Rechargeable Batteries

Buying batteries only to toss them into the trash is a complete waste of money and generates a lot of toxic trash. Nothing new there.

So a year or so ago I started converting things over to rechargeable batteries. Energizer seemed like a solid, flexible system so I bought the charger and have been replacing regular batteries with rechargeable ones when they die. After a bit of use I found a very frustrating bug/feature of this unit. 

If you leave it plugged in the unit shuts down. Fair enough, isn't using power keeping the transformer energized. But the problem comes when you go to charge again. You have to unplug the unit to re-set the power! So after a year of crawling under my desk to unplug the stupid thing. So I decided a modification was in order. The charger needed a on/off switch. My first thought was to just graft a power switch onto the cord much like a lamp. Would have worked fine and been much faster but isn't as sanitary as a switch on the unit itself.

First I had to remove the four screws securing the back cover. Strangely, they were a simple tamper proof screw?!! I have no idea why they thought this was necessary, maybe they got a good deal on them.

I got out the Dremel and trimmed up a very worn old screwdriver to make my own tamper proof screwdriver! A Dremel is THE go-to tool!

Once I had the back cover off it looked pretty simple. Cord supplies power to a small transformer that steps down the power supply to the circuit board. Magic stuff happens and your batteries are charged. I thought about trying to get a reading on the power out of the transformer and possibly wire the switch between the transformer and board but I didn't want this to become a longer job than I'd already made it. I was also happy to find quite a bit of room around the cord and transformer for the switch.

After a few minutes rooting through my tool box I found this small simple toggle switch. I also had a small roller contact switch that I thought for a moment about installing inside the cover so that opening the cover would switch the unit off. Again, decided against it in the name of time.

Just above the "Energizer" decal you can see where I drilled the hole with the Dremel. Could have used a drill but I already had the Dremel out. Just reamed the hole, then test fit the switch. Repeat until the switch fits!

You can see the hole for the switch from the inside. The cord has a strain relief fitting so the knot in the cord is redundant. Untying the knot gave us the extra cord length we need to tap it.

The cord isn't polarized (one large spade and one small spade on the plug) so really we could cut either wire on the cord. We're only trying to interrupt the circuit so we only have to stop the flow of electricity on one wire. Cords like this usually have small ribs on one of the wires. I seem to remember that on polarized cords, that is the line side. I'll have to check.

The switched power is rated at 120v but the wattage is very low so I used a couple of small pieces of hookup wire. Stripped both ends first so I wasn't pulling on the wires once they were attached and then did a quick solder job attaching them to the switch. Single pole single throw switch so there is only one way to wire it.

Missed getting a photo of the cut cord wires but;

• Installed the switch in the case.
• Cut the wire with the ribs on the side
• Split the now cut wire from it's intact partner. 
• Stripped the ends of the cut wire
• Twisted one switch wire to the stripped wire to the transformer, added a wire nut
• Twisted the other switch wire to the stripped wire on the cord, added a wire nut
• Tucked it all back into the case making sure nothing contacted the transformer (they get hot)
• Replace the back cover and curious tamper-proof screws (Laugh to yourself that they didn't stop you for very long)

So here it is. Switch installed in the top, LED lit showing that the batteries are charging. When charged the unit will shut down but now, instead of cursing while I crawl under my desk to unplug the cord to power it down, wait 10 seconds and plug it back in (or cycle the power strip which re-sets the printers and their servers), I can just flip the switch wait a few seconds and turn it back on.

Maybe when I do a bit more work with LED's I'll add an LED next to the switch that will indicate that the power is on.

Don't fear technology! You buy this stuff so don't let them tell you what you can or can't do with it.

Modify Everything!

Todd

Minton Mods

With credit to Joe Minton and Motorcyclist magazine I am posting a copy of what some say is the definitive article on the basic modification of an SR500. Excuse the poor image quality. These are scanned from photocopies of photocopies that have been in my files for nearly 20 years. Man I'm getting old! The bottom of the pages list this as originally being printed in the August 1986 issue of Motorcyclist magazine. My thanks to Mr. Minton and the folks at Motorcyclist for the article.

Not knowing how to link a pdf to the blog I resorted to scanning these as jpg files and posting them as such. If anyone can explain to me know how to post a pdf, i'll put that up as well. If anyone is interested in the pdf version drop me an email and I'll forward you a copy.

I also have an old workshop manual that has a chapter on "Performance Modifications". It covers some of the same stuff as this article with a few different routes. That chapter delves into shedding weight and major engine modifications for racing. If I figure out the pdf thing I'll work on scanning that and getting it up here.

Enjoy!

Todd

Dyno Sheets

Good for a laugh! We were at a WERA race at Seattle Int. Raceway and a guy had a mobile dyno up and running. What the hell. Plunked down my $30 and saw what the SR could do. Would love to get the GSXR on a dyno someday.

As mentioned in an earlier post, mods to the stock motor were the White Bros. pipe and Supertrapp, K&N filter, top end rebuild and jetting work to suit the pipe and filter.

SR500

I bought the SR for $425 in 1992 (I think). Rough but running 1978 SR500E.

Neither the seller or I knew how to start the thing and after a half an hour of kicking and pushing the thing up and down the street we managed to get it started.

Suspension was very tired so I traded my CD175 for a set of shocks and fork springs. Some of the setup came from something called the Minton Mods by Joe Minton. I'll try and get that article as well as the "Performance" pages from one of my manuals scanned and on here.

The short list is:

• White Bros Pipe w/Supertrapp 
• Progressive suspension fork springs and shocks
• Updated jetting
• K&N filter
• Refreshed top end 

With the pipe, jetting and top end work the bike pulled 30 rear wheel horsepower on a Dynojet model 100 dyno.









Additionally, I'd installed a set of drop clubman bars, bar end mirrors and Raask rearset foot pegs.

In this trim I put lots of miles on the bike. Living in Portland Oregon, even with the rain it was my only transportation for a year or so.

At some point I picked up an old Don Vesco cafe fairing. A friend helped fabricate some stainless mounts and then I had the whole bike painted. The fairing is pretty heavy and since the SR is so narrow the fairing is a pretty big hole to punch. Top end was dropped by about 10 mph. 

Here's a shot returning from one of the BMW rallies. Detroit lake Oregon on our way back to Portland from Redmond. Pulled many 300 to 500 mile days with this bike.

The bike is static in my garage now. Last registered in 1999, I had bought a 1988 GSXR1100 that I rode more. Then spent a year working overseas and when I moved back to the US my wife to be and I relocated from the West coast to the East coast (Boston). No garage so the bike was parked in a friends garage until recently we bought a place with a garage. So now it's in with the other projects waiting their turn for work. 

I can say that finally getting this all posted, which involved going through some old files really reminded me what a great bike this is. Maybe it'll move up the to-do list a few places.

Thump

Todd