ScootDawg Forums - View Single Post - Disc brake rattle question

Shadowfire · 03-29-2015, 11:20 PM

OK... took a turn a little too fast last week (still getting used to the bike.. I was turning at an intersection) and slid on the sand at the edge of the road, and dropped the bike at around 10mph. :( $150 for windshield and plastics.

I picked up a Bluetooth transmitter, ripped out the PCB, desoldered the USB and power jacks, and installed it internally on my TomTom. The Bluetooth PCB is powered from the TomTom's USB port instead of its battery, so it won't drain it. Also got a Bluetooth headset which installed quite easily into my helmet. I still haven't finalized how I'm going to get the GPS where I want it. There's no mounting points above the instrument cluster, I may end up gluing a small platform there for it.

I also ordered some Plastifix, since there were a bunch of threads that came pre-stripped on the plastics. I'll post next week to let you know how it pans out. I'm also using Weld-On 4 for repair of cracks/broken pieces. Externally it doesn't look that bad except for some scratches on the side of the front fairing (where it dropped on the snowbank) but I discovered several plastic tabs were broken when I stripped the plastics off.

I finally received the two 35W HID lamps. My first step was to replace the old lamps (it was fairly straightforward, and the HID kit came with the proper lamp backplates). Finding a space for the ballasts was less straightforward; I ended up using silicone to attach them to the area between the headlights, then modifying the existing harness in the fairing.

Upon firing up the bike, however, the lights would flicker at idle. It would go away once revved, but I took a look at the wiring diagram. The headlights are powered by the rectified regulated power rail, not the battery. I know that it has a 3-phase generator, and I suspected that the voltage was dropping far enough between phases to have the lights go out. I thought a bit about the problem and came up with 3 possible solutions:

1. Put a diode/large capacitor in front of each ballast. Unfortunately they are 35W (almost 3 amps each) systems and it would require a very large capacitor and each diode would also have to dissipate and additional 2W of heat, and would need weatherproofing.
2. Run a new circuit off the battery to power the headlights. The battery should not drop far enough to have the lights cut out during idle. The drawback here is that the battery ("blocking") diode now has to deliver an additional 6 amps for the headlight circuit.
3. Install a 2nd battery and charging diode for driving the headlights. I would need to use some of the limited space under the seat, and I wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of having to maintain two batteries, but it would prevent additional thermal load on the blocking diode.

I opted for option #2, purchasing an additional two automotive relays, an inline 10A fuse, and building up a wiring harness to run parallel to the existing wiring harness for the circuit to the battery. The highbeam/lowbeam switch now activates either the high or low relay, which connects the HID lights to the battery circuit. The lights no longer flicker at idle. Only time will tell if the diode can handle the extra current; I have no idea what power it is rated for (or is passing), but I'm probably naïve to think that there's 6A of headway engineered into this thing.

Anyways, pulled off the handlebars, and the flange bolt through the stem is bent by about 3-4 degrees... off to Fastenal again tomorrow to replace it. The handlebars that I received were the wrong ones, but it turns out that the existing handlebars aren't bent at all, it was an optical illusion due to the fact that the factory couldn't be assed to square up their work when welding the front fairing mounts to the frame (which also explains why the panels didn't line up when I originally reinstalled them).

03-29-2015, 11:20 PM	#12
Shadowfire Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 121	OK... took a turn a little too fast last week (still getting used to the bike.. I was turning at an intersection) and slid on the sand at the edge of the road, and dropped the bike at around 10mph. :( $150 for windshield and plastics. I picked up a Bluetooth transmitter, ripped out the PCB, desoldered the USB and power jacks, and installed it internally on my TomTom. The Bluetooth PCB is powered from the TomTom's USB port instead of its battery, so it won't drain it. Also got a Bluetooth headset which installed quite easily into my helmet. I still haven't finalized how I'm going to get the GPS where I want it. There's no mounting points above the instrument cluster, I may end up gluing a small platform there for it. I also ordered some Plastifix, since there were a bunch of threads that came pre-stripped on the plastics. I'll post next week to let you know how it pans out. I'm also using Weld-On 4 for repair of cracks/broken pieces. Externally it doesn't look that bad except for some scratches on the side of the front fairing (where it dropped on the snowbank) but I discovered several plastic tabs were broken when I stripped the plastics off. I finally received the two 35W HID lamps. My first step was to replace the old lamps (it was fairly straightforward, and the HID kit came with the proper lamp backplates). Finding a space for the ballasts was less straightforward; I ended up using silicone to attach them to the area between the headlights, then modifying the existing harness in the fairing. Upon firing up the bike, however, the lights would flicker at idle. It would go away once revved, but I took a look at the wiring diagram. The headlights are powered by the rectified regulated power rail, not the battery. I know that it has a 3-phase generator, and I suspected that the voltage was dropping far enough between phases to have the lights go out. I thought a bit about the problem and came up with 3 possible solutions: 1. Put a diode/large capacitor in front of each ballast. Unfortunately they are 35W (almost 3 amps each) systems and it would require a very large capacitor and each diode would also have to dissipate and additional 2W of heat, and would need weatherproofing. 2. Run a new circuit off the battery to power the headlights. The battery should not drop far enough to have the lights cut out during idle. The drawback here is that the battery ("blocking") diode now has to deliver an additional 6 amps for the headlight circuit. 3. Install a 2nd battery and charging diode for driving the headlights. I would need to use some of the limited space under the seat, and I wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of having to maintain two batteries, but it would prevent additional thermal load on the blocking diode. I opted for option #2, purchasing an additional two automotive relays, an inline 10A fuse, and building up a wiring harness to run parallel to the existing wiring harness for the circuit to the battery. The highbeam/lowbeam switch now activates either the high or low relay, which connects the HID lights to the battery circuit. The lights no longer flicker at idle. Only time will tell if the diode can handle the extra current; I have no idea what power it is rated for (or is passing), but I'm probably naïve to think that there's 6A of headway engineered into this thing. Anyways, pulled off the handlebars, and the flange bolt through the stem is bent by about 3-4 degrees... off to Fastenal again tomorrow to replace it. The handlebars that I received were the wrong ones, but it turns out that the existing handlebars aren't bent at all, it was an optical illusion due to the fact that the factory couldn't be assed to square up their work when welding the front fairing mounts to the frame (which also explains why the panels didn't line up when I originally reinstalled them).
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