This is grand. Just a couple of days from leaving and today the S40 would not start. I pressed the starter button and nothing. I verified all was correct, clutch in, pressed a few more times and it turned over. Did not have choke engaged so did not start. Engaged choke, pressed started button and nothing. The battery has been on the tender and indicates fully charged and only a few months old. I suspect either a loose connection or the decomp solenoid. Anyway, rolled it back up the driveway and started up the Honda. Head off to work but stop at gas station about 8 miles away. Cannot turn off turn signal. The turn signal switch stub broke as I was trying to turn off the turn signal. I fuel up and play with it for about 10 minutes but cannot fix. Considered removing light bulbs from turn signals but that flashing indicator ligth is really distracting. So I rode back home, parked the Honda and got in my pick up. Got to work very late. Guess I will be doing some mechanicing on Saturday. I'll be riding the Honda so worst case scenario I will not have working turn signals. Oh the fun, the fun!

verslagen1 wrote on 04/11/24 at 10:11:12:


or corrosion / crud in the starter switch.  Seen that before.

Put a voltmeter on the Savage battery and read the voltage when you press the start button - if the voltage drops significantly the battery is bad.

Try bypassing the clutch and kickstand safety switches.  Disconnect the plug and put a piece of wire in the terminal ends to complete the circuit where the switch was.  (It is not uncommon for these switches to stop working).

We are staying at a Cackle Burial again tonight - this one is about 50 miles east of Dallas.  Cracker Barrel does allow overnight stays in their parking lot, and hopefully folks won't start abusing this and we will always be welcome here.  They are not as quiet as a campground, as they are always located very near to the interstate highway - but they don't have room for semi trucks so they are much better than trying to sleep at a public "REST AREA" along the highway.

I am absolutely amazed by the number of semi trucks on I-65, I-40 and I-30.  It appears they outnumber the automobiles.  At night the rest areas, fuel stops and truck parking areas are jammed full and overflowing with trucks!   That is why we have chosen to stay at Cracker Barrel - you cannot find aspace at the public rest stops, as they are full of trucks!

Thanks for the suggestions Dave. I will probably try to take a look at the bike tonight.

Thanks also MM. The bike was in neutral and the kill switch was not in the kill position. On the Honda while I was at the gas station I tried to turn off the turn signal both with the piece that broke (it fell in front of the gas pump where I could see it) and my pocket knife, but neither worked. I'll just open up the turn signal assembly and reset it manually and see if there is anyway I can fix the little broken part.

One way or another I will be there on Sunday, even if I have to enlist all of you guys as mechanics.

Dave wrote on 04/13/24 at 02:34:41:


ThumperPaul and Springman are signed up for the 2024 Hill Country circle as well, just not visible at this time.
Haven't seen MM, Lancer, Versy, Hammer.  I can send out another join code when needed.

Yesterday I went with my Waxahatchie family members to a 50 yard shooting event to watch him compete.  It was certainly a sport that could become addicting.  They had .22 caliber bolt action target rifles and they shot at targets that had 25 circles about the size of a quarter.  Each shot scored 100/50/0 depending on how close you got to the center.  After the competition I had the chance to shoot one of the rifles and it was incredible how sensitive they were to how you pulled/squeezed the trigger.  The slightest twitch, breath or heartbeat at the wrong time could pull the bullet off the target - and you really could not sense what you did wrong.  When you got it right the bullet would consistenly hit the center - but it took great control.  I started out a little erratic - but as I continued I got more accurate and started hitting the 100 point mark often.

I saw on Life360 that Hammer left Atlanta about 9AM and went west at a very fast pace.  The data that the Life360 app displays could likely get him a good scolding from his wife  When he stopped moving around 11PM I could see that he was located inside a building - I zoomed in to the location and was glad to to discover it was a hotel and not a detention cell!

I looked at the Accuweather forecast and it appears good until Saturday.  On that day they are forecasting strong morning storms with more in the afternoon.  Obviously the forecast is a guess - but it has improved from what was forecast a few days ago.