Over the past month I have been able to take my speedster out around the
block, then tweek a few things, then go out a little further, back, tweek,
fix, etc, all while fall is rapidly approaching here in Seattle.
This weekend turned out to be really nice and the weather was looking to
hold out until today (Monday), and then turn to crap on Tuesday, Wed,
Thurs, until probably May.
So, I decided to "jump into the pool" as a friend put it, and drive to work
today.
For those who know the Seattle area, I live in Seattle, and work in
Bellevue, which means there is a big lake to go across around. Usually I
take the across the lake route via SR520. I leave around 6:30 to avoid
traffic. There was no way in hell I was going to brave I-5 and a floating
bridge on the first major treck to work, so I decided to go the around the
lake route. I did not get the front end aligned so high speeds did not
seem a good thing yet.
So, around 6:30, I backed out of the garage into a cool 50 degree, slightly
foggy morning, flipped on the heated seats, pull on my hat and multiple
layers, and headed down the road. Every went well as I headed north on
Lake City Way. The one thing that I forgot was gloves, which would have
been nice. Other than that it was not that cold. What I was hoping for by
heading out early and doing a "non-normal" commute was not many people on
the road. Well, it's the big city, so that really never happens.
Eventually my ass started to get a little warm so I turned the seat heat
off. Before long I was at the top of Lake Washington and made the turn
onto Juanita Drive and headed back down the east side of the lake. At
about this point the outside of my front window started to fogg up. Oh
well, just look a little higher "over" the windshield. The fogg went away
shortly. I do not have any sort of heat with my Type IV setup.
The traffic really started to come out now, and what would have been a
pretty fun road to drive empty, got to be sort of a drag, trying to keep
the engine in the 3000-4000 rpm range and not "lug" it. Plus, my
transmission seems to be having some syncro problems so shifting back and
forth between 2nd and 3rd involves some griding.
The overall fog and chill started to lift a bit, but my ass and hands were
getting cold again so I turned back on the seats, partially so I could warm
my hands (you know where). It was then that it happened. Coming down the
hill into the Juanita Beach area on a nice flat area, the car just
died...and coasted to a stop into the bike lane. Turned the key off, and
then on again, nothing. No lights, no fuel pump, starter, nothing.
Luckily this was a 25mph zone and people were moving pretty slowly already
and getting around me was not an issue. The road was very level and up
head was a nice big park parking lot, so I did the slow push, stop, turn
the steering wheel, push again, into the lot.
So the problem had to be electrical. Maybe something came loose and the
ground came off. A quick inspection showed nothing, but at this point,
when I turned the key on, I got a faint oil light and a feeble attempt by
the starter to turn over. Dead battery. My theory is that for whatever
reason, the alternator was not able to keep up with the lights and the
heated seats on, and run the engine all at the same time. Plus I had
already killed the battery a few times.
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