Not such a kookaloo day for her

[Brad]

Ok...so I had an oil leak on the bike, so in my reading, I saw that it was common to have one at the filter.
So in my first of my orders to RPM, I got the spin-on filter hoping that it would fix the leak.
I put it on yesterday 5/17/13.
This morning I went to a meeting at 6am and had class at 11am. Had a few hours to kill and some stuff to get caught up on at work, so I thought I would run down to the car wash..no not a drive through one..but one that has the wand. After giving her a good bath in the thought's that I would be able to see if that stopped the leak or not...well...this will not happen again! She would not start! What a b*tch! here I go and give her a bath..and now I get nothing??!!??
I figured that maybe I had gotten water in the carbs or something...so I am there dinking with her, but now it is getting close to 9ish..and my class is on the other side of town...mind you I have a backpack full of tools because I was going to change my front gear while I was at 'work', so...off to public transit I go...lots of walking and almost thought I was going to have to jog the last little bit..I also forgot to mention that it is raining(love Portland) and I have all of my gear with me...lol
I finish my classes..and now back to the bike that should start right up....right? I mean it is like 3pm now...she should be all ready to go..right?
Nope..not so much..still will not start..phone is about 2 min from dying, so I post on Facebook that I am stranded and need some help.
I then take my time(in the rain) to see if I can figure out what is going on..I can smell the gas..so I know I have fuel...and what else do we need for a running motor?...yes thats right..spark...so I check for spark...and I got zippo!
I have power to my coil..but no spark? What the heck is going on there?
I found an outlet at the car wash I was at and plugged in my phone and called my big brother...he said to check the computer brain...but how do I do that? everything had power. So I take it off the bike..and look at it...yep..its a brain alright..lol and I put it back on...try to start her..and oops guess what??...yep from all the time I spent trying to start it before...dead battery...OMFG!
So back to Facebook I go and ask for someone to come and jump me.
A friend of mine came by and gave me a jumpstart..but she was not will to start right away..but after about 20 min she finally gave in and came to life!

What did I learn from this?
From now on she gets a sponge bath...and so far no oil leak! (Thanks Randy)

Brad

[Pat Conlon]

Moral of the story:

If you are going to power wash your bike, don't do it at a car wash, do it at home.
All you need is a hose, nozzle and S100 soap.

That way, when Murphy's Law kicks in, it's not so far to walk.

This applies to both cars and bikes.

I feel your pain Brad. It happened to me but it was in August and it was 120* and I had a long walk home.

[Brad]

It was a pain that I had all of my tools with me...but hey...at least I had all my tools with me...lol
Since I have been having wiring problems I even had a meter with me...lol

[movenon]

I haven't washed mine in 3 years..... I just wipe her off and occasionally I will use a wet rags/towel on the bugs.... WD 40 for tar / oil etc and some cleaner polish.
George

[Brad]

I don't even remember the last time I used a car wash..but the room I am renting they will not let me do ANYTHING with the bike here...they are afraid it will become a 'shop'....so...yes I am looking for another place to live because my girl needs a lot of TLC.
The only reason I did it this time was because of the amount of oil and grime that was underneath.
I had to see if my new stuff really stopped everything...but at least now that all of that stuff is off..she will be much much easier to clean..from now on I will just look for some High School doing a car wash and have them do it..he he 

[movenon]

I don't even remember the last time I used a car wash..but the room I am renting they will not let me do ANYTHING with the bike here...they are afraid it will become a 'shop'....so...yes I am looking for another place to live because my girl needs a lot of TLC.
The only reason I did it this time was because of the amount of oil and grime that was underneath.
I had to see if my new stuff really stopped everything...but at least now that all of that stuff is off..she will be much much easier to clean..from now on I will just look for some High School doing a car wash and have them do it..he he 

You could have soaked the side stand "safety" switch if you were hitting that area hard with the spray. .
George

[Brad]

I will check that...Thanks for letting me know.