Hi Ya-All,
just got back from a weekend trip from Phoenix, AZ to Laughlin, NV (BIKE WEEK). To meet up with Family & friends. This is mostly a Harley event, but all makes are always welcome!
I experienced 2 minor inconveniences. On Saturday morning when departing with Family & friends for a tour tip to visit Oatman, AZ, My wife & I had just turned onto the street from the parking lot when the throttle stayed on a very "high idle" & refused to idle down despite multiple attempts to blip the handlebar twist grip......just stuck there about 2500 - 3000 rpm. After shutting off, several turns of the throttle revealed that the throttle body springs appeared to be correctly pulling the cable back toward idle normally.......no unusual slack in the cable feel at the twist drum. Hmmmm.... Only after cycling the fast idle choke lever a couple of times open & closed, did normal operation resume.
Worked fine the rest of the trip. No attempt to repair or evaluate has been started. I am assuming that after extensive electrical & fairing work last week, that a piece of foreign material must have fallen into the area of the fast idle mechanism & jammed it until it finally fell through. I expect that next week when I pull the left dash trim & the left lower fairing, that I'll find a piece of "flotsam" laying on the top of the cyl head below #4 TB.
Second item of consternation was that before leaving, I spent a lot of time adding an Eastern Beaver light relay kit complete with HD ceramic connector plug, attached to an 80/100 Headlamp bulb. Everything seemed fine. This morning before leaving Nevada, I noted that the low beam was dead. Getting around front, I tested the High beam & watched the whole housing fill with smoke as the high beam burned out.
Having now driven home, I note that there's pieces of glass laying in the bottom of the headlamp housing from the shattered bulb. I'm now faced with no alternative than to pull the whole fairing loose again so I can get the housing out to clean & inspect the inside. I'm at a loss to understand why my new bulb shattered. It ran well for 6 hours or so & I was doubly sure not to touch the glass of the halogen bulb when installing it. I'm guessing that it had to have had some event where it collided with some part of the reflector or deflector on the bumpy road.
Any ideas?????
Anyway, Our side trip from Laughlin, NV to Oatman, AZ went off well. Oatman is a quirky little rural mountain town that's a favorite tourist destination The big attraction there is that there's a number of wild burros (Donkeys) that have free rein of the town. they wander about at will, are very tame. This weekend, Oatman was an absolute ZOO with all the Harley folks and 1 or 2 lonely BMW's. Here's a few pics:

I went to Laughlin years ago. It must have been before that event really took off because I don't ever recall seeing so many bike in Oatman. Mini Sturgis now....
You know, it's possible that the headlight bulb was simply defective. Was it a recognized brand or a cheapie you got on EBay?
As to the apparently sticky throttle/high idle, I'm reminded that there was a recall or upgrade on the throttle cables on our early bikes. Did you verify you have the updated one?
Good luck sorting those issues.

Cripes with that donkey I thought it might have been a democrat convention

Can't explain the bulb other than it was defective from the manufacturer. Measure the voltage at the terminals just to be sure it is not too excessive. The life of a halogen bulb decreases logarithmically with changes to the applied voltage, meaning slightly higher voltage than design will significantly reduce the life of a bulb to the point where it can be measured in hours or minutes, rather than years. The converse is true if the voltage is lower than designed.

There is a roller cam on the fast idle mechanism in the throttle body.

That should be your first place to investigate the cause for the fast idle problem. Also, the TPS can sometimes prevent the butterflies from returning to their natural position. Check that adjustment also.

Robmack,
Thx for the excellent photo of the fast idle cam. I am familiar with the setup. As I mentioned in my post above, I suspect that a piece of debris fell down from above & caught there when I opened the regular hand throttle, probably a piece of wire insulation, the end of a cut off wire tie, a leftover piece of shrink tubing or maybe a dropped sheet metal screw from the fairing assy., since I had recently completed a lot of work in the area above. I'll have the fairings off today to get the headlamp out (reflector is covered with smoke) I suspect I'll find some foreign object laying on top of the cyl. head near the throttle linkage on #4.
Also, as I stated in my post above, the glass was not touched between removal from the mfgs blister pack and installation in the housing. I believe that the fact that if functioned normally for 6 hours or more rules out the possibility of a hot spot on the glass from a finger print.
More likely, just a cheap quality bulb since the price was so low

All the fairings are off AGAIN today for inspection of the throttle issue + removal of the headlamp shell to remove all the busted glass from the bulb.
Nothing conclusive was found on the throttle. Even though I had corrected the head of the lower intake pipe #4 clamp,
it still seemed perilously close to the throttle cam linkage. I elected to rotate the entire clamp around about 10 degrees so the head is now directly behind the injector nozzle and well away from the throttle linkage. No foreign object was found that might have created the issue. While in there I put a squirt of dry lube in on the cam roller and assured it turned easily.
As for the headlight bulb. It appears that it just Exploded probably from heat? As noted earlier by another member, it was a very inexpensive bulb. Probably just cheesy quality. There were new chips & gouges in the side of the reflector where the pieces of flying bulb shards hit it with some force from the explosion. There were several pieces of bulb fragment embedded in the lower plastic housing where they had melted themselves in before cooling off.
I expect a halogen bulb of this wattage to be very hot but it should not have blown up as it did.
I have ordered some new OEM bulbs from MAX. I think I'm finished with super bright optional bulbs for a while.......just too much work to get the headlamp shell off for repairs. If I find I need more light, I'll add some auxiliaries. At least that way, I'll have some optional light to get home in the event of a main bulb failure at night.
Now I have to tackle the front brake fluid change. I can see in preliminary attempts that 2 of the 3 reservoir lid screws won't come out, so I've left it as is until a new reservoir, lid, gasket, screws and related parts arrive also from MAX.
I'll have to drill the tops off the old screws. I assume that after that I'll be able to pull off the reservoir leaving the 3 screws sticking up from the aluminum master cyl. base. I way have some chance of extracting them without precision drill & tap exercises once the reservoir is off.
Wish me luck......no telling how much fluid is left in the reservoir. I think I've been riding on borrowed time.

"I assume that after that I'll be able to pull off the reservoir leaving
the 3 screws sticking up from the aluminum master cyl. base..."

Not quite. There is a small screw that holds the reservoir on...number 19 in the image below:



It comes up through the bottom of the reservoir.

Also, replacing the "o" ring (number 20) while you're there is a good idea.

Right idea, wrong illustration. I get the thought you're making. once I drill off the tops of 3 screws, I'll at least be able to get the lid off & suck out the old goo. Then maybe if I'm fortunate the small screw will come loose, allowing me to continue with repairs. No need to repost the picture, I've got it. Fortunately, in my "new" parts bike just obtained, I have another master cyl. that may provide a needed part or 2.
Thanks for the update

Where in the hell did that image come from?

You may have the idea, but others may not...so I reposted it for clarification.



22 in this one...