po18guy

"What I did" - Brushed the relay blades, coated them with Caig's DeoxIT. Cleaned the female terminals in the relay box with pipe cleaners and solvent, then the same with a pipe cleaner and DeoxIt. It not only neutralizes and removes corrosion, it leaves a thin protective layer.

Ahh. More info is always good in online diagnostics. The level of amperage that these miniature relays conduct reminds me of the various Chinese electric water kettles. They also use tiny contact points to transmit big current. It works. For awhile.

A little risky, but leaving the tank cap ajar and trying acceleration again (1/4 tank or less) might point to the cap vent being the problem. Some Japanese bikes use a rubber "duck bill" vent in the cap which hardens and becomes a seal, causing the same starvation problem. Might as well try the quick and dirty fix first.

2004 Ballabio.

When you find them - unless they are a common stock - might buy several sets, ArmorAll them and wrap in a plastic bag.

It must have been stored indoors near a source of ozone. I have NEVER seen tyres cracked like that. I still have a 1971 Pirelli Universal on an ancient Yamaha and it is in far better condition. Would naphtha slowly dissolve the goo on the tank? Or, is that what you are using?

Dave Edmunds is far too little known in the US. However, he did one blues song that had notable lickin' stick. I was surprised to hear that the song was written by Huey Lewis. What's more, Huey was on harmonica. My favorite Huey on harmonica was always Workin' for a livin'

-OR- you can install a bleeder banjo bolt at the high point in the system, the clutch master. I did that and it eliminated the air problems. https://raceboltuk.com/titanium-c4/titanium-banjo-bolts-c1188/racebolt-titanium-banjo-bolt-m10-x-1-00mm-single-with-6mm-bleed-nipple-p45227#attribute[12]=163

I just buy banjo bolts from RaceTi or RaceBoltUK. SS, Ti or even aluminium for lower stress applications. RaceBolt, in particular, delivered my order from the UK to the west coast USA in 7 calendar days from my mouse click. Incredible.

Do you have the breakout harness for setting the TPS? That alone makes a huge difference.

A counter-intuitive term. In the field of economics. macro economics is big picture, long haul type stuff, whereas micro is, well...micro. Updated after a visit to the local nanoscience lab.

OK, electron microscope images. The Tyco relays are really easy to pull down and not THAT bad to clean up the points. A point file will not fit, as it must be about 1/3 the width and about 1/2 the thickness. A 4-5mm wide bit of wet-or-dry will slip in, but I could not get it between the points doubled, so. one at a time.

Having weathered a non-start issue an hour away from home, I did a few things. First was to check, clean and DeoxIt the wire at the solenoid. Pulled the number 1 relay and popped the cover off. Tiny little thing for high current. With magnification, I could see corrosion on the contacts. So, a little dexterity (a rare moment) and some 800, then 1200 then 2000 wet-or-dry, we got them spruced up. Then a blow dry, a spritz of contact cleaner and then DeoxIt on the prongs and in the receptacle. I used pipe cleaners dipped in DeoxIt to clean them. Slipped it all back in and the starter activated immediately, without pondering, as it often does. If the relay covers were transparent, we would see the arcing. Also tried one of my stash of Omron double-throwdown Diesel caliber relays. Worked at least as well and probably better. With the original relay (part of a "decent tune-up"?) back among the living, I found a "relay-sized" tire patch kit plastic box in my bicycles spares. It seems that the Taiwanese bicyclists also had Omron relays in mind, as it is a perfect fit and reasonably water-tight. I applied some WD-40 dry lube to the contacts to slow corrosion. Back it goes into the monkey's paw. It requires almost micro-photography to capture the daintiness of the relay internals. And Tyco thoughtfully tucked the contact points into their own romantic alcove, just to avoid any boredom. What's done is done and a spare tagging along for those "special occasions."

Apparently, Guzzis come from dust and return to dust.

S-100 is German strength. It will matte some of the finishes on the bike, like the rear footpeg hangers. "A friend told me." I now use the Chuck-Docc approved SuperClean on nearly everything. A small electric (low) pressure washer does good in rinsing it off.

Electrolysis. It seems that half the wire connections maintain metal-metal contact via constant engine and road vibration. At the micro level, this would cause the fretting of tiny amounts of oxidation. But the longer it sits and the closer to water/humidity, the process accelerates. But, all of the safety switches are a marvel to behold. They insist on providing complete safety, often when one desires to be dangerous.

That connection looked fine on my '04. Nevertheless, I cleaned both, applied Caig DeoxIt and gave the female terminal a bit of a squeeze. I don;t think it matters, but the stud which secures the sidestand switch and return spring was loose. With my trusty M11 spanner, it is now snug.

Relay 1 and YOU are #1!

Please remind me: on the later ('04 etc.) which relay is start?

Well, you have given me something to check, as I had a no-crank session with my '04 Ballabio. I can tell you that it is no fun bump-starting a V11.

Wife's new-fangled toothbrush was operating intermittently, then not at all. Opened it and saw that water had leeched in past the seal and there was corrosion on the circuit board. Fixed it with a.......toothbrush. After cleaning the board, the spousal smile was restored. Given this, I would suspect the ignition switch internals. And grounds all around, as non-use is not kind to electro-mechanical devices.

Understood. Sometimes it costs heavily to lead the way - especially when few follow.

I smell H-D.

Liked "Murdered by Love" from the first time I heard it years back on an FM blues show. Looked for the original by the Blue Monday band. Found this version with Roguie Ray and some smoking geetar. No CDs available, so I bought VINYL.

Credit to Kevin Cameron for accumulated tech knowledge.