Maintenance Log – Page 14 – Not Your Average Engineer

January 16, 2012July 4, 2020

LED Light Project Update

As I discussed last year in the spring, I have been contemplating for some time changing over the incandescent bulbs on my motorcycle to LED. Due to a recent test run of a 90 watt electric heated vest, I have determined that I need to go ahead with the LED conversion project. Also in light of my impending fuel injection conversion project, it is time to upgrade. Thus tonight I placed an order on Amazon for LED bulbs to replace every incandescent on the bike. The table below shows what I purchased and how much I paid.

NOTE:

Bulb Description	Qty	Generic Bulb	Lens Color	Amazon Bulb Description	Reported LED Color	LED Cost	Shipping Costs
Tail Light	2	1157	Red	2pcs 1157 Bay15D 18 SMD 5050 LED STOP BRAKE TAIL LIGHT BULBS 12V-RED	Red	$18.99♠	$5.99
Center Brake/License Plate Light	1	T10	Red/Clear	4x 194 168 5-SMD White High Power LED Car Lights Bulb ♣	White	$9.98	Free
Rear Turn Signal	2	1156	Amber	2 of LED 2W 12V White Omni Bulb BA15S 1156 P21W Brake Tail 18 5050 SM ♥	White	$4.99	$2.74
Front Turn Signal	2	1157	Amber	2 of LED 2W 12V White Omni Bulb BAY15D 1157 P21W Brake Tail 18 5050 S ♥	White	$4.99	$2.74
Dash Lights	10	T10	Varies	4x 194 168 5-SMD White High Power LED Car Lights Bulb ♣	White	$9.98	Free
Notes: ♠The Amazon page indicates that I should receive a pair of bulbs. ♣These come in packs of four. The center brake/license plate light and instrument cluster use the same bulbs. The bike needs a total of 11 bulbs of this type. ♥These are supposed to come in packs of two. I only could find a white LED bulb in this style on Amazon rather than amber. Hopefully they will perform as expected.

The total including shipping for the order came to $78.41. This price is only for the LED bulbs and does not include the electronic flasher that I will need to ensure that my turn signals blink at the proper rate. I chose to hold off on buying that until I have the bike’s tupperwear off and can properly investigate the self-canceling turn signal system. It appears that I will be replacing a three pin flasher relay but I might also need to replace a four pin latching relay. Further investigation will need to be performed when I have the bike apart and am able to access the electronics. I suspect that I might need to isolate the turn signal self-cancel unit with relays and use some resistors to show the unit the amount of resistance it expects to see when a full set of incandescent bulbs are present. If I somehow manage to destroy the self canceling turn signal module, I might end up building my own solution using some spare parts I have lying around. Hopefully I can make the existing module work with LEDs though. The wattage savings will be worth my trouble.

As I continue with this project, I will post updates on my blog. Watch this website for more details.

January 8, 2012

Injector Bungs Installed

Today I successfully installed the injector bungs into the PC800 carbs. Many months back, I had drilled the requisite holes for injector bungs just below the butterfly valves. Recent playing with the electrical system on my XL500S sparked renewed desire to complete the PC800 fuel injection project. After cleaning up the holes a bunch yesterday, today I was ready to JB Weld the bungs in place. The above picture shows both bungs JB Welded in place and waiting to be trimmed down to the cylinder walls. The orange things are injectors.

I used JB Weld SteelStik for its superior ability not to drip everywhere. It begins to set in about four minutes so working time is rather limited. The packaging claims that after an hour the stuff is structurally ready to be used. Not bad for a product that comes in a tube.

After a lot of quality time with a dremel tool, I shaved down the injector bung to be flush with the throttle body wall. I intentionally placed the injector partially into the throttle body passage.

Checking for clearance on the extra PC800 engine that Bart has been loaning me for many months. Thanks Bart!!!

Plenty of clearance for some injector bosses. The bosses are next on my list to make. More on that later.

The injector on the other side. In spite of how it looks, there will be enough room for the plug to clear the cylinder head. Hopefully I won’t run into trouble with things melting from being so close to the hot head.

Looking down the throat of one of the throttle bodies. Nice and smooth all the way down. The injector is just peaking into the bore.

Good fit in this direction, too. The black thing above is the air cleaner box. Plenty of room to route fuel lines and whatnot.

My temporary workbench. I have another project laid out on my wooden workbench so thus I am using this old table I got from an ex girlfriend many years ago. The next step is to use the brass blocks (one is just above the permanent marker just left of center in the photo) to create injector bosses. I have everything I need except for a ream of appropriate size. None of the shops around here carry reams. It looks like I might have to suck up the cost and buy one from McMaster Carr unless I can find a better local source.

Following the injector boss creation and mounting, I will then complete mounting the sensors on the air intake manifold (temp sensor, manifold air pressure sensor, ambient air pressure sensor). I also will mount the throttle position sensor onto the throttle bodies with an aluminum plate that is out of the frame of the photo. Then it will be time to install the wide-band O2 sensor and associated gauge on my PC800, purchase a fuel pump, pressure regulator, and fuel filter, and start installing things. Perhaps by the end of winter term (which starts tomorrow), I will be assembling parts onto the PC800 and be in the home stretch of this project!

November 20, 2011January 3, 2012

Things to Repair on the Gangly Giraffe

Riding the Gangly Giraffe in the snow yesterday, I came up with the following list of things that I would like to fix/repair on the bike before I undertake any major rides. These are rank ordered by priority. The top four or five are high priority while the rest are of decreasing importance. I need to bring the Gangly Giraffe into my apartment soon so that I can disassemble it and start figuring out exactly what parts I will need to buy. UPDATE: I have fixed all high priority items. Pretty much everything else is cosmetic or for my curiosity only.

Replace right shock upper bolt and washer that were lost on the snow ride. Check to make sure all the rubber pieces are there. I found a rubber collar on the ground by the bike that is now sitting next to my desk. – FIXED
Fix rear tire shimmy. Probably something to do with the axle/bearing. Could also be the chain catching. Need to drop out the rear wheel and inspect everything. – FIXED
Replace tail light bulb. The running light is out. – FIXED
Lube the decompression cable and check the whole decompression system. – FIXED
Replace all top-end seals. Looks like several seals are leaking oil. – UPDATE: a very small seep is coming from the head cover and head gaskets. There is also a small seep from the decompression valve shaft. Nothing is bad enough to warrant repairs. As long as I keep an eye on the oil level, it shouldn’t matter.
Repair exhaust leak on muffler.
Hunt down electrical problems that sometimes cause the fuse to blow out. – FIXED
Lube all control cables. – FIXED
Check all bolts to make sure that they are tightened properly. – FIXED
Clean oil screen in crank case.
Rebuild front shocks.
Take care of rust issues on fuel tank.
Take care of rust issues on wheels and spokes.
Recover seat and replace foam.
Procure extra tire tubes, tire patches, tire spoons, small air pump, slime, etc… to patch tires as needed on the road.
Get extra fuses to keep on the bike.
Build up a toolkit for the bike.