So, I was supposed to be in Pinetop right now. Probably asleep by now. I would have made it up after work and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and dessert made by my daughter.
BUT
I am currently in Chandler, not asleep, and a bit grumpy.
On the way up, right after I filled up with gas in Payson (where gas is around 50-70 cents cheaper than in the valley), I heard a rattling type noise coming from my motorcycle when I disengaged the clutch. I tested out a few things and sure enough when the disengaged – rattle noise. Crap. So, I pulled off the road in Star Valley and did some looking. I didn’t see anything at first. I was worried that it was oil related since I changed the oil in the bike yesterday. The oil level was fine.
Next I did some internet searches and found not much at all. Except, something is wring in the transmission/clutch area. Thanks phone internet search. I called my wife and let her know I was working on things, and would be late. Then I called my dad and talked to him for a few minutes and came the conclusion that I really shouldn’t ride the bike any further in case something got worse. So, my dad and mom hooked up a trailer and drove over an hour to come and get me. I called “B” back and let her know that I wouldn’t be coming up today.
I went to dinner at the only place in Star Valley. I had a philly melt and fries. They were tasty. A nice man from the Ford dealership that I was parked next to gave me a ride to the resturant, and then I walked back to the bike. Then I did some more internet searches while I waited. Still not sure what is wrong.
My parents showed up and we got the bike loaded and headed back to Chandler. Had some good talks on the way down.
Got home and unloaded the bike. I was then going to fire the thing up and see if I could get it to make the sound so my father could hear it and…
The bike wouldn’t start at all. Something had rattled loose or something and there wasn’t power getting to the ignition. The turn signals, horn, and fan all worked, but no ignition. We could hear a relay flipping, but no ignition. Oh well, one more thing.
My parents left, and I deicide that I was very awake and got a head lamp and start looking over the bike to see if I could get it to start. I took the headlight out since that is where a lot of the wiring occurs. I wiggled things around and didn’t find any obvious issues. Then I checked the coil relay and all the wires were hooked to it. Then I took the plate covering the ignition coils and tried to fire up the bike and I could hear them clicking (I thought) but the bike still didn’t want to start. I tapped them both a little, and then put the cover back on. Then I checked around a little more to see if I saw any other wires loose. Nothing. So I gave it one more shot, and the bike started with no issues.
At that point it was 10:15pm and I was done. I wasn’t going out with the bike, but at least it started.
Now I have to figure out what is wrong with the clutch. I used motorcycle synthetic oil this time for the first time. I know Kawasaki says not to, but everything online says it is perfectly fine as long as it is designed for motorcycles with wet clutches which it was and mine is. My father thinks it could be the synthetic oil since that was the only change that has occurred, but I also wonder if the oil just brought an underlying issue to the forefront.
Not sure when I will get to working on it, and that irritates me, but oh well. Family is much more important so I will go see them tomorrow. I am also irritated because without the motorcycle it will take me a lot longer to get to school in the morning and home in the afternoon. I honestly expect the morning to go from 25-30 minutes to 45-55 minutes. It may almost be faster if I biked to school, but knowing my current “luck” I would get a flat tire on the way to school and have different issues.
I have wonderful parents. They didn’t have to come and get me, but they did. I am blessed so very much with how much the love me. Thank you mom and dad!