finally

Arriving Fr early afternoon. Looking forward to seeing everyone. Don't judge the ride (Gold Wing).

Two more are registered, representing the Peachtree City contingent!

I wimped out on TMAC this time but will be there for the PRB escapades. New tires and all.

I'll be there.

If I'd known you wanted to go that route I would have offered up the Valkyrie :). Can't wait to see how this one turns out, and to ride it. From your F6 bro'.

A few years ago my temp gauge would randomly peg at max, and after a new months my fuel gauge began to do the same. After much troubleshooting I discovered that a hold-off bracket behind the headlights was bent out and touching the circuit board on the temp and fuel gauge circuits. I bent the bracket back to where it was supposed to be, and of course no longer in contact with the circuit board, and everything has been great since. Sounds like you might have a more global problem, such as one of the bundled connectors, but that's my experience.

Like kevCarver said, I chased exactly that problem for months. It would read normal, then peg and usually stay there. After replacing the sending unit (deep in the V), verifying the fan op several times, and burping the rad's too many times I was stumped. It wasn't until the fuel gauge started mis-behaving that I got serious about looking for a short. I started chasing wires starting with the instrument panel. It didn't take long to get to the wiring bundle. Turns out the culprit was indeed a wire hold-off bracket behind the headlights. Mine was bent out and touching the circuit board. It was in contact with the circuits for (wait for it) the temp and fuel gauges. I bent it back where it should have been, swore a little for the many man-hours wasted on all the other stuff I was certain it must have been, and haven't had a problem since.

Yep. C Carver had the intel. It's behind the upper fairing. the blue and gray 10p connectors are the two that connect to the back of the instrument panel. And when I pulled the upper faring to access them I found my engine temp and fuel level problem. One of the brackets that holds the wire bundles in place was bent back and rubbing against the circuit board for the instruments. It was rubbing directly against - wait for it - the engine temp AND the fuel gauge circuits, which are right next to each other. Both of these have been reading erratically for several months now. So after replacing the ECT sensor and becoming the most proficient coolant burnping fool you could imagine, it turns out to be the indication problem I had suspected all along. It just goes to show - check the obvious stuff first. At least I know how to get to the vee for any future maintenance needs (thermostat, hoses, etc.).

Am troubleshooting an engine temp indication issue on my fifth gen (a continuing saga but that's another story and a few other threads). Gauge indates max temp when engine is cold (and most of the time, although NOT all of the time). Manual has me disconnecting the ECT Thermosensor (done - sadly I'm getting pretty good at accessing the litte devil) and now I need to check continuity on a wire in the blue 10P connector. I have a gray 10P just above the left radiator but can't find the blue 10P. Does anyone know where it is?

Based on the overwhelming number of replies I can see this is a hot topic . Nonetheless it looks like I have solved the mystery. The shop manual guidance for burping after replacing coolant is essentially warm the engine for 3-4 minutes and with the radiator cap off snap the throttle a few times to eliminate bubbles in the system. It practice you need to run it long enough for the thermostat to open so it can push the coolant thru the various hoses and passageways, both radiators, etc. When I waited for that, and snapped the throttle after the coolant started flowing, I got a lot of air out of the radiator. It looks like things are back to normal now. My hypothesis is that there was a bubble near or at the temp sensor that was sending unpredictable signals to the gauge. Live and learn I always say.

I'm chasing an engine temp demon and appear to have isolated the instruments. I'm getting an erratic reading that jumps from normal to max and back and everywhere in between. Burped the coolant to eliminate any bubbles - no help. Just replaced the ECT/thermosensor (i.e. sending unit) - also no change. Even reads overtemp immediately upon starting it cold, so am pretty sure it's got to be a short somewhere. Visual inspection, as much as possible, of the wiring from the ECT to the gauge cluster shows nothing suspicious - the bundle is cleanly wrapped all the way. I'm considering replacing the LCD on the chance there's a short somewhere in there. I'm curious to know if anyone has done this type of replacement as I'm wondering if it is possible to "set" the mileage of the new unit to match the bike's actual mileage. Another concern is C vs. F - this is a Euro bike so it reads temp only in celcius. I'd love to convert to F but don't know where the calculation occurs. Any insights or suggestions are appreciated.

I had the opportunity (ok..need) to use a mushroom plug on the rear of my 650r two weeks ago. I haven't put too many miles on it since then but in 2 weeks is still holding pressure. Took two tries to get it to seal but is likely because I cut the first one off too short by stretching out from the tire before cutting. On the second and successful try i just used the razor and cut it flush with the outside.

CCarver..I have a set (actually 2 sets) of soft luggage options if you want to take a look. MiniC is welcomed to either. Oh yea..I got the new rear tire installed this weekend - right size this time :).