[Wee Jack]

Wee Jack is a big advocate of K.I.S.S. -(Keep It Simple Stupid). One of the reasons I opted for the Alp - simple technology for a simple wee guy.

If the Alp blew a tailight bulb , Wee Jack would swing bye Halfords or the BP station on my way home, buy a new bulb, lift the seat, take oot the old bulb, in with the new - Bob's your father's brother !! Job done. A couple of pence and a couple of minutes - nae problem.

But if you pour scorn on K.I.S.S. and get some high tech rocket ship , like my pal Wee Fred's R1 , (that is a thing of sculptured beauty , has more horses than kilos, and more power than any sane human could ever safely manage) - then it's not a 2 minute tailight fix on the forecourt of the BP - OH NO !!! the R1 has a high tech tailight with an LED cluster , but not just an LED bulb OH NO!! a one off fully intigrated unit with prismatic type lenses that has to be ordered from Mr Yamaha........ and how long has Wee Fred been off the road waiting on the part ??? - TWO WEEKS !!!!! and he still has no outlook of the part and no idea yet what its going to cost !!

Like I say people ------- K.I.S.S. and love your simple bikes.

 

[Sharribee]

I love Kissing too ooops sorry I meant K.I.S.S.





The TA is soooo simple even I can service it

 

[cbcommuter]

ahhh the brilliant K.I.S.S came up with a simple idea to help out at work,told management, they p***ed about with it and when i mentioned the K.I.S.S word did not have a clue what i was on about

cheers darren

 

[mightdomaybe]

The problem with using K.I.S.S. "at" management....especially in a rank structured heirachy is that sooner or later when you do have to explain it to some 'dinosaur', you have to look them in the eye & suggest that they are the 'S' for "stupid".....very discomforting:thebirdman:

 

[cbcommuter]

not down the end of a phone 200 miles away:-D :-D

cheers darren

 

[Hagrid]

Wee Jack is a big advocate of K.I.S.S.

K.I.S.S. - Have you been over doing it with those Prince 2 manuals

Totally agree, accept with the Front NS Plug on the AT! Couldn they of made it any harder to get to?

 

[Recycler]

A headlight bulb blew on a mate's Jag. He knew this because a little light came on in the dash to tell him.

So he put a new one in.

It still didn't work.

So he checked the connectors, fuses and wiring.

It still didn't work.

In the end he took it to a dealer. It turned out each headlight had it's own computer to check it was working and tell you if it wasn't. The computer was boss-eyed, not the bulb and had to be replaced for over £100.

COMPUTER SAYS NO!!!

 

[squirrelciv]

If you need to know my view, just look at my signature
To be perfectly honest even the AT is too much for me. Why carry around a spare cylinder???

 

[Austin]

If the Alp blew a tailight bulb , Wee Jack would swing bye Halfords or the BP station on my way home, buy a new bulb, lift the seat, take oot the old bulb, in with the new - Bob's your father's brother !! Job done. A couple of pence and a couple of minutes - nae problem.

umm, jack, have you ever changed the rear bulb on your TA - K.I.S.S it is not. Bulb is an unobtainium 21w/5w wedge bulb and to reach the holder you need fingers so long you would be an alien.

Last time I did it (Charnock Richard services at 10.00pm) I took the rack and the plastic panels underneath off to reach it. Only to find the service station didn't do the wedge bulbs. Eventually mail ordered the bulbs from a bulb specialist.

 

[FatFergie]

umm, jack, have you ever changed the rear bulb on your TA - K.I.S.S it is not.

600 s are however.

Now....
has anyone ever noticed that when you try to text "kiss" with predictive text on a nokia "lips" appears.
I think that's really cool.....


Ok I'm going.:tongue3:

 

[Wee Jack]

umm, jack, have you ever changed the rear bulb on your TA - K.I.S.S it is not. Bulb is an unobtainium 21w/5w wedge bulb and to reach the holder you need fingers so long you would be an alien.

Last time I did it (Charnock Richard services at 10.00pm) I took the rack and the plastic panels underneath off to reach it. Only to find the service station didn't do the wedge bulbs. Eventually mail ordered the bulbs from a bulb specialist.

You've got me worried Austin. I can get my bulb holder out OK through the rear storage space , but I never looked closely at the type of bulb when I was splicing into the wiring for the trigger circuit to the auxiliarly lights relay I just fitted.

I need to look at this a bit closer tomorrow and get a spare or two if they are hard to source. Well there goes the K.I.S.S. theory on the ALP !!!.

 

[Wee Jack]

UPDATE: Well I checked again today, and even with a very fuzzy heed ( I was belled out of bed for 5 hours last night for ambulance duty) I have no problems getting the bulb out , just by taking the seat off and employing my best gynaecological techniques (ie take my watch off) and access the bulb holder through the rear storage space. I did have a closer look at the bulb this time and noted it was not the bayonette type I had assumed.

So good catch Austin - I'll get a couple of these wedge bulbs ordered - they will be needed eventualy !!!. you've probably saved me from a DOH !! moment in the dark in the middle of nowhere.

Still better than 2 weeks and counting to get an R1 tail cluster !!

 

[iswoolley]

Feel like putting my oar in here. Keeping a design simple is one thing, parts availability is another. LEDs survive vibration far better than filament bulbs, and if a cluster of LEDs is used then you can afford for one or two to die while keeping a working light unit. If you're designing a light unit and have the choice, the simple option is LEDs.

Unfortunately we can't even say the stupid bit is to design a light unit where the light source and lens are not separate. So when the light dies you have to buy a whole new assembly. That's not bad design, that's just what happens when compromises are made.

In a market where style is sometimes the only differentiator designers need to make their designs stand out from the crowd, and so maintainability is less of a priority. Factor in the target demographic for your design, affluent style-concious low-milage riders, and ease of changing light bulbs is way down on the list, far behind how sexy are the light bulbs.

And to wrap it all up someone somewhere at Yamaha will have done an analysis and worked out how many tail light units should fail each year, and because the designers used these ultra reliable LEDs come to conclusion that they only need 1 spare unit in stock for the whole UK. And that unit will be sat in a warehouse in continental Europe because it's more cost effective to store all of Europe's spares in one place. Oh, and 2 have actually failed at the same time so we need to get one in from Japan... ta da, two week lead time.

If you want a 200mph bike that is sex on a stick, be prepared for spares which cost and take time to source. Otherwise buy a C90 or a CX500.

 

[Dilbert]

Austin, I feel your pain buddy

Having to stop at Charnock Richard, bad call matey

 

[Wee Jack]

K.I.S.S. - Have you been over doing it with those Prince 2 manuals

Can't remember where I learned it from to be honest. Never claimed to have invented the acronym - but do admit to being an advocate.

 

[Dilbert]

Big believer in this too wee friend, but don't confuse "old fashioned" with simple or reliable, remember having to set the points and having to clean pitted contacts?

Only trouble with a lot of new technology is it's a damn sight more expensive if it does go wrong.

 

[GeoBloke]

I...wanna rock n' roll ALL night...and party every day!!!
:headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:




Oh. Hang on. Sorry everyone. Just saw the thread title and jumped in. I just thought....oh nevermind.............

 

[Xander]

I...wanna rock n' roll ALL night...and party every day!!!
:headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:




Oh. Hang on. Sorry everyone. Just saw the thread title and jumped in. I just thought....oh nevermind.............

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :evil5:
ALL join the headbangers ball!!!!

 

[Wee Jack]

OK last post here just to follow-up and close out this thread.

Wee Fred has his R1 back on the road. 3 Weeks and 2 days after the tailight failed and £150 to fix ( £97+vat for the part and £36 fitting).

K.I.S.S. - I rest my case .

 

[Dilbert]

That's about the length of time and cost for me to replace my simple mechanical speedo and I fitted it myself, the left hand switch assy cost £100 and failed the MOT because I couldn't get full beam.

Don't tell Mrs D though I keep telling her the AT is simple and reliable.