like that.
I decided hours later that even though I didn't get to the clicking starter, the battery was the last thing I put in before it started acting up. I angrily took out the battery and took it over to O'Reilly's Auto Parts so they could do electrical testing. They have been much more reluctant to do that, I noticed, ever since they were last a Kragen's Auto parts. The battery checked out. At least I got to see the same employee that I run into everytime my motorcycle is acting up. He always sees me when I am at the end of my rope, and I was still the same grumpy girl he only knows.
Anyway I get back home, re-install my battery, and check whether it would turn back on or not just for kicks. And damnit, it did. I called my dad back so we could share my glee, and he acted like my lack of ability brought me to this point.
But I'm still want to share my glee, which is why I wrote this blogpost. I think I'll continue to be happy until the next cold morning.
Last week, I bought a new battery and charged it. I put it into my motorcycle, watched the lights turn on optimistically, turned the kill switch on, and then watched the lights turn off much to my chagrin. I was devastated. No amount of killswitch-keyswitch-neutral-in would cause the lights to even come on after that. I got frustrated. My dad (an expert mechanic) told me that there must have been some corrosion somewhere that shorted out my battery. I went about taking apart the whole motorcycle looking for corrosion in the connections. I took off the headlight, the killswitch assembly, and the fusebox looking for some villainous pool of water or rust. I couldn't find any, although I should probably go through with navy jelly anyway.
I went to this website for ideas on what to check. It mentioned that the good battery + no kill switch action was the worst case scenario. I agree. That means there is something wrong with the electrical connection, and thats the thing on the motorcycle that I understand the least. I should have studied Electrical Engineering in college, something useful like that.
I decided hours later that even though I didn't get to the clicking starter, the battery was the last thing I put in before it started acting up. I angrily took out the battery and took it over to O'Reilly's Auto Parts so they could do electrical testing. They have been much more reluctant to do that, I noticed, ever since they were last a Kragen's Auto parts. The battery checked out. At least I got to see the same employee that I run into everytime my motorcycle is acting up. He always sees me when I am at the end of my rope, and I was still the same grumpy girl he only knows.
Anyway I get back home, re-install my battery, and check whether it would turn back on or not just for kicks. And damnit, it did. I called my dad back so we could share my glee, and he acted like my lack of ability brought me to this point.
But I'm still want to share my glee, which is why I wrote this blogpost. I think I'll continue to be happy until the next cold morning.