The final episode
The electrical gremlin just couldn't be
ignored. It was so annoying. While not "mission critical", it
was annoying and expensive. Often, when I would stop for gas, my load
shed relay would fail. This would require that I remove my camping gear
and replace the relay. Unfortunately, these are not your "off the
shelf" relays and could only be found at a BMW motorcycle dealer.
I finally got fed up. I removed the subject relay socket first by releasing the clips, then I would push the the relay down, twist and pull up so that I could see the bottom of the socket. Sure enough, it was fried, a near dead short. I thought that I could just remove the relay from the circuit and only be left with the handicap of my lights not going out when I start my bike. Of course, this is how 90% of all the motorcycles in the world work, so it can't be that bad. Once I rewired the circuit without the relay, I realized there was a reason I became a structural engineer and not an electrical engineer. The way I had it wired, my lights would be on all the time, even with the key off. This is no good, I thought. Fortunately, I had a relay sitting on my bench. It came with the Centech fuse block I had ordered but had yet to install. I wired it in the circuit after testing it proving it would work. Unfortunately, my wiring skills once again let me down because I didn't have lights once I got it wired into the circuit. |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
It was time to call in my good friend and tech guru Jim Bud. His wiring skills are much better than mine. Once he fixed a couple of connections, it worked like a charm. I tested it by running the longest ride of my life, the Three Flags Classic, without a problem. Finally, the demon has been excised for good! |