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All posts for the month June, 2012

What? you don’t take apart your motorcycle on your birthday? Well, I do. Pics are for the rest of the brave F650-riding community. You can see the placement of the three switch diodes, and the BMS diode in the wiring tray and harness. Next up is the actual diodes, which are ultrasonically bonded to the tabs. This is a decent method of fixturing, but as with all mechanical fixturing, it’s prone to fracture. The result? A No Run or No Start condition that is one heck of a pain to diagnose.

There are a lot of firsts in motorcycling – the first big lean, the first successful evasive maneuver, the first time to split lanes. This is a picture of the right side footpeg on my F650GSa, freshly ground. The pegs on the F are spring-loaded and retract under contact, so the grind is less of an event than it is on most bikes running fixed pegs.

Grinding is a weird sensation. If your foot is positioned properly (toe tucked in), you only feel the vibration through the bike.  You can hear the metal grinding away, and it’s a bit surprising. It was one of those “oh, that’s what that is like” moments.

I think I want to do it again on the other side.