Progress on "The Beast"

My fear has been realized. It was the bane of my existence when I had my 35 year career in telecommunications and I.T. What is it you ask? A system that goes down, with not just one problem causing the outage, but multiple problems, making troubleshooting difficult and sometimes finally resulting in a "shotgun approach".... replacing everything replaceable and getting the system operational again. Usually an expensive proposition.

I received the replacement left heated grip for the first new one I inadvertently broke while installing it. It went on just fine and I metered it afterwards to make sure I still had continuity. 2.4 ohms... perfect! I temporarily wired it in and tested the heaters. No heat. Shit!... time to dig in and do some serious troubleshooting.

The pile of parts removed so far. It will be growing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The service manual is open to the electrical portion and Chapter 17 - Heaters. There is a long step by step process, but with the bike partially disassembled I could test some individual components and "cheat" a bit. First thing was to check both fuses with a meter and neither one was blown open. Next is the heater system relay. The book says to replace it with a known good one. The one for the horn and turn signals is the same type. I did a double test by using the relays to try and operate both systems. Both relays operated the horn and turn signals, but would not turn the heaters on. The grip heaters are wired in series with the rear seat heater. Because the seat was out, I had access to the connector for the rear seat heater. This allowed me to meter the entire grip heater circuit which proved that the throttle grip heater was good. I then metered the rear seat heater and got the normal 2.4 ohms. I then metered the main seat heater elements and found both of them to be good. The seat heaters use thermistor circuitry to ensure the seats don't "get too hot." In the manual, there is a chart that shows thermistor resistance based on temperature. My super duper Klein True RMS multimeter has a temperature probe. It was about 10 degrees C in the garage yesterday, and the chart said the thermistor should read between 90 and 101 ohms. All 4 thermistors read a perfect 98 ohms. It's gotta be chilly when you work on this system or it will not operate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The left grip has the Kuryakyn chrome grip cover installed to protect it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You'll notice the dashboard and speaker grilles are out. I needed to ensure the potentiometers that control the amount of heat desired by way of controlling the voltage output from the heater control unit were connected. They are located below the LCD screen and just above and on both sides of the ignition key. Something I did not check previously. I found out the service department had that out to do the fork seals according to the service procedure. There is one multi pin connector for the pots and the switches that control the display which were all working. This also allowed me to clean dust and debris from behind the speaker grilles that blows in through the fairing.

So, the next thing I need to do is pull the lower trunk half and then the left saddlebag to access the heater control unit and the main cable connector. I will need to connect all the elements and meter right to the connector. It starts with the basics of voltage and ground, and progresses to the other elements. Hopefully it is a simple wiring issue and doesn't turn out to be the main controller unit.

 

Carried In GFDZ's Today

Not once, but twice.

Our local school held their annual Veteran Breakfast and program. I was armed with my Ruger LCP in a pocket holster. Not my preferred firearm for cold weather, but better than nothing and perfect for deep cover. Absolutely no chance of anyone inadvertently catching a glimpse of my firearm or holster. I was deep inside the school, full of students, faculty, and other veterans from town. No one there was EVER in danger, regardless of what panty-peeing hoplophobes or anti-gun tyrants want you to think. But you know who would have been in danger? Anyone wishing to carry out mass murder unopposed.

From there, I went to the Post Office to mail a bunch of first class items. The USPS is closed for the federal holiday but the P.O. Box lobby is open and I used the inside mail drop. It is debatable whether I actually violated the law, since postal carry prohibitions have been declared unconstitutional in the U.S. 5th District. These constitutional rulings cover the 5th District region of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, as well as anyone that was a member of the FPC (Firearms Policy Coalition) and the SAF (Second Amendment Foundation) of which I am a Life Member of the latter when the ruling came down. Those gun rights organizations were plaintiffs in the case, therefore the ruling applies to their members.

GFDZ's will always cease to exist when I am there. 

 

 

GFDZ = Gun Free Death Zone 

To The Range Today

My wife was out of town at a Christmas Craft Fair at Mohegan Sun, so I just felt like throwing some long range lead today out to 200 yards this afternoon. I only took 30 rounds with me and at that just shot 12 in a little less than 2 hours. Set up and break down took quite a bit of time. My rifle is zeroed to 100 yards. Using my dope card I dialed up the windage and elevation required to get out to 200. The 7.62x54r cartridge shoots a hair flatter than .308 with a 100 yard zero. Out to 200 the .308 drops 3.7 inches but the 7.62x54r drops 3.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got mixed results. I cleaned the bore and then touched off a fouling shot at the 200 yard gong. A previous shooter painted all the plates black, which is hard to see with a black reticle that most scopes have, So I painted a white spot in the middle. My hit is circled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next I took aim at this Birchwood-Casey spatter type bullseye target. The first shot was right on the line of the 9-10 ring at about 11 o'clock. The next one was just above it. The third shot was just above the red center at 12 o'clock. A little disappointing to say the least. On the other hand, it's been about 7 months since the last time I did some long range shooting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then moved over to this target also made by Birchwood-Casey. The next two shots were at the large center diamond. First shot was left, the second was right. Geez, I am really sucking today! The shot in the upper left small diamond was later in the session and after the next shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just for ha-ha's I took a shot at the thick disk lying on it's side. It too, had been painted black so I rotated it for an unshot surface and sprayed about a 3" diameter spot of white. I had hit this target before and just like then, I put one round dead center where I was aiming. That's when I decided to go back to the target with diamond and aim for the upper left one pretty confident I was gonna punch the center. DAMMIT! off by about an inch. WTF?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did an internet search on what my problem could be. Basically the response was "aim small, hit small." So I tested that theory with my next 3 shots against some rocks I rounded up a little bigger that my fist. I hit each one with one shot at 200 yards turning them into clouds of dust. Apparently my trouble is all psychological because it certainly isn't my equipment.

This last shot was because I don't like odd numbers and wanted to shoot an even 12. This was at the 75 yard gong without readjusting my scope but holding low on a guesstimate. Centered by windage and just a bit low on elevation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This rifle performs better than I can make it unless I spend a lot more time at the range with it and make a shit ton more ammo. But knowing that the purpose of this rifle is to engage and destroy "man sized" targets of opportunity from a hidey hole in a case of FAFO, I need to not be so hard on myself. Every one of today's 12 shots would have produced satisfactory results, and unlike the SEAL snipers in the movie "Captain Phillips," I won't be lying prone on the fantail of a pitching naval destroyer while taking aim at an also pitching small craft with bad guys inside.

Well, This Should Be Fun

On Wednesday November 19th, I will be visiting my daughter's Kindergarten classes, reading them this book:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will read it aloud to them while wearing my firefighting boots and pants. At the end of the story, Fireman Joe gives all the kids plastic fire hats which I will do as well. Afterwards I will demonstrate putting on the rest of my gear including an air pack, and show the kids what we look and sound like if we have to come into their house to rescue them. We tell the kids not to be scared and go run and hide, but to come to us even though we look and sound kinda scary. Afterwards an open Q & A which is always entertaining. My daughter seems to think the questions will be all about the amazing fact that I am her Dad, not about being a fireman.

In October I did my 19th Fire Prevention program at our local school. I have been in charge of it since 2006 when the subject came up and the Chief was looking for someone to run it. I have done it ever since. Sometimes I have a helper to do the gear demonstration, but other times it is just me like it was this year. We currently do Pre-K to second grade, but I have spoken to the school about moving the program up to second to fifth grade. My thought is if we REALLY want to engage the kids in fire prevention, they need to be a little older where fire safety points make sense, and it's not just about seeing a big red fire truck.

DAMMIT!!!

While installing the new grip and following the instructions, the grip got stuck halfway on the handlebar. As I twisted it to get it to move, I heard and felt the telltale "cracking" sounds of the heater mesh breaking. I got it off and checked it with an Ohmmeter. Wide open.... and trashed! FUCK! $226 down the shitter. Prior to removing (and destroying) the old grip I put the Ohmmeter on it to verify it was open, which it was. The new one showed continuity. 

I spent some time to try and source a new one from a different vendor, but the eBay seller in Japan I bought the first one from is still the cheapest for OEM. I checked with Manchester Honda because sometimes the dealer is actually cheaper (I have run into this with Toyota). Nope. Just for the left grip they quoted me $302 plus tax. I looked into some aftermarket grips made by Show Chrome that are supposed to be plug and play with the Goldwing system, but the ones I need are out of stock everywhere. If I had gotten those I would then return the Kuryakyn ISO Grips because the Show Chrome version has ISO grips built in.

I felt like an idiot ordering the same item from the same seller, but the deed is done. I did a test with the one I broke and it seems that coating everything with Windex makes it slide on easily, and once the Windex dries no glue will be necessary. I work tomorrow and then have the following 6 days off. I'll tackle it again then. I had the last one straight from Japan in just a few days.

 Excuse me while I go outside and scream at the sky. 😮