Break Down on the Niagara Parkway

Spring has finally arrived in Southern Ontario and I thought I would take advantage of it this Sunday with a nice leisurely afternoon ride. I left Fonthill and headed down to Fort Erie with the goal to travel on the Niagara Parkway along the Niagara River up to Niagara on the Lake and then back home. The ride started out fine with the sun shining and all the trees and plants starting to bud out. Beautiful!

Made it down to Fort Erie and started along the Parkway. I certainly was not the only one looking forward to the first really nice ride this year. There were more motorcycles out on the Parkway than cars. Fantastic! Everything was going fine until I looked down and saw my gauges were not registering. "That can't be good" I thought to myself. Just then the engine started to sputter and backfire. I tried to downshift to pull over and as soon as I pulled in the clutch, the engine died. I coasted into a parking lot on the side of the Parkway where there was a public boat launch. Tried to fire it back up with not luck. Battery seemed dead. Felt the engine and it seemed a little hot so I took off my helmet and gloves and sat on a picnic table waiting for it to cool down and watched some eager boaters launch for the first time this season.

Tried to start it again, and low and behold, everything was normal. Put back on the gear and headed out once more. By this time, I decided to head back home rather than completing the ride. 5 minutes down the Parkway and again, the gauges go dead and the bike quits. I figure this is it for the day. Fortunately I had my cell phone with me and called the local towing company. I waited by the side of the road for the tow truck while clusters of bikers happily rode by me and waved. After 2 hours of watching everyone enjoying this great day, the truck finally arrived.

Disappointed, I helped to load up my bike on the back of the flatbed. As we drove through Chippawa, we passed and outdoor patio filled with Harley riders enjoying a few beverages in the sun. Talk about embarrasing! Here's my beautiful Honda broken down on the back of a tow truck. I'm sure that generated a few jabs at the imports!

Anyway, back in my garage, I checked the voltage as per the service manual and was not getting the targeted 14 volts at 5000 rpm so I figured it might be the rectifier/regulator failure that I have read about. Fortunately, the bike is under warranty from the Dealer in Ajax. Unfortunately, I can't trust it to ride it there. I've offered to give them my old RR for a new one and I will gladly do the install. Just waiting to hear back.

I just wanted to take a minute to share my story. Needless to say, the sun was warm all day and it was nice to sit peacefully on the Parkway looking out over the Niagara River. Can't wait to get back out there and complete my ride.

Cheers!

 

I'm only saying this, because I own VFR's & everyone gives me Sh_t for buying the 06 Triumph Sprint St as well, on here.


:wink: MY TRIUMPH HAS NEVER BROKEN DOWN :tongue:







There, I said it ound: ound: ound:

 

This was new to me. I have never had any of my bikes break down before nor did I really expect them to. Thank goodness it was a nice day and was just doing a day trip - not on a tour somewhere far away from home.

 

Mine did the SAME thing while on a ride with Reg... Rectifier Set of course. I'd recommend sticking with the OEM rectifier. It has been beefed up significantly. It'll probably work fine after it has time to sit, but don't let it fool you. Once heated up, it'll die again.