21st century motorcycle maintenance problems

[Jeff]

Protip: while removing your USB log drive, don't choose that particular moment to get butterfingers.

Last night right before going to bed I was like "hey oh yeah I had some errors today, I should get those logs and send them Brammo's way."  I pull off the rubber cover and take the drive out, at which point it proceeds to immediately squirt out of my fingers, perform a couple perfect pachinko-like bounces, and plummet down a tiny crack into the deepest unknown bowels of the bike.



It's . . . . somewhere in THERE.  My only hope is that it fell all the way through to the bottom; I'm going to take the belly pan off tonight and find out.  If not, I'm going to have to start taking more exciting-looking things apart.

[Shinysideup]

Sorry to hear about this, Jeff.

Several years ago, on a tour of the Alps with Beach's Motorcycle Adventures, a special award was handed out each night at dinner. During the day, the riders nominated one person to receive the special button, based on an observed foul-up. I got mine for dropping my bike onto a grassy shoulder with the side stand placed on soft ground. The name of this prestigious award? The "Ach Scheiss!" award. I still proudly have my button.

I think you won today's!

I've got a small Brammo screw somewhere down that same Brammo rabbit hole. I figure I'll find it when it's time to change out the battery pack!

Have you tried a highly focused LED flashlight beam and a pair of hemostats?

When digging around, be careful of high voltages.   But you knew that already.

[Richard230]

A couple of years ago I was attending the electric vehicle show in Palo Alto and dropped my ignition key down the throat of my BMW F650GS bodywork.  After spending an hour looking for the key with no success, a fellow with an Aprilia motor scooter let me use it to ride the 40 miles home and back to get my spare key.  (Those EV guys are great!)  After the show, I rode home along El Camino Real and across from University Avenue, I hit a bump and heard a "tinkle" behind me.  I parked my bike, ran back, saw the key in the second lane and jumped into a break in traffic to retrieve it.

So my advice is to first try poking around with a lighted retrieval wand or fiber optic probe (wearing gloves and eye protection, just in case) and if that doesn't work go riding around your neighborhood, hit a few potholes (should be easy to find) and listen for a "tinkle" behind you.   

[00049 (AKA SopFu)]

At last year's "Flat Four Tour" (ride across four flat states), someone dropped his key down the fairing of his V-Strom at lunch during the first day. I think they had the radiator off and were about to start disassembling the engine when they found it. 

[Jeff]

Hahahaha well, success!  It was not in the belly pan, but thanks to help from the housemates and some vigorous flailing with a telescoping magnet rod thing, the drive has been retrieved.

In the process I learned several things:

• There are five torx screws that hold the rear plastics on.  ONE of them is shorter than the others.  It seems to go on the back right side, near the rear shock.
• Taking your plastics off and putting them back on can be a performance optimization.  I shaved probably a half pound off in dirt, rocks, burnt tire chunks, and other debris.  Surely that's as much as a titanium bolt kit!
• Apparently someone at Brammo was nice enough to personalize my bike!  I found this on the inside of one part:

It's not quite 'Ach Scheiss,' but I'll take it.