The weather here has been awful over the last few days, miserable cold and rain. Yesterday though, the clouds parted and as I'm still semi-retired, I decided a ride was in order. Now I've taken 4 bikes across to the auction place, and I left my spare helmet and winter jacked at Spotty's place for when I get my club plate for the VMax and ride it home, so as I needed to go over to my storage unit to collect my other helmet and jacket, I decided to sort out the issues on the K0, and hopefully take it for a ride.
Last time I rode it I forgot to turn the fuel off, so when I put a fresh battery in it a couple of weeks ago I was horrified to see that the tank was empty. I assumed that the fuel had made it's way into the crankcases, so on my way over to the storage place I bought 5 litres of house brand oil, and a drain pan. I also stopped at a gas station and bought 5 litres of 98 RON fuel. As it turned out, there was no fuel in the crankcase or oil tank, by the look of the ruined paint on the bottom of the airbox it looks like that's where the fuel ran out, but I dropped it out and refilled it with fresh oil.
I tipped the fresh gas into the tank and fired it up. It missed and farted for a bit, then settled into an idle. I checked the voltage input and saw that it wasn't charging, with only 12.1 volts across the terminals, no matter what RPM's it was turning. Hmmnnn. I removed the sprocket cover and saw that the green wire had come undone, so reconnected it, but no bueno. I thought about riding it with just the juice that was in the battery, but didn't relish the thought of waiting on the side of the road for a tow truck in 50 degree temps. I took a closer look at the wiring and saw that the 3 AC wires from the stator had somehow melted together, so carefully separated them. I didn't have any insulation tape, so used some gaffa tape to insulate them from each other, and checked the voltage again, and it was charging, with around 13.5V @ 3000 RPM. Good enough.
K0 Wednesday 11 June 2025 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I rode to the nearest gas station and filled it, then took off for a quick 60 mile ride. I didn't want to go much further as it was threatening rain, so I took one of my favourite routes, and stopped for a pic.
K0 Wednesday 11 June 2025 1 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I continued on until I started losing any feeling in my fingers, then turned for home. I got a little rain on the way back, but not enough to soak thru my pants. The K0 was running really well, and I think I might have to go for another ride today. It'd be nice if it was just a tad warmer, but any day when it's not raining is a good day. #14 down.
K0 Wednesday 11 June 2025 2 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
