Aqua Bike

[devlin]

How's this weather? The dams are getting full and so is my bike. I rode in this morning in torrential rain and rode home this afternoon in more torrential. It also sat all day in the rain. Now, on the way home it went from running fine to coughing and splurttering and not idling. Also no power when trying to move off. Managed to nurse it home and thought my air box might have gotten water in it, but it was dry when I checked it. It was hard to start when I got on it this afternoon. Would it just be water in the electrics? Has anybody suffered from this before?

[Killerwhale]

How's this weather? The dams are getting full and so is my bike. I rode in this morning in torrential rain and rode home this afternoon in more torrential. It also sat all day in the rain. Now, on the way home it went from running fine to coughing and splurttering and not idling. Also no power when trying to move off. Managed to nurse it home and thought my air box might have gotten water in it, but it was dry when I checked it. It was hard to start when I got on it this afternoon. Would it just be water in the electrics? Has anybody suffered from this before?

I think one of the "classics" are water down on top of sparkies....

[Mincehead]

We in the northern hemisphere are fully aware of the importance of water displacement/silicon sprays and sealants around connector blocks,HT leads and such like Devlin,our weather patterns force us to do it.
If we didn`t the problems you`ve experienced would be an everyday occurrence!
Get one of the many types of sprays for this purpose,pull apart connector blocks,give them a blast of air or blow them out by breath,liberal dose of spray and reconnect.
Obviously pay particular attention to the connectors of the coils,ignition,charging system,high tension(plug leads)and caps too.The silicon sprays also leave a `film` water will run off more easily too,so it`ll help future ingress of water and give some corrosion protection to the terminals and connectors as well.
I`ve actually used fish tank silicon to `seal` connector blocks before now if they continually give trouble,it`s not that solid that you cannot pull them apart again at any time.

[slow codger]

What he said ^^^^^^

Your not using metal spark plug caps are you !!! Back to the 70's, my how we laughed at the original fitment of those, Italians especially dont have rain it appears so didnt have a problem with them!

Dave E

[devlin]

Ah yes that makes perfect sense and the symptoms exhibit exactly what your talking about. I think I'll still catch the bus tomorrow anyway and get some spray on the way home. My waterproof pants aren't and it's was getting boring explaining the wet patch at work. Fortunately this is a rare occurance(sp?) for us.

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR663.loop.shtml#skip

edit: slow codger was being a quick old fart this time. I haven't checked but I doubt it. I might give them a full inspection and put some new ones one anyway. I have fresh spark plugs waiting to go in as well.

[slow codger]

Yep caught the bus many a time back then after being knackered jumping up and down on kick starters in full kit and waterproofs. New one piece water proof was £30 from the bike show, works a treat!

Dave E

[steve speed]

amalgamation tape from maplins works a treat for me , or if its tipping down i go in my nice warm van

[ekoja]

In the rain we had yesterday it's a wonder anything ran, Geez did it rain.

[devlin]

A quater of Brisbanes annual rainfall average fell in 24hrs!!!!!

[trxster]

I rode in it myself, tuesday and wednesday, tamborine mtn to the coast, what a mission! that was close to the worst i have ever ridden in. And the wind up here on the mtn was howling, trees down all over the place. Not today my friends, a sickie was taken, and not a single guilt feeling of letting the workmates down.
Devlin, give "Lanoguard" grease a go,' it's pure lanolin,extracted from sheep wool', around the connector blocks, after you have dried them out, smear a little around the gap between male and female connectors ........ here we go! and some in where the wires enter the back of the connectors.

[devlin]

Will do. Fortunately weather like that is not common.

I would say it's the worst rain I have ever ridden in. In 2000 I rode down from Sydney to PI for the GP ona CBR250RR. Going from Cranbourne round to the island the cross winds were atrocious. Fully leaning into the wind just to stay upright. Worst bit is you'd ride behind some trees and nearly fall over . Then when you popped back into the wind you'd be blown off the road. Hardest thing I ever had to do on a bike. I suppose I could have slowed down from 100kph and make it easier on myself.

[cobbadiggabuddyblooo]

Yer bit of a challenge hey out on the road yesterday.. Thank god its only one day every blue moon type thing for us, not like for some of the folks who have to deal with it as the norm... Wonder why they call it the Lucky country.. But everything has its good points

[slow codger]

A quarter of Brisbanes annual rainfall is a daily shower here !!

Dave E

[devlin]

Did the clean up last night. Right hand side plug, the lead had lifted up a tiny bit and it was water logged. Changed the plugs but didn't have any silicon spray so I just greased up the flange and plugged it back together. Didn't start it till this morning in the garage and I doubt anybody was asleep after that. Man those epipes have a bark to them. Did 2nd gear power floaters all the way to work. Still grinning 2 hours later.

[G Beale]

Did 2nd gear power floaters all the way to work. Still grinning 2 hours later.

2nd gear ! Mine floats in 1st now with 17t front & 42 rear sprockets + correct profile rear tyre but no chance in 2nd ! Maybe 200lb rider doesn't help ?