I woke with a plan today, but it soon turned to nothing 😦

After packing the bike it would not start. Now, I had used the bikes power for a short while yesterday evening to power my laptop, but I had done this before with no detrimental effects.

I got a jump start from a caravan owner who had a jump pack and noticed my battery voltage at 12.6V. When I tried to navigate around the boom gate at the exit to the park, (bike owners don’t get a swipe card) I managed to stall it 😦

So, I got another jump start and headed to the only bike shop in town where it was agreed that the bike is not charging and I needed to check the rectifier/regulator unit.

The manual says undo two screws and one side cowling, but I had to remove the tank, the bike shop very kindly let me do my own work in the car park.

Once the rectifier was out of the bike, it looked burnt out, so as none were in stock it meant an overnight stopover, with no transport. They also said, overnight from Suzuki in Melbourne could mean 2 days wait 😦 So, I went and bought some breakfast and booked into the closest hotel, right next door 🙂 Pretty basic room and the sink turned out to be blocked up, but I did not know that until later.

I spent some time on the net and reading a book, before heading down for a beer in the late afternoon. The bar was not that busy at all, but I had a nice dinner and watched some cricket on TV.

It seemed to me that the regulator had been faulty for a day or so. Now, I have a chargeguard on my bike so I know exactly what voltage the battery is at. That said, I have more and more been using the temperature gauge function as normal. That way I know when it is time to add gear when up in the ranges. If it had been on voltage at all times, I believe I would have noticed it not charging earlier. I still would have had a fault, but been better prepared.

Day – 10km
Trip – 30,836km
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