2010 Baja Warrior MB200 - Lil Blue
Boy, I'm glad I checked this thread, thanks Shadow! :thumbsup:
I was about to go pick up an LED light but thankfully Shadow clued me in on the LED needing DC current deal. I guess that's why in another thread someone had mentioned putting in a rectifier bridge to make it DC current. I thought that was optional, maybe it isn't.
I tested today and saw that a couple of 194 bulbs will work so I might go that route.
Since there was no recoil starter I thought I needed something to keep my pants from getting caught on the starter pulley.
Lil Blue--sponsored by Royal Dansk cookies too! :laugh:
I was about to go pick up an LED light but thankfully Shadow clued me in on the LED needing DC current deal. I guess that's why in another thread someone had mentioned putting in a rectifier bridge to make it DC current. I thought that was optional, maybe it isn't.
I tested today and saw that a couple of 194 bulbs will work so I might go that route.
Since there was no recoil starter I thought I needed something to keep my pants from getting caught on the starter pulley.
Lil Blue--sponsored by Royal Dansk cookies too! :laugh:
Ok, the good and bad.
The good:
I got to ride it for the first time! :laugh: I was fun and scary at the same time since I'm not used to the hand throttle. Plus not having too much room in the back yard and in the snow makes it a little more difficult to drive it.
The bad:
Lil Blue was a little hard to start today for some reason and it later died on it's own. Don't think it's bad gas as the tank was empty and fresh gas was put in it. It took about 10 pulls or so. I did have it running yesterday and it was fine. No big puff of smoke or anything on start up so I don't think it was flooded. I could smell gas as I was trying to start it. Once it started it seemed that the idle was lower than it was yesterday. It idled fine then I took it for a spin. It almost started a few times before it actually started.
Went around the back yard a few times. First day today with it so took it easy but I gave it a little bit of gas and the rear tire did try spin on the snow when I was driving around slowly so it did have decent power.
After driving it around I pulled into the garage and it slowly started to drop idle and sputter and then died.
Maybe the ignition got wet? I dunno. I'll try to play with it tomorrow or another day. At least I got it out today. :smile:
The good:
I got to ride it for the first time! :laugh: I was fun and scary at the same time since I'm not used to the hand throttle. Plus not having too much room in the back yard and in the snow makes it a little more difficult to drive it.
The bad:
Lil Blue was a little hard to start today for some reason and it later died on it's own. Don't think it's bad gas as the tank was empty and fresh gas was put in it. It took about 10 pulls or so. I did have it running yesterday and it was fine. No big puff of smoke or anything on start up so I don't think it was flooded. I could smell gas as I was trying to start it. Once it started it seemed that the idle was lower than it was yesterday. It idled fine then I took it for a spin. It almost started a few times before it actually started.
Went around the back yard a few times. First day today with it so took it easy but I gave it a little bit of gas and the rear tire did try spin on the snow when I was driving around slowly so it did have decent power.
After driving it around I pulled into the garage and it slowly started to drop idle and sputter and then died.
Maybe the ignition got wet? I dunno. I'll try to play with it tomorrow or another day. At least I got it out today. :smile:
I think it's a carb issue. Going to yank it off and clean it up and see if there is an inline filter. Might be hiding under the tank. :shrug:
Wanna get it going soon! I have to have the engine running to have the light circuit going so I can test the lighting system.
Things to test:
-I have a light harness with a couple of 194 bulbs on it. I picked up a flasher unit so I want to see if this set up with a flasher unit and a couple 194 bulbs will "blink" for turn signal application.
-If it doesn't work (and this is the time element) there are various AA battery powered LED light strings being sold at different stores. They are not perfect. Some don't blink, some alternately blink (like 8 LEDs blink then 7 LEDs blink) and then they aren't real bright as they are frosted.
At Rite Aid, I have to bring a set of batteries to test, they have a set of 10 LED that are clear but I think they don't blink. I'll use momentary switches to manually blink them, mounted on the left hand grip area so I can hit it with my thumb. If I go with the alternately blinking ones, I'll use them alternately blinking in a housing and the switch will be an vent switch from an old Acura Integra that can be turned to multiple positions as a "selector". Since they blink on their own, it's a matter of just using the switch to cut/give power when needed.
If I go the LED route I have to get them before they run out as they are a seasonal item. Once they are gone I won't see them again until next year. :doah: I'll have to get housings for them. For the fronts I'll use the LED driving lights on there that are broken. I'll take out the bad LED bulbs then put the LED Christmas lights in there. For the rears I 'll buy a couple amber marker lights for their housings. They are like $3.99 each at O'Reilly Auto Parts.
I picked up a sacrificial LED marker light that I'll use as a brake light. I say sacrificial as it'll be a test light. My hope is that since I'll be applying the brake when I'm not accelerating, the RPMs will be low so there won't be excessive voltage/amperage to damage the LED light but hopefully enough to power it.
We'll see! :smile:
Maybe I should just buy a street legal scooter..... :surrender:
Wanna get it going soon! I have to have the engine running to have the light circuit going so I can test the lighting system.
Things to test:
-I have a light harness with a couple of 194 bulbs on it. I picked up a flasher unit so I want to see if this set up with a flasher unit and a couple 194 bulbs will "blink" for turn signal application.
-If it doesn't work (and this is the time element) there are various AA battery powered LED light strings being sold at different stores. They are not perfect. Some don't blink, some alternately blink (like 8 LEDs blink then 7 LEDs blink) and then they aren't real bright as they are frosted.
At Rite Aid, I have to bring a set of batteries to test, they have a set of 10 LED that are clear but I think they don't blink. I'll use momentary switches to manually blink them, mounted on the left hand grip area so I can hit it with my thumb. If I go with the alternately blinking ones, I'll use them alternately blinking in a housing and the switch will be an vent switch from an old Acura Integra that can be turned to multiple positions as a "selector". Since they blink on their own, it's a matter of just using the switch to cut/give power when needed.
If I go the LED route I have to get them before they run out as they are a seasonal item. Once they are gone I won't see them again until next year. :doah: I'll have to get housings for them. For the fronts I'll use the LED driving lights on there that are broken. I'll take out the bad LED bulbs then put the LED Christmas lights in there. For the rears I 'll buy a couple amber marker lights for their housings. They are like $3.99 each at O'Reilly Auto Parts.
I picked up a sacrificial LED marker light that I'll use as a brake light. I say sacrificial as it'll be a test light. My hope is that since I'll be applying the brake when I'm not accelerating, the RPMs will be low so there won't be excessive voltage/amperage to damage the LED light but hopefully enough to power it.
We'll see! :smile:
Maybe I should just buy a street legal scooter..... :surrender:
Ok, here's today's progress before going to work.
The engine which died the other day did start today with a lot of smoke. Smelled like oil. Checked the oil and it's probably the original oil is my best guess from the way it looked.
Changed the oil.
While the oil was dripping out slooooowly as it's about 30 degrees out, I did a compression check. it's probably on the low side but it does have compression. It's range was about 45-55 psi.
Popped the plug back in, filled the oil and it started up after a few pulls and idled well.
While idling, I did a check. Even without the driving light hooked up the light circuit did not produce enough current to make the flasher and the two 194 bulbs work, they just barley glowed. For kicks I hooked up the flasher to the driving light and it blinked ever so slowly and dimly.
Verdict: flasher a no go.
Tried the LED light. It's a round 2.5" LED marker light that houses two LEDs. Given the possible high volt/amp issue, I wanted something that had more LEDs. Trid it and it lit up. For how long it'll last, I dunno. But I got other issues more pressing to deal with.
Verdict: LED brake light is a go!
Ordered a brake switch from a local motorcycle place and waiting for it.
Now the problem....
The mini bike was idling fine then when I gave it gas it died. Started it back up and it started fine. Drove it around the back yard and down the street. Wooo hooo! It was fun! First time out on the street. I don't expect to wind any top speed races though.
Drove it back to the garage and it began to stumble and die like the other day. Started up and and idled then it died and didn't start back up again and it's time to go to work!
Dunno. I think I'm going to try the fuel filter first and blow out the lines and take a closer look in the gas tank and make sure there is no crud.
The engine which died the other day did start today with a lot of smoke. Smelled like oil. Checked the oil and it's probably the original oil is my best guess from the way it looked.
Changed the oil.
While the oil was dripping out slooooowly as it's about 30 degrees out, I did a compression check. it's probably on the low side but it does have compression. It's range was about 45-55 psi.
Popped the plug back in, filled the oil and it started up after a few pulls and idled well.
While idling, I did a check. Even without the driving light hooked up the light circuit did not produce enough current to make the flasher and the two 194 bulbs work, they just barley glowed. For kicks I hooked up the flasher to the driving light and it blinked ever so slowly and dimly.
Verdict: flasher a no go.
Tried the LED light. It's a round 2.5" LED marker light that houses two LEDs. Given the possible high volt/amp issue, I wanted something that had more LEDs. Trid it and it lit up. For how long it'll last, I dunno. But I got other issues more pressing to deal with.
Verdict: LED brake light is a go!
Ordered a brake switch from a local motorcycle place and waiting for it.
Now the problem....
The mini bike was idling fine then when I gave it gas it died. Started it back up and it started fine. Drove it around the back yard and down the street. Wooo hooo! It was fun! First time out on the street. I don't expect to wind any top speed races though.
Drove it back to the garage and it began to stumble and die like the other day. Started up and and idled then it died and didn't start back up again and it's time to go to work!
Dunno. I think I'm going to try the fuel filter first and blow out the lines and take a closer look in the gas tank and make sure there is no crud.
:doah: Ok, so engines run on gas not water right? :laugh:
Ok, so I go out and figured I would check the simple stuff. Pull the tank to get to the filter, yada, yada, yada...
Pulled the line off at the carb to drain the tank. Ok until it stopped draining but I could tell there was something still in the tank.
The pictures tell the story. You can see how much water was in the tank. What is in that pasta sauce jar isn't even all of it as there is still some stuff in the tank.
The very top 1/4" is gas, the rest is cloudy water.
In the other pic, you can see the comparison to the semi fresh looking gas that came out first. The semi fresh gas came out then stopped with stuff still in the tank so there was a clog somewhere. The filter did have some debris in it and I cleaned it out.
The previous owner had this outside for like 6 months or more so maybe that's how that much water got in.
I'm confident a good tank cleaning, fuel line and fresh gas should get this up and running.
Ok, so I go out and figured I would check the simple stuff. Pull the tank to get to the filter, yada, yada, yada...
Pulled the line off at the carb to drain the tank. Ok until it stopped draining but I could tell there was something still in the tank.
The pictures tell the story. You can see how much water was in the tank. What is in that pasta sauce jar isn't even all of it as there is still some stuff in the tank.
The very top 1/4" is gas, the rest is cloudy water.
In the other pic, you can see the comparison to the semi fresh looking gas that came out first. The semi fresh gas came out then stopped with stuff still in the tank so there was a clog somewhere. The filter did have some debris in it and I cleaned it out.
The previous owner had this outside for like 6 months or more so maybe that's how that much water got in.
I'm confident a good tank cleaning, fuel line and fresh gas should get this up and running.
Cleaned the tank and slapped it back together and to my great surprise it started up first pull! It's always taken at least 3-4 pulls or more to start it up. Took it around the back yard and up and down the driveway a couple times and it ran great and didn't stall. Hope this clears up all the running issues!
Went Christmas light shopping! :laugh:
CVS drug store had what I needed. It seems that all the local drug stores have AA battery power LED Christmas lights in some degree or another. The deal is some were steady on, some were alternating lights, some were colored, I just needed white. Was going to settle for the alternating white lights when I happened to stumble on a set that was blinking white and they all blinked at the same time, not alternating.
These will serve as my turn signal lights! They only cost $2.99 a set so I got 4, one for each turn signal. Had to go to 2 CVS stores to find 4 sets. I got some other non blinking white LED lights too to experiment with. Might be able to use one battery pack to power 2 sets of lights, we'll see. I got those at the Dollar Tree store, there were only $1 for a string of 10 LED lights.
Previous thoughts were to use steady on lights and a momentary switch and I would manually blink them. With these all I need is a 3 position switch, one position off and then 2 more positions for left and right turns. This way I can have the signals on and not have to hold the handle bar grip, so I can do hand signals, etc.
These battery powered lights are a better alternative to running off the light circuit as the potential for excessive voltage/amperage may kill the LEDs.
These LED Christmas lights have plastic coverings that can be removed to show the white LED. Some had color LED under the cover so I have to check them out carefully. They will be inserted into amber automotive marker lenses that will serve as turn signal lenses.
Here's the set I got for $1.
CVS drug store had what I needed. It seems that all the local drug stores have AA battery power LED Christmas lights in some degree or another. The deal is some were steady on, some were alternating lights, some were colored, I just needed white. Was going to settle for the alternating white lights when I happened to stumble on a set that was blinking white and they all blinked at the same time, not alternating.
These will serve as my turn signal lights! They only cost $2.99 a set so I got 4, one for each turn signal. Had to go to 2 CVS stores to find 4 sets. I got some other non blinking white LED lights too to experiment with. Might be able to use one battery pack to power 2 sets of lights, we'll see. I got those at the Dollar Tree store, there were only $1 for a string of 10 LED lights.
Previous thoughts were to use steady on lights and a momentary switch and I would manually blink them. With these all I need is a 3 position switch, one position off and then 2 more positions for left and right turns. This way I can have the signals on and not have to hold the handle bar grip, so I can do hand signals, etc.
These battery powered lights are a better alternative to running off the light circuit as the potential for excessive voltage/amperage may kill the LEDs.
These LED Christmas lights have plastic coverings that can be removed to show the white LED. Some had color LED under the cover so I have to check them out carefully. They will be inserted into amber automotive marker lenses that will serve as turn signal lenses.
Here's the set I got for $1.
I guess that's why in another thread someone had mentioned putting in a rectifier bridge to make it DC current. I thought that was optional, maybe it isn't. ]
]
As I said on the other thread, you're pulling too much off the flasher anyway, so you need a battery.
Your standard incandescent lamps will work fine, AC or DC. (Until they blow at high RPM without a battery)
It's AC and DC "Voltage" not current. That's sematics right now, but when you start configuring voltage, load and current draw, it is salient.
If you get a battery, a rectifier and charge it, most of your lighting challenges go away. That's why production vehicles are done that way after all. :shrug:
A basic snapshot of AC to DC via rectifier: AC means positive, then negative voltage, up and down, through zero, and everything. The speed of this positive to negative oscillation (ever heard of an oscilloscope?) is what is called "frequency."
What a rectifier does in this case, is to chop off the bottom end of the AC voltage giving you something called pulsating DC- This type of pulse still oscillates at what ever frequency it's at, but most basic DC components (light bulbs or simple motors) don't care.
What a rectifier regulator does is takes this pulsating DC and makes a high and a low value and ensures only that value is allowed to continue on in your circuit. To charge your battery. Since portions of that aspect are sensitive, running them straight to heavy loads can fry the components in that system. Consider your battery an electrical shock absorber.
You can find this on the net, but it's pretty important to understand these basics if you're trying to engineer an electrical system.
Thanks for the electrical info, Dave! Good stuff!
I'm trying to keep this project as simple as possible, simple meaning cheap.
I know, I know...cheap is not always the best way to go. You end up going --> :doah:
That's why I figure just having a separate LED system apart from the light circuit form the engine might be the easiest thing at the moment.
Thanks! :thumbsup:
I'm trying to keep this project as simple as possible, simple meaning cheap.
I know, I know...cheap is not always the best way to go. You end up going --> :doah:
That's why I figure just having a separate LED system apart from the light circuit form the engine might be the easiest thing at the moment.
Thanks! :thumbsup:
Got my LED light sets and marker lenses that will serve as turn signal housings.
I pulled out the 194 bulb holder. One set of 10 LED bulbs blink. I took 10 plain LEDs from another set and attached it to the blinking set and they work, so the blinking set of 10 LEDs running on 2 AA batteries had enough to power 20 LEDs. 10 will go up front, 10 will go out back for each side. I'll make a set for each side.
20 LEDs should be ok with 2 AA batteries as the plain set I got 10 LEDs from actually had 20 LEDs powered by 2 AA batteries.
I may just use one blinking battery pack to power all the lights to simplify things. Don't know how long it'll last but at least I'll only need 2 AA batteries.
I got an "on-off-on" switch which will act as an interrupter for the blinking lights. Each on will control one set of turn signals and will mount it on the left handle side handle bar.
I pulled out the 194 bulb holder. One set of 10 LED bulbs blink. I took 10 plain LEDs from another set and attached it to the blinking set and they work, so the blinking set of 10 LEDs running on 2 AA batteries had enough to power 20 LEDs. 10 will go up front, 10 will go out back for each side. I'll make a set for each side.
20 LEDs should be ok with 2 AA batteries as the plain set I got 10 LEDs from actually had 20 LEDs powered by 2 AA batteries.
I may just use one blinking battery pack to power all the lights to simplify things. Don't know how long it'll last but at least I'll only need 2 AA batteries.
I got an "on-off-on" switch which will act as an interrupter for the blinking lights. Each on will control one set of turn signals and will mount it on the left handle side handle bar.
I still have to paint the fake gas tank but it looks ok for now. I want to straighten out the lights first.
Plus I don't want to use the automotive paint in the house again. Stunk up the house and don't know how healthy it is. Actually it going to be about 50 degrees tomorrow. Might paint it real quick if I get a chance.
Plus I don't want to use the automotive paint in the house again. Stunk up the house and don't know how healthy it is. Actually it going to be about 50 degrees tomorrow. Might paint it real quick if I get a chance.