The Wanderer III

[mcgovern61]

made2care » Mon Jan 22, 2018 10:01 am[/url]":2jnhkdjz]
I was cleaning the fuel sending unit a few days ago and when I placed it back into the tank (recently cleaned) I wondered this.
What if there was a short in the wire that sits on the sending unit. Why do these gas tanks never blow up, whether it be on a car or motorcycle?

I am pretty sure there is no power in that circuit to the sender. I think it is just a resistance reading. If a wire breaks, it just kills the resistance reading, no short circuit.

 

[desertrefugee]

mcgovern61 » Mon Jan 22, 2018 8:56 am[/url]":51z005dd]

made2care » Mon Jan 22, 2018 10:01 am[/url]":51z005dd]
I was cleaning the fuel sending unit a few days ago and when I placed it back into the tank (recently cleaned) I wondered this.
What if there was a short in the wire that sits on the sending unit. Why do these gas tanks never blow up, whether it be on a car or motorcycle?

I am pretty sure there is no power in that circuit to the sender. I think it is just a resistance reading. If a wire breaks, it just kills the resistance reading, no short circuit.

Not exactly. Without power, there's no resistance. There's certainly voltage in that line - and it varies depending on the level of the sensor, i.e. its resistance changes. That's what provides the reading. It's part of the regulated 7V circuit that we all know can cause issues with the instrumentation. Automotive designs have been employing this approach for many years. I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

 

[Ansimp]

It is a negative feed from the sensor/ sender. You also have a voltage regulator in the supply/positive side (7v) and plenty of stuff to fry up before you could push 12v down to the fuel tank/sender.
As Darrell said “it works well”. :yes:

 

[made2care]

Carbs are back from mike Nixon. Didn't take him long and reasonable pricing too. I finally found the time to install them. Very excited to get this bike fired up. Been sitting since 2011. Pics and video coming soon.

 

[mjanderson]

:good:

 

[made2care]

So here we go. I had to order a replacement fairing since the original was wrecked. Transfer all the wiring and such over then install on bike. Remove rear wheel and de- rust gas tank. shipped off carbs, reinstalled. This is a video of a 3rd start. The initial start took a while for gas to get to carbs.

Lots more to do but at least she runs.

https://youtu.be/BeRmsUDZc2w

[video]https://youtu.be/BeRmsUDZc2w[/video]


p.s. what is the correct idle range for this bike. 1985 gl 1200

 

[slabghost]

Idle should be right around 1000 rpm. A little more or less is fine.

 

[slabghost]

Nice video. Bike sounds good!

 

[Ansimp]

:good:

 

[dan filipi]

Sounds real good.

 

[Daeouse]

Sounds absolutely marvelous!

 

[julimike54]

Sounds good opcorn:

 

[made2care]

Okay, after bleeding clutch and brakes and she now has fresh brake fluid , all is well there. I did have to rebuild rear caliper. No leaks , all works. I changed the oil , everything okay there. I did not change the antifreeze yet and took her out for the first time. Runs smooth, gears shift perfectly. I went for a short ride, maybe 2 miles and noticed temp gauge was climbing. As I pulled in to my garage the radiator fan kicked on and the temp outside was around 45. Soooo, I will start with easy stuff. Flush and clean radiator. If it still overheats I will replace thermostat. If that does not fix it, then it's the water pump . Am I missing anything?
This bike sat for 7 years , can antifreeze go bad in that amount of time. Is there a way to check the water pump electrically.

 

[slabghost]

Yes antifreeze goes bad. But the fan just kicked on. Where did it read on the gauge? Sounds like it might be "normal".

 

[Rednaxs60]

Have been following your project, coming along good.

No way to check water pump, it either works or it doesn't. I would check the thermostat first, take it out and check it.

Coolant won't go bad, but additives may become less effective with time. Shouldn't affect the engine temperature either way. I'd change out the coolant.

May want to take the rad and have it cleaned - lots of crud can build up after 33 years. The rads on the 1200 are smaller than the 1000/1100, and just large enough to provide good cooling at highway speeds. When you operate in town, stop/go or heavy traffic, engine temp will rise, but returns to normal after a short stint back at highway speeds. Honda called it a high efficiency rad. It was good the fan came on, that circuit is working.

I thought I had cooling issues after I installed an external alternator. Went through everything, including a new rad core. Here are some pictures of the old rad core ends. No internal pictures of course but when I inspected the core, there was significant reduction in the passages. The fellow that did the work, been at it for many years, estimated a 30 to 40 percent internal flow reduction.

I have removed the aftermarket rad cover. I measured the air restriction from the aftermarket grill and found it to reduce the cooling area by about 18%, a significant amount for a cooling system that is just large enough for the 1200. I have been operating the bike with no rad cover (the OEM is just a mesh that might stop extra big bugs). I think this is helping a lot as well. Here are some pics of the OEM and aftermarket rad grills. The after market rad grill has 17 slats that 1/8" by 10". The rad size is 10" by 11". Aftermarket Grill:

I'm riding my 1200 here in Victoria, temps in the 5 to 10 deg C range. Takes a while to get to operating temp, but after it does, riding in town - stop/go, the engine temp does rise. At these temperatures, the engine will still heat up at idle such that the fan will come on.

RPM for the 1200 is 1000 +/- 100 RPM.

Just a few thoughts.

Do you have the 1200 OEM service manual, or the electrical troubleshooting manual? Have these in PDF - large file - can send by wetransfer but need email. Pm if you would like me to send.

Cheers

 

[dan filipi]

The pump can be checked for bad bearing by removing the lower hose flange from the engine. With your finger, see if the impeller can be pushed side to side or up and down.
There should be very little to no movement.
Check also it does spin by cranking the engine over with the kill switch off so it won’t start.

I’m thinkin it shouldnt have heated up enough to turn the fan on at that low of outside temp if you were moving the entire time. Hard to say without being there but if it warms up while idling, fan comes on and it cools down, then repeats that cycle, that’s pretty normal.

This is a very worn pump bearing:

[video]https://youtu.be/VWOcToW3My8[/video]

 

[made2care]

Can i run a radiator cleaner through this bike?

 

[dan filipi]

made2care » Today, 9:17 am[/url]":2wnmju94]
Can i run a radiator cleaner through this bike?

Sure, but I wouldn’t waste money on the stuff they sell now. I’ve tried some of them and they do little if anything to remove scale build up.

Now if you can get hold of the old 2 part cleaner, that stuff worked but I think the EPA has banned it.

 

[made2care]

Okay, I found a local radiator shop that will clean it. This needs to be done right! I'm also going to replace the thermostat while I have the radiator out. So, hopefully I can take her out this weekend for a longer ride and see if that fixes the issue.

 

[made2care]

Good news, no great news! I drained the coolant, removed lower hose and noticed that water pump propeller is metal and solid, no play. I also pressed starter button with ignition switch off and pump works.
I then decided to run some coolant flush and then run some clean distilled water through. Filled with non silicate 50/50 mix. I also cleaned the exterior of the radiator with some degreaser.
Took her for a 5 mile spin and it went up to 4 bars (Temp). I think its fixed. Decided to clean it without removing and taking down to radiator shop , so i saved a little.

Next up, complete wiring and put everything back together. Bike has some power !! :moped: