Kiwi_Roy

The grease goes hard like chewing gum and holds the contacts apart. When I first had trouble with mine it measured 18 Ohms, with fresh Vaseline back down to zero. We don't have as much trouble as other Guzzi owners that have the start relay powered through the ignition switch, it only takes 0.5 Ohms to stop one of those. BTW it's easy to measure the ignition switch contacts because they are wired to points under the seat The hot wire is connected to the load side (near side) of fuse 4 One of the contacts comes back to fuse 6 & 7 (near side) The other switch contact goes to far side of relay 3 (30 contact) Near side assumes you are standing on the left side of bike If anyone wants a copy of my sketches send me a PM with your e mail address BTW, don't leave the contacts dry, they will soon wear away if you do, the Vaseline lubricates the metal to metal contact point.

I was there with my green VII Sport, I thought for sure I'd bump into some of you guys. John Day that was

It's nothing more than a dirty ignition switch or perhaps wire broken off it. The small lamp goes because it's on a different contact of the switch. Sent from my shoe phone!

Yes but are there any nasty chemicals involved? I'm thinking about something easy to obtain like Scud's washing Soda. The plating metal should be ok since it is electroplated from the anode to cathode, it's what's in the bath that I am wondering about. Sent from my shoe phone!

I think Stu is on to it, as the tire wears down they start to follow every little crack in the road. Sent from my shoe phone!

Gstallons said,"It's strictly for foreplay" Oh no! I'll never be able to touch the fast idle lever again.

That's a great tip, I've often thought about trying to plate things like nuts and bolts (not chrome just something to mitigate rust), any ideas there? Sent from my shoe phone!

Check your tachometer at one of the synchronous speeds under a fluorescent light, something rotating like the alternator will appear to stand still at 900, 1200, 1800 revs due to the strobe effect. 750 & 1500 for those with 50 Hz power. If you have a frequency counter hook onto the yellow alternator wires and divide by 7 Sent from my shoe phone!

Garage sales a great place to find fine tools I picked up an old egg-beater drill a few years back perfect for my Wife to use around the house. The guy told me it belonged to his Dad, why would you sell something like that? Sent from my shoe phone!

I think the charging system has a net negative loss at idle from memory the current draw is about 9 Amps with the headlight On, mine doesn't drop down to 12 but doesn't hold much more either (I have my idle set ~1000 because I like the engine braking). The Voltage reading could also be effected by where abouts in the wiring it's attached to, downstream of the ignition switch would be a little lower. Sent from my shoe phone!

You have another Griso? Sent from my shoe phone!

Thanks, I cut that one out with a pair of scissors in the parking lot. Better than nothing is all I can say LOL Sent from my shoe phone!

I found a small picture of one on the www and blew it up to life size then pasted it to my sheet metal Transferred the image by spraying over it with some quick dry paint. Cut it out with my trusty Aviation snips, it's best to rough cut first so you end up with a narrow strip then smoothed all around the edge with a file and emery cloth. I bent it around a large pipe in the basement them test fitted it, looked good enough. Before assembly I brushed the inside surface with a brass wire wheel to dull the surface and hide imperfections then sprayed it with conformal coating which just happened to be in reach I should note I never measure anything when I'm making brackets, just pop rivet both sides together so they end up the same shape, I feel it's more pleasing to the eye than regular parallel lines A regular hand coping saw makes short work of 1/8" aluminum.

I always say what offends me would kill most people. Sorry, I was a bit prickly this morning.

I agree with you up to a point, The VII rear brake is not very effective especially in the wet, at the same time I would be very reluctant to apply the front too hard going downhill on loose gravel. On my Eldorado it is more effective than the front alone. In the early days of motorcycling motorcycles never had a front, and if you think about the roads they were riding For the record I haven't upgraded my rear brake. it's stock, I did make a comment that the similar brake on my K100 (a cruiser) was worn out (by the previous owners) I don't believe I said I was better at braking than anyone, I know for sure I'm not but it ticks me off when someone infers "I'm a racer, you know nothing"

Docc, It's when the lamp is only half on and winking at you, then you will appreciate it's worth as a troubleshooting aid.

Ok if rear brakes are so un-required how come it's the front they leave off choppers? Seriously to say the rear brake is not required is ridiculous, to use a racing situation as the holly grail of motorcycle riding, why, most motorcycles never go near a track. Sent from my shoe phone!

Tidied up under the seat, added the light to the petcock fuse I keep telling others to add. Sent from my shoe phone!

Try removing the damper altogether, just take the bolt out of one end. It will soon show you if that's the problem.

My VII Sport is naked as the day it was born, I'm thinking I might benefit from some sort of a screen on the John Day trip but I don't have time to source one. Would someone with a fly screen make me a pattern so I can knock one up out of aluminum I guess I'll need dimensions and some idea of the brackets also. Thanks Roy PS Hopefully better than the one I made for the EV last time I was in John Day, LOL Never Mind, I found an image I can copy. I must warn you, it won't be pretty.

That all makes sense to me, thanks KR Sent from my shoe phone!

Meanwhile back on the other forum they are busy debating the merits of linked brakes. The general consensus seems to be they are good. My Eldorado had twin leading shoes on the front and a drum on rear. The front brake on it's own is pretty useless but in combination with the rear it's surprisingly good. The flying brick I bought in New Zealand had the exact same small square pads on the back, they were down to the metal fortunately my Bro has a 96 California, first of the FI bikes, I was able to get the half used ones off his bike when he replaced the pads. I don't believe the flying brick or the VII sport have linked brakes. I believe the rear brakes on the Eldorado and my California II are much more effective than those on the VII Sport, something to do with the height to wheelbase ratio.

That's just what I was thinking

Yes you have a couple of options A/ Fit a reed switch with float and use the SW option. See MG Cycle part No 29103050 or make your own from a reed, small length of tube, a cork and a tiny magnet. If you didn't have the in tank pump it's a bit harder to get a switch into the tank thru the small hole where the thermistor fits, option B is ruled out altogether. B/ Get one of the float type sender units to match one of the resistor options 100, 250, 510 or 1200 Ohms and mount it on the pump or cover plate it will light up the 6 segment level displays as the float moves. This would be too cool. Find an old sender at local auto wrecker?

Perhaps I should explain the regulator doesn't control the battery Voltage directly, it controls the Voltage on the wire going to the headlight about half way along the tank to about 13.8 Volts. The battery sees 13.8 plus whatever Voltage drop happens to be thru the relay contacts. With the headlight load ~4.5 Amps the drop is about 0.6 Volts so 13.8 + 0.6 = 14.4 Without the headlight load (off or aftermarket headlight relays) the current thru the headlight wire is near zero so there is no Voltage drop and the battery only sees 13.8 Volts. It's possible to boost the battery back up again by dropping Voltage in the reference wire so the regulator is fooled. Sent from my shoe phone!