Always nice when things work out…
I thought I’d better do some minimal pre-MOT checks ahead of Monday.
- Headlight – working dipped and main beam (as it’s a US-model, no “Off” option)
- Rear Light – working
- Brake Light – working for front and rear brakes
- Horn – *PARP*
- Left Indicator – TAKAKAKAKA (fast)
uh-oh
That’s the indicator that I replaced the stem on when I first “received” the bike. Could have sworn it was working OK when I last checked. But did I? Or did I make a bad reconnection. Or has the bulb blown (hope it’s that).
I was going to wait until the morning, pull it apart and hope I’d still have time to get down to the Motorcycle Parts Centre (highly recommended) before they close (being Sunday). The possibility of an MOT failure for something so simple (on the face of it) was weighing on my mind, though so decided to try to take a look in the gathering dusk.
Took the lense off. Drat, the filament is intact and can’t see anything wrong with the bulb. I took it out anyway to see if I could see anything bad with the housing. Didn’t have to twist it much to get it out, and wasn’t sure it had re-seated properly so made sure and re-tested. Bingo!
I gave the assembly a bit of jolting and waggling to make sure it wasn’t getting dislodged again, and it’s still working. The other side was OK already.
I also checked the tread depth on the front tyre, and I /think/ it’s at least 1.6mm all over. My tread gauge isn’t very precise, but it looks about OK. I intend to replace it anyway, but not until I know there are no other nasty surprises from the MOT. I believe that a re-test is usually free within 10 days, so if it fails only on the tyre that shouldn’t be a problem.
Fingers crossed. I’m itching to take the old girl out for a spin.