So this morning it was raining lightly, but the forecast was calling for it to clear up. I have waterproof gear, so I thought, "No problem. It'll be a nice ride home in the afternoon." I left for work on the 550 in the rain, and got about 12 miles from home. It was raining, but I was still enjoying the ride. All was well.
Then out of nowhere, the bike just died. Everything shut down. I figured, "No problem, it's just a fuse." I've been having problems with the main fuse popping, and I assumed it was the same deal. I learned to carry spare fuses, so I pulled over, got out the spare fuses and replaced the main fuse. Turned the key... nothing. I still thought "No problem" and I guessed that some cables were routed poorly behind the headlight and pushed on the ignition switch wrong, causing the fuse to pop. I had one spare left, so I moved some cables around behind the headlight, put in the last spare fuse, and turned the key.
Lights on! I thought, "Woo hoo! Back on the road!" Then I looked at the smoke pouring out of the electric starter on the right handlebar.
That was when my outlook and good mood changed. Now I thought, "SH!T!" I looked around and saw I had just passed my auto mechanic's shop about 1/4 mile or so back. I then started walking the bike back to his shop, figuring I could park it there for the day and have my wife come get me so I can get my car and get my late self to work.
I walked it all the way back top the shop, and now, being tired from pushing it back, and out of shape, and wet, I realized I was on the right side of the bike, where the kickstand is on the left. I went to throw a leg over the bike and put the stand down. I lost my balance, and the bike fell over, right into the side of the building! "SH!T!" again!
Now I'm really flustered, wet and tired, and I went to pick the bike up, but being at a bad angle and unable to get in a good position, I really struggled, and failed, to get the bike picked up. The shop owner and a couple other guys ran over to help me pick it up. Now I'm flustered, wet, tired and embarrassed.
I got the bike in the shop, and one of the mechanics and I got started on figuring out what happened. Turns out he used to have a 76 550 in his youth, and had fond memories of it. Another guy there was looking at the bike, and just smiled, turns out he used to have one too and said it was the smoothest running motor he ever had.
The wrench and I ended up disabling the electric start, but we had to bypass the kill switch to get the kick start to work. We did that, but now the headlight doesn't work either, and the bike ran like crap on the ride home... almost sounding like it was running on three cylinders. I'm guessing that the dropping it made something knock loose and plugged something in the carbs, or a fuel filter or something.
At least when it fell over the only thing that appears, cosmetically, to have happened is the clutch lever was slightly bent. There's no scratches on the mirror, and the side cover is still perfectly in tact.
What a morning.
Jeff
