Once again the motorcycle has failed to be the bulletproof machine it is known to be. This is due to the unfortunate fact that the bike had been left sitting for a long period of time. So it was back to the mechanic. This time it was the front engine seals that had failed and a lot of oil was leaking straight out of the crank case. There was no easy fix and the engine had to be pulled again. I also had the brakes looked at as they were squealing which usually indicates the pads are ready to be replaced. The front master cylinder ended up needing to be rebuilt.
After another $1000, I was really starting to get sore from taking it up the tail pipe. Again the mechanic gave me a bit of a break on the labour. Unfortunately later on I would find out that the cables had not been routed properly and a main electrical connector which powers the headlights and signal lights was not connected properly which I didn't figure until I rode home at dusk with no headlight and kind motorist were flashing me, warning me I was a shadow on the road.
I was able to fix the connector problem by removing the side fairrings, seat and gas tank and simply plugging the adapter back together. Later on I would find out that wiring harness which had been reinstalled outside of the it's proper route was fraying on a sharp edge on a part of the frame causing a short. This blew the fuse for the tail-light and the lights on the instrument panel. Luckily a fellow rider stopped me and let me know. Again this was fixed by removing the side fairrings, seat and tank and re-routing all the cables properly and retaping the wiring harness.
It felt good to be able to do repairs on my own with out having to drive 40 minutes across town and back and pay some one to do the work.
The total investment has reached the $5000 mark. I am now looking at touring motorcycles that would have cost me $5000. They are looking pretty nice. A lot better than a 1981 Silverwing. But the good thing about my bike's age is I can put collector plates on the bike and keep it for weekend riding at a fraction of the cost of regular insurance.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Out $2500
After a week at the mechanics the bill totalled $2500. Not what I was hoping for. There was a lot more wrong with the bike than just a cooked stator. The mechanic had a soft spot for me and gave me a reduced bill. All added up the standard charge would have been over $3000. Here is everything that was repaired:
- New stator
- New rear seals/gaskets, including water pump seal
- Replaced rear differential
- Replaced clutch assembly
- Replaced clutch cable
"with the charging system in it's current state, it would only go about 40 km's max before the battery would be useless.I really appreciated the fact my mechanic took a personal interest in my injustice. It had been a very unpleasant experience in all. But I was determined to make the best of the situation. Get out and ride before the rainy season started. My wife and I enjoy two road trips. One to the Gulf Islands and another up Vancouver Island.
secondly, with the clutch cable the way it was and the clutch assembly dragging so heavily, there is also no way it would have gone that far.
with the coolant leak , that was poorly repaired, leaking so badly, it also would have ran the cooling system dry and fried the motor, and lastly, we have taken apart the final gear housing, to find it not only completely dry, some dumb moron filled it with grease, and there is metal chunks everywhere in there.
it will have to be completely replaced, and is over 1000 dollars from Honda!
luckily i have a good used one to throw on.
shame on you IKE, i know it's buyer beware, but your actions were beyond the normal limits that i have ever seen being in this industry for 10 years."
More bad news
Finally I have my machine home and I am excited to hit the open road and get some miles under my belt. Little did I know there were major problems with this machine which was easily disguised by some band-aid repairs.
After my ride home from Abbotsford I was leery about the electrical system. I was hoping and praying that it was just an old battery but luck was not on my side as the previous owner, 'Ike', had mentioned he replaced the battery less than a year ago. After a few rides and monitoring the voltage with my voltage meter it was obvious the new battery was not being charged. After some research on the interweb it was obvious that I was facing a cooked stator. (Bad alternator) This is not an easy fix. Because of the way the motor is mounted in the frame (sideways), the electronics are not easily accessible and any small jobs need to be preceded by 5hrs worth of disassembly, draining the oil, coolant and removing all the fairring and finally the engine. There was no way I was going to be able to do this in a day in my back alley. There is absolutely no room in the two car garage with two cars and five bikes in it either.
After shelling out $1200 for a motorcycle that didn't even get me home, I was a little perturbed to say the least. It was time to contact the seller, Isaac Thiessen, in Chilliwack. I emailed him telling him about the horror story riding home and that I was facing another $1200 in order to get the motorcycle to an operating state. I did get a reply, him stating that it was fine when he had it:
"... my last trip with it to Salmon Arm last fall it ran as it always had, no electrical problems..."
"The last thing that I would Knowingly do is try to pull a fast one over some body"
"I am a firm believer in do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
Well, lets just say that if Ike is a believer in the golden rule, he is going to get stung bad down the line! So I was screwed. I just payed $1200 for a motorbike that doesn't work and it is far away from working without a lot more investing. I considered selling it but I just couldn't stomach doing the same thing to another human being. Apparently Ike could. So my decision was to keep the bike as it was the type of bike I wanted. A medium sized touring bike with room for two and some luggage and I was sick and tired of looking for a bike as summer was quickly passing. I would soon learn how foolish a decision this was.
I started sussing out a mechanic. A friend's friend had worked with a shop called 'Simon's Auto Cycle Repairs' in East Vancouver, so I was willing to give them a try. I made the arrangements and dropped the bike off. I was later called back with all the bad news. As I had expected it was going to be at least $1000 and I would need to hand over a $1000 deposit for the mechanic to even start working on it. I was leery about this too and wrote up a contract to cover my butt. It hurt but I delivered the $1000 and the repairs began. It was all bad news from here on in.
Once the mechanic got the bike apart he suggested taking a baseball bat over to Ike's and getting some money back from him. This was going to be expensive. It was very tempting but again I am not that kind of person, even though I have an over developed sense of justice.
All I can do now is warn people about the nature of Ike Thiessen of Chilliwack, BC. He lives at Royal Wood RV and Golf at 41172 Trans Canada Hwy in a Black and Silver motor home in the corner. His phone number is 778 808 9808. His email is isaacthiessen@shaw.ca. I would not recommend doing any kind of business with him.
After my ride home from Abbotsford I was leery about the electrical system. I was hoping and praying that it was just an old battery but luck was not on my side as the previous owner, 'Ike', had mentioned he replaced the battery less than a year ago. After a few rides and monitoring the voltage with my voltage meter it was obvious the new battery was not being charged. After some research on the interweb it was obvious that I was facing a cooked stator. (Bad alternator) This is not an easy fix. Because of the way the motor is mounted in the frame (sideways), the electronics are not easily accessible and any small jobs need to be preceded by 5hrs worth of disassembly, draining the oil, coolant and removing all the fairring and finally the engine. There was no way I was going to be able to do this in a day in my back alley. There is absolutely no room in the two car garage with two cars and five bikes in it either.
After shelling out $1200 for a motorcycle that didn't even get me home, I was a little perturbed to say the least. It was time to contact the seller, Isaac Thiessen, in Chilliwack. I emailed him telling him about the horror story riding home and that I was facing another $1200 in order to get the motorcycle to an operating state. I did get a reply, him stating that it was fine when he had it:
"... my last trip with it to Salmon Arm last fall it ran as it always had, no electrical problems..."
"The last thing that I would Knowingly do is try to pull a fast one over some body"
"I am a firm believer in do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
Well, lets just say that if Ike is a believer in the golden rule, he is going to get stung bad down the line! So I was screwed. I just payed $1200 for a motorbike that doesn't work and it is far away from working without a lot more investing. I considered selling it but I just couldn't stomach doing the same thing to another human being. Apparently Ike could. So my decision was to keep the bike as it was the type of bike I wanted. A medium sized touring bike with room for two and some luggage and I was sick and tired of looking for a bike as summer was quickly passing. I would soon learn how foolish a decision this was.
I started sussing out a mechanic. A friend's friend had worked with a shop called 'Simon's Auto Cycle Repairs' in East Vancouver, so I was willing to give them a try. I made the arrangements and dropped the bike off. I was later called back with all the bad news. As I had expected it was going to be at least $1000 and I would need to hand over a $1000 deposit for the mechanic to even start working on it. I was leery about this too and wrote up a contract to cover my butt. It hurt but I delivered the $1000 and the repairs began. It was all bad news from here on in.
Once the mechanic got the bike apart he suggested taking a baseball bat over to Ike's and getting some money back from him. This was going to be expensive. It was very tempting but again I am not that kind of person, even though I have an over developed sense of justice.
All I can do now is warn people about the nature of Ike Thiessen of Chilliwack, BC. He lives at Royal Wood RV and Golf at 41172 Trans Canada Hwy in a Black and Silver motor home in the corner. His phone number is 778 808 9808. His email is isaacthiessen@shaw.ca. I would not recommend doing any kind of business with him.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
New Purchase
I have purchased a 1981 Honda Silverwing Interstate aka GL500. I have just got my learners motorcycle license. The motorcycle was purchased on craigslist from a 'gentleman' who stated that someone has put a down payment on it and never came back to pay for the rest of it. His price was $1200 firm. He lived in Chilliwack.I arranged to come look at it on a Friday evening before heading out of the country the next day for a trip. When I arrived late he had it waiting, running... not a good sign. He stated there was perhaps a small electrical problem which made the starter not work and there was an oil leak from the shifter shaft. While I was there it also puked gas out of the
overflow tube, supposedly not a big deal. The owner stated that he wouldn't hesitate in taking it for a long road trip. I took it for a test ride and it seemed to run fine so I dropped my big wad and raced off to insure it all very, very last minute.
Instead of driving it home to Vancouver I left it with some friends in Abbotsford until I returned from my trip. Later I returned to Abbotsford (see picture) and drove the bike home.
It barely turned over and had to be bump started. I gassed up down the street and it had to be bump started again. Once on the road things seemed A OK. I made it as far as Nanaimo and Grandview Highway when the bike completely died. There was no juice whatsoever; no starter, no bump starting.I pulled it over. There was 4 lanes of traffic with no shoulder. After dodging traffic I finally had a look at the machine. I removed the battery and took it to Canadian Tire. They said I had a dead cell and the voltage was at 8.5 Volts. It should be around 12.5. All I wanted to do was get it home so I wanted to buy another battery. I was told to go to another Canadian Tire on Cambie St. 15 minutes away. They had a battery but it needed to be assembled and charged, taking at least 3 hrs. Eventually everything worked out, all be it an all day affair. So far it had not been a pleasant experience.
Stay tuned. More horror stories to follow!
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