Back On Track

[superfevergurl]

Hello All,

I've been out of commission with oral surgery and horrible KY weather (literally tornado weather, snowstorms and 60 degree sunshine in 5 days). Finally the weather is clearing up and I can get back to working on my bike.

I think my CDI is going bad. My bike acted up a while ago and I let it sit for about a month and now it is running fine again. When my CDI went bad before it did the same thing. Found a performance cdi on ebay for 19.95 with free s/h from a shop recommended on here previously. I can just buy this thing and plug it up or are there any adjustments I need to make to my bike for it?

Also it is time for new front brake pads. Since I plan to add upgrades, what type of brakes should I be looking into. I use my bike for regular commuting and would like to be able to go around 60-65ish.

I took apart the instrument panel to replace the oil light bulb and this is what I discovered

The oil light is attached to the wires How do I replace this? Do I have to replace the entire instrument panel? The manual only says replace the bulb.

Last question (for now  ), now my tail light is out. The manual says I need 3 bulbs, but I think that is for the euro lighting. I know I need a double filament bulb, but I don't know what type of bulb to get.

[thebatman]

Hello there, welcome back. 

No adjustments should be necessary with the cdi. They do make "adjustable" ones but i havent messed with those.

AS far as the brake pads, I still use oem spec pads, nothing special.

Speed can be gotten but it's going to take some work..

Wow, i havent even checked my oil light. If that's it, it could have a short in the wire somewhere.?
That light don't normally go out on these things.  I ASSUME the oil tank is empty as to how you know it's not working? Of course it should come on when the switch is on for a second though.. HMM, maybe another willl chime on that..

The tail light has 2 1157 bulbs for the tail/brake lights.. The 3rd one may be the "tag light". There is only 2 tail/brake bulbs....(1157 dual filament)

[Peters]

Not sure where you can get the bulb. I looked a little. You just need any 12v led buld similar in size and with wires already attached. Then just cut the old one and splice the new one in. zombie might know where to get one.

You can test it if you haven't already. Just use a multimeter set on ohms to test continuity.

You could always throw a kit on it, run premix, and get rid of that oil tank all together 

[superfevergurl]

Thank for the info guys. However I've got bad news. I bought new tail and brake lights (cuz one of my brake light went out too) and replaced them and I've still got no tail light or back brake light. There has to be a short somewhere and I'm not very electrically inclined. It's depressing and motivating at the same time.

[thebatman]

Do the other lights work?
Just the tail/brake?

One thing that worked for me was to "spray" a little bit of WD-40 in the socket, bulb base or hit up the parts store for some "Dielectric Grease". Either will help ensure a good connection.

I can relate, i hate the electrical part.

[superfevergurl]

I have no tail light at all and the back brake light will not work 90% of the time. I did get it for work for a bit and then it stopped working again. The front brake light works, but I have to pull the handle really hard for it to light.

[thebatman]

Could be a loose connection in there if it works intermitantly.
The front should have a "brake switch" but you should only need to touch it for the light to come on.
A ground issue or the brake switch. Sometimes wires will become loose as well. MAybe just the plug has loosened enough to give you a head ache?
Just like my ENG-111 instucter says......."breathe".....

Either the front or the back, the wires are pretty much in sync with each other. That's gotta be a simple fix, just finding it before the hair is pulled out is the thing

[zombie]

That tiny oil light is an led. It wont be bad. The trouble is all on the =12v side so you have a bad power or ground somewhere. Since you have to pull the brake really hard I think the hose moves enough to push a connector together. Start by looking under the front cowl. Unplug. clean, and re connect it all.

[thebatman]

Well said.. 

[superfevergurl]

I got the bike apart in my living room and an reading the manual as much as possible (mainly to figure out what I'm looking at). I've checked all the wires in the back and they all look fine. It's hard checking the one's in the front, because they're all wrapped up and I have to cut all that off to see them. I do that tomorrow. I went ahead and ordered a voltage regulator (just waiting to receive it), hopefully that will help also. I also take it outside and give it a nice scrub down. Will have more info tomorrow once I get started.

[zombie]

Please do!

[superfevergurl]

Eureka!! I've found the problem for the brake light. There is a short in one of the wires going to the battery. Still no tailight, but I think the bulb I have is bad. Gonna buy a new one tomorrow and see if it works.



If you look closely there is a break in the yellow wire and also in the blue wire near the top left corner. One of these is the culprit, because once I play around with them my brake light worked fine.     

[thebatman]

Hell Yeah, Great find there...
That will sure cause it.. 
(that's a big pic too.. )

[superfevergurl]

I use this website (http://tinypic.com), when I post pics, cuz it will size the pic specifically for a message board/forum. However it made the pics really big.

Got a new bulbs and I have a taillight again. Woot! But I think re-wrapping all these wires it gonna take longer than it did to find the problem.

[zombie]

Woot!
You'all aint from around here are ya! Congrats on the stick to it ness. It ALWAYS feels good to find the problem...