I've had better weeks

Had a run in with Benny, one of my oldest friends. I was caught in the middle between him and another friend I just met, after they had bad words.

Another friend befriended me, has a really bad attitude, is very immature, then asked for his $40 back on some tools, 7 of us bought 2 years ago, and he used. Good luck collecting!

After 2 years the courts finally settled the 3 tickets I got. So far $400. It's on my driving record, insurance could go up and the DMV can surcharge for 3 years too.

The lawyers I hired didn't help much, I could not get them to call me back to explain the repercussions. I sent them records twice they should have used to get one of the three dropped.

I was working on the Venture and could not get my project to work.

Can't get the carbs on my red Suzuki 1100 tuned right.

I had another flat tire on the brown Suzuki.

My thumbs,left index finger and right wrist hurt from working on my bikes.

Linda got sick again.

And for the GOOD NEWS..... the sink hole above wasn't in my backyard.

From the correct perspective...

Here's the true story about going to Fort Davis, McDonald Observatory. That's all the room we have for the 2 of us. ---->

Left at 1:45 pm Tuesday , late in the day for us. Usually I'm just about getting back from a ride, not just starting out. We've got food for dinner, lots of extra clothes and plenty of time to go the 190 miles there. Wrong. At the Sierra Blanca Border Inspection Station the Venture dies and won't restart. We pull out of the way, but instantly are told "You can't stop here" So they stop all the traffic and we push it to the opposite side. I pull off the battery cover and it restarts after 10 minutes. There's a short in the handle bars. I put in a circuit breaker rather than a fuse. It resets after cooling and shutting down all power. Off we go.

I'm not driving the speed limit, because I really do not speed much any more, Retired Remember? So we're a little behind schedule stop only 2 short times. Get there only 10 minutes before they open. We have to get ready for dark and eat dinner in 10 minutes.

The first activity is a repeat of what we did last fall. I volunteered to be "earth" and they did a demonstration of the solar system. We go inside and see their software they sell. We bought it on our previous trip, $160. Except this 5-7 year computer is too old for it to run well.

At 8:30 is the second activity. The instructor is very knowledgeable, knew every constellation and many many star's name. He has a hand held laser that seems to touch individual stars. Can project several miles.

Then they set up several large telescopes from 12 -20 inches. (Ours is a 70mm -2 1/2 inches). We see jupiter and it's clouds, several star clusters, with 1/2 million stars, and 2 nebulas, several hundred of lights away. Really cool.

On our way in we see deer. The astronomers remind us of the suicide pigs (Havalinas?). Great.

We leave at 9 pm. 4 hours home. It's warm in the 60's. Last year we froze in 40-50's. We do not even see 1 car the 42 miles back to I-10. The first 19 miles is very twisty. 25-45 mph. An Owl jumps off the road, we nearly miss by a few feet. No deer or pigs. Thank You Lord.

Linda actually has too many clothes on! Few trucks and cars, bike runs good, no problems.

Get home at 12:45 am. We're beat the next day, but had a great time.

Going back in Nov to look thru the 107" telescope. WaY CooL! Taking the car, dahhh.

New challenge

I've always wanted to know more about electronics. Especially how to design various circuits. I still can't design them but I can build them if I have the specs and a diagram.

The Venture has a lot of circuits, relays, 2 computers, accessories, switches, and a very limited supply of electricity. At 4000 RPM there is a 30 amp stator (alternator built into the engine, not external like most cars), but only 20 amps at 2000 RPM. Not much.

Most cars have a 50-75 or 100+ amp. alternator. Even at idle there is sufficient power to run almost all the accessories, i.e. power windows, heated seats, radio, A/C, moon roof, 2 headlights, multiple tail lights and much more.

Anyways the draw on the stator is more than than is generated at idle and low rpm. So where does the extra come from: the battery. That's OK if it is for a short time, the battery is fully charged and there is time (20 minutes) to recharge the battery after starting the engine, (100 amps?). Short trips to the store 1 mile away does not restore the energy used.

Car batteries are way over-sized and can live with short trips, multiple times.

But motorcycles batteries are under-sized and under used. Once a month usage is hard on them they lose 1/2 to 1% of their potential power per day.

Back to my project, remember how I started out this blog?

Well I was online on the VentureRider.org website and a fellow Venture rider mentioned how to keep the battery from being discharged.. Add a relay that drops out unnecessary drawdowns (auxillary lights-radio) when there is low stator output. Sounded simple so I started to build it. But it did not work. Bought the parts and got help redesigning the circuit from them. Did not work. Asked original Poster on the web for more help. Did not work. More redesigns, more no works.

Finally called Mike (Website Poster) in Oceanside, CA. Talked for an hour. More changes.

Then he suggested adding 2 more electronic parts I had for years sitting around here. IT WORKED!

Went for a ride today and it works too well! At every stop the relay drops out, the driving lights and radio shut off saving the battery. The driving lights are for safety. I want them ON so other cages (cars) see me. So I may have to override my new project.

Lessons learned: Don't add accessories more than the OEM designed the bike to handle. Also need to reduce amps to accessories already installed.