Wilsons Sandbox

Yesterday I asked:

>How easy/difficult is it to remove the seat from an A13 with Original Tim >Racks on it? Any advice before I dive in? I'm going to be mounting my >Ortlieb Dry bags with the straps under the seat. >

John Lyon outlined the procedure for seat removal very clearly. But I got to thinking (dangerous, I know)... Let's try doing it all without taking off the racks (they're locktited on and I was not in the mood to mess with them). The end result was that it was easy to take the panel off on the non-exhaust side. The seat bolt, the same. On the exhaust side, removing the screws and loosening up the side panel was easy. I didn't take the panel off the bike, since I had no need to do so. The seat bolt was not easy to get at, but possible. If I had a smaller, lighter ratchet or a box end wrench, it would have been easier. With a little fiddling, I got the straps positioned for the Ortliebs. I ran the back straps through the front of the tail rack frame. That should keep things from shifting about. The front strap ran over some sort an electrical thing with a heat sink on it (rectifier?) (Damnit, Jim, I'm a journalist, not an electrical engineer!) I did discover a wire going into the fuse box was pulled out of its socket. I replaced it (I assume it had been together before I was mucking about with it. Non-exhauust side bolt went back in easily. It took several tries to get the bolt and washer in on the exhaust side. It would have been fairly easy with a second pair of hands to hold things down or away, but I had Andrew, who is almost five, as a helper. The only real problem was that I kept dropping the bolt or washer into the side panel. But a little part retriever thingie from a computer tool set (hope I'm not getting to technical for you all) brought them back. Hope to try it all out this evening or Monday morning. SS brake lines and larger front sprocket go on the bike Thursday. Ralph Ralph E. Hanson 99 KRL 650 http://www.wvu.edu/~journal2

Ralph, The voltage regulator works by converting excess electrical current to heat. That's what the heat sink fins are for on the regulator. Even if the saddlebag strap is not affected (ie destroyed) by the heat, the strap will trap heat & prevent the proper cooling of the regulator. You'll run the risk of overheating the regulator & possibly "frying" it. (Anyone know the price of a new regulator?) I wouldn't risk it. Relocating the regulator so that it can be properly cooled is the best way to go. You might need to extend the length of the wires going to the regulator. Be sure to solder the extended wires & use electrical heat-shrink tubing on the connections. Professor A9 Federal Way, Wa. [USA] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- "Ralph E. Hanson" wrote: [snip]

> I'm going to be mounting my Ortlieb Dry bags with the

straps under the seat. [snip]

> Any idea of whether there is any harm in having saddlebag straps

going across the voltage regulator?

It's time for today's episode of "Inept Mechanic." When we last saw IM, he was working on mounting his Orlieb dry bags with the straps under the seat. One of the straps went over the "thingy with a heat sink," more precisely known as the voltage regulator. The Professor tells IM this is a bad thing. So... IM looks at moving the "thingy with a heat sink," but chickens out. Instead, he moves the back strap to the second gap in the tail rack, so the strap goes across at the very rear of the underseat area. This also moves the front strap away from the regurgitator. Everything is hunky dory. Then IM gets brave and decides to check the water level in the battery. But the upper screw that Inept assumes you should take off to remove the battery is absolutely frozen in place, so Inept removes the lower screw. Discovery of the night: While you can get at the battery by removing the lower screw, this also removes a rubber baby buggy bumber under the battery housing. It is not fun to get back in place. Anyway, I now seem to have the bags mounted decently, my battery is ok for water, and I didn't hurt myself. Ralph Mid-Ohio is six days and counting. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph E. Hanson, Ph.D Room 308 Martin Hall Associate Professor West Virginia University P.I. Reed School of Journalism Morgantown, WV 26506-6010 rhanson@... (304) 293-3505, ext. 5412 http://www.wvu.edu/~journal2 --------------------------------------------------------------------

Attachments :Ralph, Here's a possible alternative to relocating & rewiring the KLR's regulator/rectifier. You may be able to fabricate a cover out of aluminum flat stock, 4-5 " wide. You can shape it like an upside- down 'U' with mounting flanges on the bottom: ______ __! !__ Allow 1/4" clearance on the sides & top of the heat sink fins. The clearance to the seat's underside may pose a bit of a challenge. Make sure that the Ortlieb's strap does not apply pressure to the electrical connector on the regulator/rectifier. You may want to drill multiple cooling holes in both vertical sides. Make sure that mounting bolts for the cover do not extend too deep below the rear fender. It would be a good idea to chamfer the cover's edges so that they will not wear through the Ortlieb's mounting strap. You might be able to run the strap over the frame tubes & under the seat. Maybe Arnie & Tim can have a design/build competition to come up with a nice neat solution. Professor A9 Federal Way, Wa. [USA] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- "Ralph E. Hanson" wrote: [snip]

> I'm going to be mounting my Ortlieb Dry bags with the

straps under the seat. [snip]

> Any idea of whether there is any harm in having saddlebag straps

going across the voltage regulator? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jim Hyman wrote: Ralph, The voltage regulator works by converting excess electrical current to heat. That's what the heat sink fins are for on the regulator. Even if the saddlebag strap is not affected (ie destroyed) by the heat, the strap will trap heat & prevent the proper cooling of the regulator. You'll run the risk of overheating the regulator & possibly "frying" it. (Anyone know the price of a new regulator?) I wouldn't risk it. Relocating the regulator so that it can be properly cooled is the best way to go. You might need to extend the length of the wires going to the regulator. Be sure to solder the extended wires & use electrical heat-shrink tubing on the connections.

In a message dated 7/7/00 6:02:02 AM Canada Central Standard Time, DSN_klr650@egroups.com writes: >>