09 WCT Day 9 & 10 Repairing Effie

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Day 9 WED - 23 SEPT

Karl came and got me last night we loaded up the bike and were gone from the dealership about 8:30pm- 9pm PT I think. My watch is still on CT. Karl drove all day to get here and we are immediately turning around and heading back. I will take around 10 hours to get to Jackson.

He drove all night and his sons unloaded the bike this morning while we slept and they looked it over. Karl and his sons removed the primary cover and bags to have a look see. Karl told me he had good news and bad news when I got up. The good news is the stuff in the primary all look good. 😊

The electrical and the noises were related. The rear wire harness was smashed and ripped in 2 by the rear tire. I had put Road King Air shocks on the bike back in June. That made the kickstand too short. I put a 1 & 2 inch lowering kit on the rear the day before I left. But I only lowered it 1" figuring that is how much I had raised it with the RK shocks. The kickstand was the right height again but obviously the rear was lowered too much. Going thru the Mojave they have a lot of gullies in the road because it floods so easily. I must have bottomed out there and that is what broke the harness.

So now I have a wire harness dangling, the long end is back to the brake light. I could not see it because of the saddlebags.

When I had the noises in the parking lot the first thing I asked Scout when he came up was "Did I break the belt?" But the belt was fine. Karl said it looked like the wire harness had got caught up in the belt. The brake pads were also metal to metal. I get the brake pads replaced at the same time I replace the tires, I am due for a tire.

We went and got parts to make the repairs at the local HD dealership. $95, includes oil and filter, I will change the oil while we are at it. And the kickstand bushings need to be replaced. It is all knarled and barely hanging on. We are going to run the new harness outside the fender, I have the CB wires running out there anyway. Tomorrow we will put her all together again. Karl is going to help with a couple other little things that was bothering me that I could not do on my own. Life is good.

Sam called tonight they were ready to come over and work on the bike. Its nice to have such great people supporting you. You guys are the best. Sam, Bill and Sandy are in the area to attend an invitation only party. They will be here until Sunday or Monday when they head for home.

I have learned to not be so envious about the continual riding season here in CA. It is still miserable hot during the day in late SEPT. I will deal with the KS winter better now. Been looking at new routes home. 88 from Jackson to Tahoe, Karl said it is a must ride. Then Hwy 50, the loneliest hwy across NV.

Day 10 THUR - 24 SEPT

We worked on the bike all day. We started bright and early this morning. As Karl and his son worked on the primary covers inspection plate. I had a stripped head on one of the little screws that held it on. I asked them if they could fix that while primary cove was off, so they did. They did the rear brakes and put the primary cover back on. I worked on fixing the rear wire harness. The damage it caused was pretty big, when the harness got into the belt drive, it took the paint off the shock and the boot was ripped. It also bent the belt guard. We bent it back. I just spliced in wires and reconnected color to color. The new wire harness is run outside the fender. Karl removed the rear fender so he could drill a hole in it for the harness to come outside. The hole is behind the plate mount so it is not visible. I already have the CB cable running along the outside so its not a biggie.

After we had it all connected up we check it and I didn't have running lights in the rear. Sam is pretty good with a meter and it was determined that I had blown the running light module for the rear turn signals. You know the $50 ad on to change the rear turn signals in to brake/running lights along with turn signals. I really like how it has the whole rear end lit up at night, really makes you visible. I had just put the module on this summer. I was bummed to see it go bad. Once we unhooked the module from the wireharness then the new cable was too short to reach the other connector. So more soldering as I made an extension cable from the wires I cut off the module.

Sam, Bill and Sandy came over for a little while. Sam stayed and worked on Dakenstein a little.

The last project of the day was to change the oil. As I finished up the rear wire harness Karl changed the oil. I felt bad he had played for a few minutes trying to get a grip on the oil filter before I noticed. I had the billet oil wrench in my tool bag. I got it out for him so he could use it.

I want to relocate the ignition switch to a place I could reach it with the tank bag on. That would be up by the speedo somewhere. So Karl, Sam and I played with ideas of where to mount it and what a bracket should look like.

The top case and saddlebags are back on. She is looking like herself again. I really owe Karl and his family. He has dropped everything else for 3 days so far just so he could help me out. I am living in his den and disrupting his home life too.

Karl is my hero.

I missed Opa. He was the only one missing from our Bonneville Pit Crew. He was back at his home in Washington state.

Lena wanted to have something special for dinner tonight so she had requested that Karl fix a local meat cut called TriTip. OMG it was good!

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Photos

Wire harness just a hangin'
You can also see where it rubbed the shock. The shock boot is ripped on the tire side.

Effie on the table
Karls sons removed her saddlebags and found the harness hanging.

Great Minds
The guys solving the worlds problems. Well at least they are solving mine.

Karl My Hero
I had a stripped screw on the Inspection Plate. Karl got it out and fix it all up for me.

Karls Oldest Son
Karletto, I probably did not spell that right.

Dakinstein
The crew considers opitions on Sams bike.

View from the front door of Karls Shop
Karl has a very simple very efficient set up. It was easy to work in his shop. I enjoyed that experience.

The Open Primary.
There were not any problems in the primary. That was the good news.

The shock
These are my Road King air shocks. You can see where the wire was rubbing them.

The Roomate
This bike Karl was building from scratch. He is at the wiring.

Comments

[Sharing the Journey]

Back on the ROAD?
Have you got all the work done ... engine, wiring and others? Please send me some info on the mod to make all the rear light work together. Thanks, Alec