First big trip: SFBay to Anaheim

I'm posting for the cathartic process; noone will learn anything reading this. Despite never having met any of you good bastards, and being a late arrival to Grisohood, I still feel in the club. Even without goat leggings.

My boss Sergio, is 100% Roman Italian, and it was his idea that we ride the 800 mile round trip from SF Bay to Anaheim for a professional conference. His bike is a 2007 Monster S4RS - a bike he'd always wanted, and when one turned up with just 100 miles at an auction in SantaMonica this year, he bought it, and immediately rode it, sans plates or registration, 350miles to bring it home. I love the guy - fully Italian and just lives la dolce vita.
I have spent weeks doing everything I've learned from the Ghetto to get the GRiSO ready for this trip; I changed oils, replaced the clutch fluid, did the valve adjustment, installed a new rear tire, balanced the throttle bodies, sanded and greased battery terminals, bought new Hepco Becker bags, Oxford wrap-around grip warmers. It's been running sooooo good.

To get the S4RS ready, last Thursday night Sergio put in a led taillight. It blew a fuse, and lifting the tank to replace it destroyed the perished fuelline connectors. On Friday morning everyone at work receives his email that he's taking a personal day, but I get a text "I'm going shopping". Now, before I bought the GRiSO, I was looking at BMWs. Sergio says to me, "noooooo, yoo notta getta Beemadubbelyoo, yoo getta Dookaatee". Imagine my surprise when he rolls up on Saturday morning with a brand spanking new R18. Those R18 heads look as if they should be baling hay. He's so friggin' happy.

We went down the Pacific Coast Hwy, stopping in Santa Barbara for the night, and the next day rolled into the Anaheim lah-de-dah Hilton hotel where the valet told me "you can't park THAT, there". Arsehole. It's a GRiSO and it just rocked 400 miles and I'm a badarse for doing it.

Come Wednesday, we decided to make the full 380-odd miles return in one go on Route 101, and the GRiSO's all tikkity-boo. Until 150 miles to go at 70mph it starts to miss, volts dropped from 14.2 to 11 and the motor stopped. It would not crank, but we did get it going again with a crash-start, so yeh, but then, nah. After climbing up the decision tree, I sent Sergio home and I got to enjoy 3+ hours in the cold and dark under a clear moonless sky; the milky way and the silhouette of the GRiSO against the truckers headlights was beautiful.

$800 later, at 1am, I'd dropped the bike at the local dealer who told me this morning that they could look at it in December... yeah, right. $200 more (f** it, I'm in all the way now), the GRiSO and I are home. On the plus side, our neighbors are moving out today, and they just gave me a sack of alcohol, so y'know, I'll start on the Cointreau while the GRiSO's on the Optimate and I'll start learning all about alternators, I guess.

I love this bike. That dealer must have a hundred new/used bikes of every kind - and I couldn't change the GRiSO for a single one of them. Alan.
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Check fuses?

Fuses were good Peter. After a few hours on the Optimate the dash says 12.5V, and it starts, idles roughly at 11.6V, but blipping doesn’t bring that number much higher. Time to invest in a multi meter and learn how to use it.

It's gotta be the battery (stuffed) or bad connections to it.

Start with the latter one first, you might get lucky, but odds on it's the battery.

Make sure you replace it with a physically similar one. I used a Varta YTX20-BS, the original was a Yuasa YTX20Ch-BS. Both of these will mount nicely on the rear of the fuel tank.

Could also be a broken alternator belt if the charging voltage dropped suddenly.

I'd also check for loose wires, especially the ground(s). Or "earth" for those on the up-side down part of our planet.

You mentioned checking at the battery, but what about the other end? It's just as important.

Mine did the same thing a couple of years back and it was a bad main fuse 30 amp. Has to be something alternator related or battery or fuse…..this from a novice……good luck.

The battery is a 5+ year old Yuasa Ytx20CH charged overnight. I’ve a new one coming to the local shop just in case. Voltage across the battery and at the solenoid is just 12.6. Leads and ground connections are clean. It’s started a half dozen times and when running, voltage at the battery sits @ 12.1 and does not rise with revs. Motor stopped when I unhooked + and/or neg lead (have since read on the interweb that shouldn’t be done as it could fry an ecu). Figured then, that I should look at the alternator belt, and… waaaaiitt a minute (Peter the Oracle does it again), the belt is totally slack because the alternator is not bolted to the frame!  It’s just rattling around on top of the motor. Is there really just one bolt that holds it on?[url=https://servimg.com/view/20401650/32][You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Yup, it’s held on with two nuts, and they’re both missing and the right side bolt is sheared off…*sigh*

Great tale, well told.

And it just keep going.

Looking forward to the happy ending.

Sergio sounds like a hoot.

Bill

Being almost Halloween, when Sergio left me in the dark, he joked that I might have to defend myself from the dead roadside rabbit-zombie.  That didn’t happen, but I do have a lucky key chain now…
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So, you have a good story and a happy ending.  Bravo!!!

Next time someone comes to the Ghetto telling of similar misfortune, you can step up and say "I remember when....". [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I do not own a belt tensioning tool as per the 8V service station manual. Is there a bodge for setting proper tension on an alternator belt? Thanks in advance...

When the tension is right you should *just* be able to twist the belt through 90 degrees with your fingers in the middle of its run.

Wow, 1st time I've heard of alt bolt breaking.

Did the Huntington Beach-Tiberon run (along the coast) and back a few years ago with my GRiSO. 4-5 hour ride each day with hotel stops. Drinks and dinner. Clint Eastwoods Hogsbreath restaurant, etc. Buddy's 50th. 8 of us. Beautiful trip!! Love my bike!!

Hi Alan!!! I would still replace that battery soon! It died on me once when I had the bike in my garage. Wow I cannot believe your alternator bolts either broke or came loose (probably the latter). I am planning a trip to San Francisco in the next week to go see my Roman friend Giovanni ... and I am taking the mighty GRiSO -- took a fall on the Stelvio and it is now under repair (mine). I love what you did with the bike -- it is a capable tourer!
Ciao
Giuseppe

Ciao Giuseppe. I promised you GRiSO was coming to a good home. The bolt that snapped is an M8 1.25 45mm stainless socket head that threads into the alternator body. I had to drill it out. D’ya think I could find one in any hardware store within 20 miles of me? I gave up and Amazon came through for me today…  The nut that bolts to the other side of the alternator is an M10, and that’s missing, as well as one of the four bolts that was holding on the C-bow luggage mount.  I asked Sergio if he was dodging all the parts falling off my bike but he was busy trying to find radio stations on his. Loctite is my new friend.

Wow -- I think I am going to check those on my GRiSO ( and Stelvio ) as well!
I love the engine guards as well.. they are quite pricy but might be worth it..

Cheers!
Giuseppe

Bolt break happened to mine once. You don't know until it starts coughing and spluttering. New belt, new bolt and all should be tickety boo