geekonamotorcycle

So My Bike Caught on Fire today 03-18-11
Details below
03-18-11 So my bike caught on fire today… « Just a Geek On a Bike

03-18-11 So my bike caught on fire today… « Just a Geek On a Bike


Maybe I should own a VFR? March has been god awful.

Wicky

Fried R/R?

geekonamotorcycle

I dunno, I have about given up with everything that has happened. Gonna let geico sort it out.

ranchomice

Yup, that's where the R/R is at. Looks like smoke, not fire! Either way, that sucks. Did you have a stock R/R with a non oem battery?

geekonamotorcycle

It is not a Stock R/R the wiring harness was burning before I started the video and the tail fairing is warped and burned through. I dunno about the battery.
The R/R is freaking huge. I will have to take pics tomorrow.

geekonamotorcycle

It was this first
02-25-11 Holy Freaking crap Go Eco Green Machines screwed up big time. « Just a Geek On a Bike
Then this
03-07-11 Saved at FJ Motorsports & Further Tales of Incompetence from Go-Eco Green machine « Just a Geek On a Bike
Then this
03-11-11 A death In the family, Return of Geekonabicycle and Armor All « Just a Geek On a Bike
And now it catches on fire. Great.

geekonamotorcycle

I will not take that page down. It is a blog and everything I say is truthful. They may send as many letters as they please. I am not a mechanic I was assured that a safety inspection and repairs were made as part of their processing.

geekonamotorcycle

well since then the bike has been looked over, sage myself and my local shop have made the repairs. The electrical system exploded this time.

geekonamotorcycle

well It did not explode I meant that in a way different from actually explode. The wiring caught on fire. I am taking it to a shop I trust to have the repairs repainting etc done.

REDVTR1000

wow. while i agree that knowing the ins and outs of a bike is important, as is doing your own safety inspections, not everyone who hops on a bike is a grade A mechanic out of the box. Took a little live and learn in my own experiences. However, the way you go about making this point makes you look like a complete tool, are you waiting for him to "come around" and grovel at your feet for being such a super awesome guy that you have to kick a man when he is down?

OP: sucks to hear about your bike. luckily most of the major damage is repairable on the cheap. My advice is find a dealer who does quality work and stick with them. Might want to have them do a once over on this bike again if insurance does not total it...

geekonamotorcycle

How Geico judges her will determine her future. I dont really want to part with her. It took a long time to find her in the first place.

offroad_rider2008

hope you get better luck on your next trip, hope you get to enjoy the hawk soon

ranchomice

Are you hoping he has more problems? Why are you beating the guy up?

uchi

that sucks, ive fried 2 rr's already. and one of them would give off an enchanting burning smell everytime i stopped. couldnt quite figure it out till it started to make a high performance whistle sound and stopped running altogether.

SlowHAWK

My guess is if the insurance inspector notices the R/R is NOT for a Superhawk you'll have a tough time getting paid... most modifications find their way of allowing others (insurance, factory warranties, etc) to escape claims.

Good luck and hopefully you'll have it up and running again.

J.

7moore7

+1

geekonamotorcycle

I get that smell often. I inquired and the dealer said it was paint from my exhaust. When this guy went up in flames the smell was really strong. That is how I noticed what was happening.

geekonamotorcycle

I am not asking anybody to feel sorry for me. So what I bought a lemon it is a pain in the **** it happens all the time to people everywhere. Am I a mechanic? nope. I am a Systems analyst. Tires had pressure and the rode straight and stopped. I relied on "professionals" and they screwed me.

I do know that when I buy a machine from a dealer and they advertise safety/mechanical inspections and service on their bikes; I expect they would do those things. so far we have found:

- Very wrongly set up suspension
- Fuel system connected improperly
- Wrong brake lever
- misaligned front wheel
- mis connected brake
- broken oil drain plug
- missing air-filters

Apparently I was lied to.... My blog is just a record of my experiences riding my bike around sunny Florida. There have been horror stories because that is what my recent experience has been.

So your snide comment about me spending all my time bashing my dealer or having a "poor me" attitude is unwarranted. I don't know why you would even say something like this? If you dont like what I post then add me to your block list it is that simple. With the help of my friend saige I have learned very much about this wonderful bike and until 2 days ago had it ruining very nicely.


btw I am selling that odd after market cowl from the bottom of my bike.

Wicky

So true

Problem I see is that you rode for 2k without noticing any of these deal breaking problems. As the bike was bought from a dealer did it come with any warranty (3 months, 6 months ?) If you bought it 'sold as seen' - then with your demonstrable lack of basic bike knowledge was that a wise idea?

Bit like if you had a ThaiChick mail order bride and after the honeymoon period you suddenly noticed 'she' was really a he before bursting into flames...

or

YouTube - The SuperParrot Sketch

It's not pining it's passed on! This SuperParrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late SuperParrot! It's a stiff! Briefed of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies! It's wrung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! THIS IS AN EX-SUPERPARROT!!!

geekonamotorcycle

It had a 30 day warranty on the engine and transmission, but Was "safety inspected and serviced". The front tire was missing a spacer and was to far to the left so only one brake caliper was gripping. I read online that the vtr had soft brakes and I thought that is what it meant( I didnt know it was actually too far over). I took it back to them b/c it wobbled when I used the front break they had their "best guy" take apart the brakes and clean them and said it was b/c the pads were new...

Also the tranny drops from 2nd to neutral under hard acceleration. I can actually feel the pedal push down on my foot, but their "best guy" couldn't reproduce it thus they did not fix it. When I took it back b/c the fuel system was connected wrong with the vacuum line on the wrong nipple. They said my warranty was void b/c I took off the tank... Even though they connected it wrong. they said once I had my bike fixed to bring it back for airfilters.. seriously.

lazn

They did screw you over, it's too bad you didn't notice the issues earlier though.. You would have been better getting out of that poor abused bike and into another one.

Also did you swap the R/R or is that the one they provided? Since it is obvious that is where the problem is happening... My guess if the R/R didn't fail, it was a poor install where wires shorted in the adapting to the new plug type.

geekonamotorcycle

No I did not put it in myself. It came installed this way. There is one suspicious thing I did do differently that day tho and it might be a clue. My brake lights were partially burnt out and the one on the left had a connection that was iffy as in if i Jiggled it it would turn on. The upper filament was burnt out of both tho. Right before that fateful ride I had gone to cycle gear looking for a bulb and I took out the left bulb to show the clerk. they didnt have it so I went to meet a lady friend for lunch and then was going to auto zone to check the bulb. That ride is when the wiring went up in falmes. I had the left bulb in my pocket.

geekonamotorcycle

Some pics. The adjuster called today but since I am working I could not talk yet. will probably have an inspection on wed so we will see what her fate is from there.

flyin_hawk

I fried 2 R/Rs on mine before buying the Yamaha R1 R/R. No problems since and plenty of juice for half the price. When my second one failed it melted the plug on the harness. Luckily the fuse blew before a fire started, though there was a lot of smoke.

Your bike seems like a lemon. Is there a FL lemon law for motorcycles? Get rid of the bike and move on. Look at the bright side, the R/R didn't fail causing the engine to quit at 70 mph on a sharp corner leading to a high side with you wrapped around a palm tree. You're alive and the bike isn't destroyed. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?

I just saw that you've put 2k miles on it. Never mind that lemon law.

7moore7

You said the R/R was not stock- any pics of the internal damage? You said it was huge, the way this shop seems to look things over, it may have been from a riding lawn mower or something...

geekonamotorcycle

Nope lemon laws dont cover FL motorcycles and this was used. Fl is a state with very little in the way of consumer protection.

The wiring is what actually melted and burned. Seemed odd to me that no fuses went out and the bike kept running until I shut it off.
Geico just called and said they will send someone out to make an estimate. Should I trust this guy? how will he know what electrical components were damaged?

7moore7

Well if any wiring was burned, it was probably the two output wires- I'm still guessing a faulty R/R- it probably couldn't disperse enough electricity and pumped the excess through the wires. If you had all of your clocks and stuff working when you turned it off, I'm guessing the damage stopped there. But key word there is guessing as I'm no electronics expert either...

geekonamotorcycle

from what I can tell by looking in the space, the wiring is heading to the back of the bike. AFAIK the clocks were working and the bike was running when I shut her off. the R/R that is in here is massive with large heat sinks certainly an after market deal.

Wicky

geekonamotorcycle you have me worried, Are you sure it was "missing" as you wouldn't have gone two yards without coming a cropper.

geekonamotorcycle wrote: "The front tire was missing a spacer and was to far to the left so only one brake caliper was gripping. I read online that the vtr had soft brakes and I thought that is what it meant( I didnt know it was actually too far over). I took it back to them b/c it wobbled when I used the front break"

Yet you wrote on your 02-13-11 Geek’s first north run. blog "Max Speed 89.65 mph" *gulp*

Did you download the readily available service manual or check on ron ayers microfiche (in the workshop section) the correct wheel spacer configuration when you suspected something was seriously wonky, as the best guy when your life is in your own hands (literally) is yourself.

Not having a go but trying to get you up to speed on your own responsibility to know and understand your bike, and not to completely rely on 'experts'. Even in healthcare nurses are responsible for administrating medicines wrongly prescribed by doctors. Sounds unfair but it gets the nurses to know and double check what an earth they are giving their patients, and heck hopefully saves a few lives in the process.

The fire could be your salvation, and have put the thing out of (your) misery - As long as you can get a payout.

geekonamotorcycle

Insane right? I actually took this bike to a speedo indicated 145 a few days after I got it. looking at all the stuff I found wrong now it gives me chills!

I am actually not certain if it was missing I will have to ask George at the shop. I know they had to make one when they changed my tire. Since then my brakes have been great and the ride is more stable.