Nevermind...I found it! The OIF bike's oil lines are routed a bit differently and the drain/check plug was "hiding" underneath them.
OIF Question
- Thread starter The Seeker
- Start date
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LOL! Glad you found it.
[quote author=The Seeker link=topic=10178.msg51682#msg51682 date=1286285242]As far as the suspected charging system problem I had goes....I believe I have that under control now. It seems to be charging per specs and not draining too quickly anymore.
[/quote]
What did you do to fix the problem? I am curious because I am having a very similar if not same problem on my new to me '72 Bonneville, and just like you it happened like 2nd ride out after bringing it home last Friday
h:! I'm not positive yet that it's not my battery, pulled it tonight and put on a trickle charge.
[/quote]
What did you do to fix the problem? I am curious because I am having a very similar if not same problem on my new to me '72 Bonneville, and just like you it happened like 2nd ride out after bringing it home last Friday
h:! I'm not positive yet that it's not my battery, pulled it tonight and put on a trickle charge.
[quote author=DCrider link=topic=10178.msg52314#msg52314 date=1287199272]
What did you do to fix the problem? I am curious because I am having a very similar if not same problem on my new to me '72 Bonneville, and just like you it happened like 2nd ride out after bringing it home last Fridayh:! I'm not positive yet that it's not my battery, pulled it tonight and put on a trickle charge.
[/quote]
Well, I probably won't be able to give you anything that's going to help, but here's what I corrected.....
Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I took apart the switch housing on the left hand side because the headlamp dipper wasn't sliding smoothly and that I had a heck of a time putting it all back together. Well, apparently I didn't get it quite put back together 100% correctly. I had the copper slide in place wrong which caused the hi and lo beams to be on simultaneously. It wasn't immediately noticeable because when you switched it to LO, it went only to the LO beam, but when switched to HI, both HI and LO were on. Obviously, this was drawing too much current (ie: draining the battery faster than it could recharge).
The 1st thing you want to do though is to make sure your battery has enough distilled water in it. Then give it a good charging. Once fully charged-up, use a multimeter connected to the positive and negative battery terminals to see what it reads (set the multimeter to read DC Volts). It ought to be at LEAST 12 volts and probably should be around 13.78 with a healthy battery. If not, then your battery needs replacing. Next, with the multimeter still connected, turn the key to the ON position and see how much it drops. It should drop just a little to around 13.4 volts. Now start your motor and give it a few revs. The multimeter should now read around 14 to 14+ volts. That shows your charging system is functioning properly and is charging the battery. If those things all check out, then you should be OK.
If not, then post back here and we'll try and brainstorm what the problem might be.
What did you do to fix the problem? I am curious because I am having a very similar if not same problem on my new to me '72 Bonneville, and just like you it happened like 2nd ride out after bringing it home last Friday
h:! I'm not positive yet that it's not my battery, pulled it tonight and put on a trickle charge.[/quote]
Well, I probably won't be able to give you anything that's going to help, but here's what I corrected.....
Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I took apart the switch housing on the left hand side because the headlamp dipper wasn't sliding smoothly and that I had a heck of a time putting it all back together. Well, apparently I didn't get it quite put back together 100% correctly. I had the copper slide in place wrong which caused the hi and lo beams to be on simultaneously. It wasn't immediately noticeable because when you switched it to LO, it went only to the LO beam, but when switched to HI, both HI and LO were on. Obviously, this was drawing too much current (ie: draining the battery faster than it could recharge).
The 1st thing you want to do though is to make sure your battery has enough distilled water in it. Then give it a good charging. Once fully charged-up, use a multimeter connected to the positive and negative battery terminals to see what it reads (set the multimeter to read DC Volts). It ought to be at LEAST 12 volts and probably should be around 13.78 with a healthy battery. If not, then your battery needs replacing. Next, with the multimeter still connected, turn the key to the ON position and see how much it drops. It should drop just a little to around 13.4 volts. Now start your motor and give it a few revs. The multimeter should now read around 14 to 14+ volts. That shows your charging system is functioning properly and is charging the battery. If those things all check out, then you should be OK.
If not, then post back here and we'll try and brainstorm what the problem might be.
Another update...
I ordered a new headlamp bucket (shell) just because I'm anal and the one that came on the bike was slightly scratched-up. It arrived the other day and I couldn't wait to get it mounted.
What I thought would be a 1/2 hour change, turned into about 4 hours!!
When I opened the headlamp to begin unplugging wires I quickly realized that this was going to be a real bummer. The bottom of the shell has 3 holes for the wiring and in Triumph's infinite wisdom, there were wires that crossed BETWEEN the openings!! I didn't want to have to unplug ALL of those things especially when I wasn't sure how or where they all lead to. At first I was about to settle for having a slightly scratched shell, but then it hit me that I could work around this problem if I trashed the old shell and simply cut through the holes and made all 3 of them into one big one. So I pulled the rubber grommits from their holes and took my trusty tin snips to the bottom of the shell, connecting the three holes. That made it a simple task to push all the wiring out and remove the shell from the headlamp brackets. I transferred the warning lights into the new shell and mounted it. The new shell just had one big hole in the bottom instead of the three so after putting in a new rubber grommit, I was then able to feed the entire bundle of wires inside. I then transferred the actual headlamp into the new rim and all I have to do now is set-up the angle once it gets dark.
I ordered a new headlamp bucket (shell) just because I'm anal and the one that came on the bike was slightly scratched-up. It arrived the other day and I couldn't wait to get it mounted.
What I thought would be a 1/2 hour change, turned into about 4 hours!!
When I opened the headlamp to begin unplugging wires I quickly realized that this was going to be a real bummer. The bottom of the shell has 3 holes for the wiring and in Triumph's infinite wisdom, there were wires that crossed BETWEEN the openings!! I didn't want to have to unplug ALL of those things especially when I wasn't sure how or where they all lead to. At first I was about to settle for having a slightly scratched shell, but then it hit me that I could work around this problem if I trashed the old shell and simply cut through the holes and made all 3 of them into one big one. So I pulled the rubber grommits from their holes and took my trusty tin snips to the bottom of the shell, connecting the three holes. That made it a simple task to push all the wiring out and remove the shell from the headlamp brackets. I transferred the warning lights into the new shell and mounted it. The new shell just had one big hole in the bottom instead of the three so after putting in a new rubber grommit, I was then able to feed the entire bundle of wires inside. I then transferred the actual headlamp into the new rim and all I have to do now is set-up the angle once it gets dark.
That is very interesting that the wires crossed between the holes!
[quote author=CarlS link=topic=10178.msg52383#msg52383 date=1287359678]
That is very interesting that the wires crossed between the holes!
[/quote]
Well, I suspect that the main wiring harness enters through the center hole and then things like turn signal wires enter through their respective right and left holes. Since the turn signals have to be wired into the control, they cross between holes. That's all a guess of course since i wasn't about to try and decipher what was for what in that mess in there!
That is very interesting that the wires crossed between the holes!
[/quote]
Well, I suspect that the main wiring harness enters through the center hole and then things like turn signal wires enter through their respective right and left holes. Since the turn signals have to be wired into the control, they cross between holes. That's all a guess of course since i wasn't about to try and decipher what was for what in that mess in there!
You discover many interesting things working on old Brit bikes. :y114:
[quote author=The Seeker link=topic=10178.msg52332#msg52332 date=1287244671]
Another update...
I ordered a new headlamp bucket (shell) just because I'm anal ....................
[/quote]
I thought they made the Carb's............??
Another update...
I ordered a new headlamp bucket (shell) just because I'm anal ....................
[/quote]
I thought they made the Carb's............??
Well, let's see.....
This bike is supposed to have taller handlebars and since the present ones had a few minor scratches, I bought the proper type for it along with chrome bolts for the mounts. The bike does feel nicer with the taller bars for sure.
I still haven't decided if I want to cover-up the perfectly preserved front forks with the fork gaiters I bought yet. It'll take a lot of work to install them and then a lot of work to remove them if I should decide I don't care for them. This is a tough decision.
I also bought a set of chrome chain adjusters (with related hardware) and chrome rear shock mounting bolts all of which I have yet to install.
Lastly, I bought a set of the fuel tank knee pads. I got them all lined-up properly on the tank and attempted to mount them (they are the glue-on type) with a glue called Automotive GOOP. I've used this stuff many times before on cars for attaching weatherstripping and trim..... always with great results. So I smear it around on the back of the knee pads and I put them on the tank using masking tape to keep them in place overnight until the glue dried. Well, to my dismay they looked great at first, but then once I got the engine heat rising up, the glue stopped holding them on! I was terrified that it may have ruined the paint underneath, but then I realized that I could simply "roll" it off with my fingers leaving no damage to the paint at all. It took some time to get it all off, but I dis eventually. It seems this glue doesn't want to stick of the back of the kneepads for some reason. You couldn't even tell there was ever any glue applied to the back of them!?
I'm thinking I may have to go to a car parts store and buy some of that black weatherstripping adhesive glue. Or, if anyone has ever glued kneepads on before, tell me what type of glue you used?
This bike is supposed to have taller handlebars and since the present ones had a few minor scratches, I bought the proper type for it along with chrome bolts for the mounts. The bike does feel nicer with the taller bars for sure.
I still haven't decided if I want to cover-up the perfectly preserved front forks with the fork gaiters I bought yet. It'll take a lot of work to install them and then a lot of work to remove them if I should decide I don't care for them. This is a tough decision.
I also bought a set of chrome chain adjusters (with related hardware) and chrome rear shock mounting bolts all of which I have yet to install.
Lastly, I bought a set of the fuel tank knee pads. I got them all lined-up properly on the tank and attempted to mount them (they are the glue-on type) with a glue called Automotive GOOP. I've used this stuff many times before on cars for attaching weatherstripping and trim..... always with great results. So I smear it around on the back of the knee pads and I put them on the tank using masking tape to keep them in place overnight until the glue dried. Well, to my dismay they looked great at first, but then once I got the engine heat rising up, the glue stopped holding them on! I was terrified that it may have ruined the paint underneath, but then I realized that I could simply "roll" it off with my fingers leaving no damage to the paint at all. It took some time to get it all off, but I dis eventually. It seems this glue doesn't want to stick of the back of the kneepads for some reason. You couldn't even tell there was ever any glue applied to the back of them!?
I'm thinking I may have to go to a car parts store and buy some of that black weatherstripping adhesive glue. Or, if anyone has ever glued kneepads on before, tell me what type of glue you used?
I mounted my knee pads with double sided tape about 15 years ago and they're still exactly where I put them.
I resisted using some type of glue for fear of it oozing out and making a mess.
I resisted using some type of glue for fear of it oozing out and making a mess.
[quote author=The Seeker link=topic=10178.msg52858#msg52858 date=1288197553]
Well, let's see.....
This bike is supposed to have taller handlebars and since the present ones had a few minor scratches, I bought the proper type for it along with chrome bolts for the mounts. The bike does feel nicer with the taller bars for sure. [/quote]
I like the looks and the feel of the taller bars.
GP would be the one to tell you. It has been 30 + years since I glued any on. I did get the glue from an automotive shop. You are progressing right along. Please post some pics of the finished product.
Well, let's see.....
This bike is supposed to have taller handlebars and since the present ones had a few minor scratches, I bought the proper type for it along with chrome bolts for the mounts. The bike does feel nicer with the taller bars for sure. [/quote]
I like the looks and the feel of the taller bars.
If you don't plan to ride it in the weather and as a daily rider, you can leave them. But if you ride much, they will get pitted from stones, bugs sand, etc. That is why I have then on our 03 Bonnies.
GP would be the one to tell you. It has been 30 + years since I glued any on. I did get the glue from an automotive shop. You are progressing right along. Please post some pics of the finished product.
[quote author=Rocky link=topic=10178.msg52861#msg52861 date=1288198001]
I mounted my knee pads with double sided tape about 15 years ago and they're still exactly where I put them.
I resisted using some type of glue for fear of it oozing out and making a mess.
[/quote]
Darn you Rocky!!! I don't know why I didn't think of that too!! Great idea!!! Thanks...
I mounted my knee pads with double sided tape about 15 years ago and they're still exactly where I put them.
I resisted using some type of glue for fear of it oozing out and making a mess.
[/quote]
Darn you Rocky!!! I don't know why I didn't think of that too!! Great idea!!! Thanks...
[quote author=CarlS link=topic=10178.msg52863#msg52863 date=1288200884]
If you don't plan to ride it in the weather and as a daily rider, you can leave them. But if you ride much, they will get pitted from stones, bugs sand, etc. That is why I have then on our 03 Bonnies.
[/quote]
I'm actually more interested in the "look" of the bike with or without them. With them, the bike is way more retro looking. But then a '78 isn't supposed to have them and these forks are almost too pretty to cover up. I guess I could mount them and if I decide I don't care for that look, then I could just cut them off.
If you don't plan to ride it in the weather and as a daily rider, you can leave them. But if you ride much, they will get pitted from stones, bugs sand, etc. That is why I have then on our 03 Bonnies.
[/quote]
I'm actually more interested in the "look" of the bike with or without them. With them, the bike is way more retro looking. But then a '78 isn't supposed to have them and these forks are almost too pretty to cover up. I guess I could mount them and if I decide I don't care for that look, then I could just cut them off.
Cutting them off is definitely the easiest way to remove. Makes them a little hard to to reuse, though. :y114:
I have only ever used 3M auto weatherstrip adhesive on tank pads, with 100% success (apply to both surfaces, let tack, then masking taped overnight)
Fork gaiters keep your stanchion tubes from getting nicked by debris, and help your seals last much longer.
Fork gaiters keep your stanchion tubes from getting nicked by debris, and help your seals last much longer.
