Fuel Gauge Silliness

[Britt]

Just finished 350 miles in 7 hours from my home near Chicago to our summer cottage near Traverse City Michigan. The bike performed flawlessly aside from my fuel gauge going to empty within the first mile of the trip. A restart of the engine fixed it for the rest of the ride. It has been a perfect ride with several miles of sand roads, which vary from packed to very loose, thrown in for good measure.

[Stu_O]

The bike performed flawlessly aside from my fuel gauge going to empty within the first mile of the trip. A restart of the engine fixed it for the rest of the ride.

The restart didn't fix anything. That's the classic symptom of the wire connections in the tank pass through going haywire. If the problem progresses to either one of your fuel pump wires, you'll wish you'd replaced that small sub harness at home when you had the chance. Just saying...

Stu

[Unique]

The restart didn't fix anything. That's the classic symptom of the wire connections in the tank pass through going haywire. If the problem progresses to either one of your fuel pump wires, you'll wish you'd replaced that small sub harness at home when you had the chance. Just saying...

Stu

I agree. My Capo did the same to me. It died to me I think 4 or 5 times then went totally dead. It was the harness allright.

Finn

[Britt]

Well I made it home after riding some pretty rough seasonal roads and sand trails up near Traverse City Michigan, and then rode through about an hour of heavy rain on the way home. The bike ran perfectly for 700+ miles, never missing a beat aside from the fuel gauge acting funky three or four times.

That is not to say that I don't think that I need to address that wire harness to the tank - I plan to do that soon before it bites me...

[Britt]

While detailing the bike this morning, I found that I did have a failure on my recent trip. As I backed the bike out of the garage I heard the sound of a broken spoke dangling from my rear hub. I've read about broken spokes on the forum, but this is my first bike with spokes since 1993 so I've never dealt with broken ones before.

So I used AF1's July 4th discount code to get 10% off 2 new spokes, nipples, and setscrews (so I have a spare of each), as well as a new fuel pump wire harness (which shows it may be special order so I may be waiting for it).

It was a great trip - certainly worth one broken spoke!

[Velocette]

Hallo Stu !

Where can I byu the these parts : wiring nr. 8 and nr.10 ?

[Britt]

Hallo Stu !

Where can I byu the these parts : wiring nr. 8 and nr.10 ?

I just ordered those parts from AF1Racing but shipping to Norway would probably be expensive. Perhaps one of our European friends can help....

[northernkiwi]

Sounds all too similar to my erratic fuel gauge. Never have got it to read full, even tried putting on the centre stand, can never get the last "slice" to fill up. It also can jump from 2 "slices" left up 4 on a whim. Around 240 kms it can go down to 1 "slice", light never comes on, ride another 40 kms or so and think, better fill up. Have never filled more than 15 litres. Supposedly the last "slice" could get me along way, with supposedly 10 l left.

[Stu_O]

I've read about broken spokes on the forum, ...

Then you may have seen my thread from a couple years ago. I broke one on the rear in Bumfuck, Montana. Never knew it till I tried to pull away from a gas pump - the spoke wadded up between chain and sprocket just as I pulled in, and it locked the wheel. Lucky, the wife had Internet on her cell phone. AF1 to the rescue with overnight delivery.


Friend,
You either have much longer legs than me or much bigger balls...maybe both. The last time I took my Capo in sand like that was indeed the LAST time.

Stu

[Britt]

Friend,
You either have much longer legs than me or much bigger balls...maybe both. The last time I took my Capo in sand like that was indeed the LAST time.

Stu

Nah, nothing to do with balls. I'm 6'3" with a 34" inseam so getting my feet firmly on the ground is not really a problem. I ran into a few patches of really loose sand like that, and with white knuckles I got through without dumping it. It was a hell of a lot of work wrestling the bike through that stuff though which is why I had a cooler full of water with me. This is what was in front of me after that other picture.



What I find interesting is that these sand roads all show up on my Garmin as roads with names, and it will route me through them to connect to other roads. Even this was marked as a road.



The worst one was a fairly steep uphill where I had to use my legs like outriggers as the back tire was spinning to get me up the hill. Half way up a guy in a H2 Hummer was coming down (slowly luckily). I was thankful to see him back up and allow me by.

[Britt]

Got my new harness installed today and an initial test shows the fuel gauge working normally. Time will tell.

I took the old harness and started digging with a small screwdriver at the sealant on the inside of the pass through, and the sealant crumbled and came out with little effort. Once it was all out I yanked on the wires pretty hard and they held in place. At that point I was sweaty, dirty, and tired, so I tossed it in the trash and took a shower. With any luck, my tank will stay on the bike until this winter when I plan to check the valves...

[Caponerd]

What's the part # to order, and does AF1 stock these items now?

My fuel gauge began doing the exact thing yours did, after I returned from a trip last year. It's been doing it ever since.
I'm about 3 weeks away from taking another trip, and if there's a chance of fuel pump failure, I want to fix it before I go.

[Britt]

The parts were in stock when I ordered them a couple of weeks ago. I ordered these two parts:

1 x Fuel pump wiring - AP8124664
1 x OEM Aprilia Gasket Ring -#8144475

[Caponerd]

The parts were in stock when I ordered them a couple of weeks ago. I ordered these two parts:

1 x Fuel pump wiring - AP8124664
1 x OEM Aprilia Gasket Ring -#8144475

Thanks, I'll give them a call.

Now, I just have to find a US source for compatible ignition coils. (any ideas on that?)
I'm going to my local auto parts store with a capo coil, a high quality digital multimeter and a list of possible coils used in Japanese and American cars to look at.

[Britt]

I ordered my coils on eBay Motors from Tech-Autos in the UK. They're pricey but since they seem to be an improved plug-n-play design I bit the bullet and just bought 4 of them so that I don't have to worry about them again (knock on wood). I got bit twice while riding and an OEM coil failed...