Dakar Dazed - countdown to bankruptcy!

Naturally mine have all been under somewhat more mundane circumstances than battling the Rubicon . Although one of them did result in a kinda similar photo - http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._451542866263_525266263_6235590_7573999_n.jpg

Glad to hear the foot's on the mend, albeit (no doubt frustratingly) slowly.

Now I know it's a bad idea but I had to ask to know
Thanks

that shot looks sooo much like half the stuff we have around here only more dirt

go easy getting your ligaments back in shape, that's the worst part for sure, don't bother to ask me how I know

oh you think that's funny do you? Just because you live by the Atacama doesn't mean we all do

ps, I haven't forgotten your offer and one day we'll be on your doorstep

Just a quick update to get this thread back on track (ahem)...

At what is very nearly the eleventh hour, fortunately some of my sponsors have come good, and various boxes have been arriving this week...

I'm heading into the workshop tomorrow and I ain't comin' out until I have an uprated stator fitted (thank you Trail-Tech UK), and a Hella Xenon DE projector-light working (thank you Touratech UK), oh and a new fender tail-pack and fork boots (thank you Kriega), and also hooked up my various rear fuel line connections (thank you ebay), and not least, finally applied some funky graphics over which I have been debating for weeks! (nothing like getting my priorities right eh?)

So, the bike should be very close to finished by the weekend... then it's time for testing!

I should also have some news any day now regarding the 'supporters packs' - I've already got confirmation from a couple of product suppliers, just waiting on the others, then I can finalize the T-shirt design.

The plan will be to sell the packs through the Desert Rose Racing website (yeah yeah, I know, the news pages need some serious updating - that's one of the jobs I intend to take on, once Patsy is back from Spain next week), in a similar fashion to Jonah's Riff Raff... That way you can use Paypal or Visa with a 'buy-it-now' button, and since all the money raised from your support will be going towards my assistance costs with Desert Rose anyway, that should all work out rather nicely I hope!

Pics and more info to follow shortly!

Toot toot!

J x

Ok sorry for the hijack (again), I'll make it up to you when you come over here to ride the nav rally we're in the process of organizing, more importantly we look forward to seeing all of that progress come to fruition by Monday
Seriously though, good luck getting the bike ready to roll as soon as you can

I think you need to come to England and see how much sand we have to play in

Weston Beach Races.

Say no more...

Jenny,

As soon as you have a way to do it. I'm in.

Give 'em hell.

Yeah, I second that, Ill definitely buy some t-shirts to help your effort.
Hope the bike testing goes well, and take care of that ankle.
Cheers.

Things we have learnt this weekend...

1. The is a bastard hidden screw behind the starter motor torque limiter, which you need to pull out and remove the bolt, before you can get the left hand engine case off a WR (ok, RTFM)...

2. The torx bolts that hold the stock stator in place are made of cheese.

3. The Trail-Tech Stator and reg/rec upgrade coverts the whole bike to DC (no separate AC circuit for the headlight anymore) - I realized this when I turned the ignition on, and the headlight came on without the engine running!

I presume this is an 'upgrade' and that the full 100+W goes into the battery now... previously, the headlight (35W) ran off the AC, and the rest was converted to DC for the battery etc. However, the stock WR stator is 120W, so that would mean around 85W was DC? - certainly the stock reg/rec is tiny - but my concern is I'm still not getting enough juice to run the HID when the headlight is also on, and the fan... because:

4. Even though I meticulously wired the HID using a separate loom and switch and everything... it has trouble firing up sometimes (comes on momentarily, then cuts out) and also, once it is running, if you blip the throttle with the engine running, the HID cuts out (and doesn't come back on). I don;t suppose anyone has any ideas? - I'm about to go and pull it all off the WR and hook it up to the Tenere to ascertain if it is the HID set (either a dodgy ballast or relay perhaps?), or if my weedy little WR can't cope with all it's bright manliness...

5. Staying up until 1.30am, drinking beer and inhaling exhaust fumes, is really not very good for you. I have felt sick all day today.

6. It is bloody cold in Wales at this time of the year - yep, I took the WR for a test ride today:



And it ran faultlessly (and felt great - no need to mess with anything I feel), other than the bloody HID, that, even with a full charge in he battery, cuts out as soon as you rev the engine - gaaaaaaaaah!

So, while I go and curse in the shed, a few more photos of some details:

That lovely set of water tanks by GMX (fitted to a Flatland Racing bashplate):


The wiring complete, all bar the GPS aerials and Speedocap unit that is in the post (from France):


I also have to cable-wrap the remote wires once the IMO sensor cable is refitted...

The fuel line routing - looks convoluted, but there is method in the madness:


The two-way tap on the subframe selects either front or rear tanks, and the fuel then goes through a single filter, into the vacuum pump, and into the carb. The hose from the centre (aluminium) tank also has it's own tap, so I can isolate it and use it as a final back-up reserve - which means I can have just the front (pair) main tanks (20L), just the rear tank (5L) or the rear and the centre tank together (10L). It's interesting that like the front tanks self- balance (as they are joined together before the fuel tap), so too if you turn on the centre tank, it fills up the rear tank again until it reaches a level...

This could work in my favor, as in sand it's possible to use the front tanks first, keeping the weight over the rear, and then once I start using the rear, can keep it topped up with the extra 5L in the centre tank - result!

Still doesn't make my bloody HID work properly though does it!!!

J x

I'm not a HID expert, but I did install one in my KLR this summer.

What happened to me was the ballast didn't like the draw when I hit the starter. If I didn't let the bulb come up to full temp before I started the bike, the light would go out. The company said that the ballast didn't like "hot re-strikes" and that the ballast was designed to do that to protect it. The only thing that I can suggest is that the current to the ballast is dropping and causing it to shut off...odd when there should be plenty of power to it. Have you wired it (through a relay) to the battery?

Sorry, that's all the help I can give.

Good luck!

Imagine you spent yesterday 'on a stage' for 16 hours, not getting into the Bivouac until 2am - cold, exhausted, and feeling queazy after inhaling gallons of CO... but hey, you completed the stage, right?

Then the next day you're out in the desert, when your HID fails... it's getting dark, but every time you rev the engine your HID light cuts out... the tell-tale on the dash is still illuminated so there must be power to the relay, but every time you switch the HID off and back on again, and rev the engine, the light cuts out...

Fortunately you stop at an oasis, and there, under the trees is a Tenere XT660Z - in full rally spec (what are the chances of that then?!) - so you remove your whole HID lamp, ballast and loom from your WR and connect it to the Tenere, which someone had the forethought to leave the key in, and the battery fully charged...

And presto - your HID works absolutely fine, you rev the Tenere lump to the stratosphere and no problems at all, whilet he Tenere stator/battery combo is kicking out a healthy 14.5 volts... hmmmm, you think - maybe the little battery in your WR is not man enough to drive this big chunky ballast after all?

So you ride on a little way, and find someone has left a brand new, bog stock WR450F in a little Bedouin tent (thank you Yamaha UK x)... so again, you hook up your 'portable' lamp/ballast/loom combo to the stock bike, start the bike, switch on the HID, rev the engine, and blow me if it doesn't work perfectly too, albeit the stock stator is only putting out around 12.8-13V... (erm, so maybe I didn't need that new stator after all?!)

So you walk back to your rally bike, with your lamp/ballast/loom combo - reconnect the loom to the battery, and give it another go... and bloody hell it works... rev the engine, still works... it doesn't cut out every time you switch it on, it just works... the uprated stator is kicking out a decent 13.5v too - nice.

So you look at the dash of your rally bike and think what is different... the only thing not in the circuit is the tell-tale lamp which is still fitted into the alloy panel...

You prise out the tell-tale, connect it to the switch on your loom, and...

The bloody light cuts out.

You take the tell-tale out of the loop, switch on the HID, and everything works perfectly.

You fit the tell-tale again, just to make sure... the light cuts out.

You take the tell-tale and smash it with a hammer.

You feel much better now.

J x

It seems electrical is always a nightmare on these rally bikes.

Glad you sorted it out.

Now you just need some sweet graphics. The bike is looking really good. Good job on the build.

Damn, you're quick! I was just writing a report on HID failure diagnostics for you!!!

Glad you got it fixed!!

Good carpenter and it looks like mechanic as well can fix anything with a hammer!!

There is a quote (I think it might be someone's signature on here actually) I really like:

"All tools are hammers... except screwdrivers, they're chisels..."

J x

Good job figuring that out, Jenny. I hate electrical stuff. Next bike, I'm flying Tony over here to wire it up for me.

LOL! It'd actually be my pleasure! Been all over the world, except for the US