Something Wrong With My Kat...Oh Wait!

[Kat-A-Tonic]

Hi All,

I had an interesting evening on the Katana today. In Ontario, the temperatures have dropped to below freezing today but I decided to go out riding anyway. I gear up and begin my 80km ride. Brrr...it's cold but thankfully I'm wearing good equipment, including my Teknic Thunder winter gloves.

As I'm riding along, I noticed every so often that the high beam light would come on for a fraction of a second and then disappear. I thought 'Great, something is up with the electronics.' The issue seemed to be intermittent, so I know it's probably going to be hard to trouble shoot and likely expensive to fix.

Anyway, I try to keep an eye out and yes, the light flashes every so often. I'm thinking about the source of the problem (and smelling burning rubber) hoping to figure out a pattern. Then it dawns on me that it seems to happen when I shift gears so I'm thinking it could be related to the transmission. Well, I'm not mechanically gifted or an electronics wizard so I'm baffled as to what it can be. But then I had a 'duh' moment as I figured out the problem.

It seems my Teknic gloves comes with a mini squeegee on the index finger (to wipe your visor with) and being bulky the gloves occupy most of the handgrip. Well, when I go to shift gears and flex my finger, the squeegee part of the glove brushes up against the pass light lever, momentarily turning on the high beams.

The mystery was solved. I'm just glad it wasn't a mechnical or electronic component that was failing. Talk about a 'duh' moment.

[jason05]

hahahhahaa im not sure that posting this was the best idea... goofball...

but, just so you dont feel bad... ive got 2 lil stories
#1, one day i was leaving my neighborhood and reached down with my right hand to scratch my leg, go back to the throttle and it died... couldnt get it to refire. tried all kinds of things... nothing. just about to start pushing it home and i realized i accidentally hit the kill switch! oops.

#2, a friend of mine put an alarm system on his gixxer. this system kills the ignition when armed. anyways, it was acting up one day (auto arming)... so he pulled up and turned the bike off to fix the alarm.... and it wouldnt start anymore after that. so he spends an hour or 2 disconnecting the alarm and rewiring everything stock.... still wont start. well, suzukis wont start in gear with the sidestand down! haha oops!

the world is full of retards, and im proud to be one of them

[WildKat]

Dont feel bad man, we've all done stuff like that afterwards you're like Duh !!! I know my Icon timax gloves I wear for winter and also for really hard riding are a bit bulky so it takes some getting used too.

nothing. just about to start pushing it home and i realized i accidentally hit the kill switch! oops.

Ask HS2020 about kill switches! That bastage!

[woobie]

Re: Something Wrong With My Kat...Oh Wait!

We've all done something along the same lines

I'm wearing good equipment, including my Teknic Thunder winter gloves.

How are these gloves in this weather?

[ChattKat]

it takes a big man to admit his mistakes to others

[The CyberPoet]

Enjoyed the laugh... thanks!

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[paradoxmd]

i recently had a mild electrical problem. glad to hear yours wasn't really a problem.

[tdrcomm]

Ahhh.... the evil kill switch. I know it well.

[Kat-A-Tonic]

Re: Something Wrong With My Kat...Oh Wait!

We've all done something along the same lines

I'm wearing good equipment, including my Teknic Thunder winter gloves.

How are these gloves in this weather?

They're a bit bulky and you have to break them in but once that is the case you'll get good insulation. The temperature was a few degrees below zero and I found that I started to get a bit of a chill after 30 minutes of riding. They're good value and provide sufficient warmth for cold weather. I bought tthem because the gauntlet and padding would look like they would provide excellent protection.

[squiggy]

Re: Something Wrong With My Kat...Oh Wait!

They're a bit bulky and you have to break them in but once that is the case you'll get good insulation. The temperature was a few degrees below zero and I found that I started to get a bit of a chill after 30 minutes of riding. They're good value and provide sufficient warmth for cold weather. I bought tthem because the gauntlet and padding would look like they would provide excellent protection.

Two things I've done to the Kat for winter riding are:

1) Heated grips (a common mod).

2) Vstrom 1000 handgards, to keep cold air off my hands.

I installed them about a month ago but I'm not happy with the initial installation so I have not posted an installation report. I have a couple more parts on order that I should be getting next week to see if they correct what I don't like about the first install.

I can say that there is plenty of clearence between them and the body in full left and right steering stops. The throttle side is nearly an easy screw on, with all the required parts. The clutch side does require some cutting of the guard itself.