[Bailey121]

Hello all,

I'm having some pretty annoying electrical ( I'm assuming electrical) problems. I'll start from the beginning.

Since last Friday, I have rode the bike everyday, mostly for a few hours other than monday and today (Tuesday) Saturday night after the bike had been off for a couple of hours, I went to start it. All seemed normal, bike went through its start up checks, then as I pressed start, it just clicked and the trip meter reset as did the clock, then it went through its checks again and I pressed start and bobs ya uncle. Sorted.

Apart from today...this morning it did the same, about 6 times before it started! Rode into work, switched it off for a couple hours, started fine. Had a 2 hour lunch break ( lucky me ) then went to start it up and nothing. Its not started since. I've checked battery connections, I've looked at fuses, I've had the key turned and started turning the bars, fiddling with wires to see if I can get a connection going. But as of lunch, I don't even get electric to the dash...sometimes I get dribs and drabs but nothing gets the bike started, it just clicks and shuts down completely.

About 10 minuted ago, me and a friend used jump leads to start my bike..it worked, barely..but as soon as I disconnected the leads, my bike dies. I've had a multimeter on my battery to test voltage, ignition off, the batterys sitting at around 12.85 volts, which I'm told is normal, when I turn the ignition, it drops, within a minute to about 0.35!

Tested my friends battery and ignition off, hes at around the same, so 12+, ignition on his stays around the same, then when you turn his bike on, it rises!

So...

what does this sound like to any of you mechanically minded people? Any body had the same issue?

I've been told to try another battery, failing that, there could be an earthing problem...

any help any advice great fully accepted!

cheers
Bailey

 

[RJ2112]

Hello all,

I'm having some pretty annoying electrical ( I'm assuming electrical) problems. I'll start from the beginning.

Since last Friday, I have rode the bike everyday, mostly for a few hours other than monday and today (Tuesday) Saturday night after the bike had been off for a couple of hours, I went to start it. All seemed normal, bike went through its start up checks, then as I pressed start, it just clicked and the trip meter reset as did the clock, then it went through its checks again and I pressed start and bobs ya uncle. Sorted.

Apart from today...this morning it did the same, about 6 times before it started! Rode into work, switched it off for a couple hours, started fine. Had a 2 hour lunch break ( lucky me ) then went to start it up and nothing. Its not started since. I've checked battery connections, I've looked at fuses, I've had the key turned and started turning the bars, fiddling with wires to see if I can get a connection going. But as of lunch, I don't even get electric to the dash...sometimes I get dribs and drabs but nothing gets the bike started, it just clicks and shuts down completely.

About 10 minuted ago, me and a friend used jump leads to start my bike..it worked, barely..but as soon as I disconnected the leads, my bike dies. I've had a multimeter on my battery to test voltage, ignition off, the batterys sitting at around 12.85 volts, which I'm told is normal, when I turn the ignition, it drops, within a minute to about 0.35!

Tested my friends battery and ignition off, hes at around the same, so 12+, ignition on his stays around the same, then when you turn his bike on, it rises!

So...

what does this sound like to any of you mechanically minded people? Any body had the same issue?

I've been told to try another battery, failing that, there could be an earthing problem...

any help any advice great fully accepted!

cheers
Bailey

Your battery is very likely toast. The ability of a battery to hold charge decreases with age, and number of cycles. If the battery has been overcharged, and lost electrolyte, it will also fail sooner than a healthy battery.

A load test is the only way to know for sure how many electrons a battery can provide. if yours is more than about 5 years old, it may be on it's last legs.

 

[NitrusReigns]

Pull the battery and get it tested first. It's probably just a bad battery, I would think :O

I'm certainly no expert, but I've had enough batteries go bad to recognize some symptoms...if it's not the battery, we can help you troubleshoot from there, but I'd put money on it just being the battery

 

[Bailey121]

I spoke to the guy I purchased the bike from, he said it had a new battery in January! So thats what, 4 months old?!

I'm going to try a different battery in it tomorrow

 

[5hift]

The battery may be dying prematurely because its not being charged properly (whether overcharging or under). Check stator to ensure its outputting right voltage. Check rectifier. Check the connections in between all these parts and then check the final connection to the battery the solenoid on the left side of the seat.

 

[Bailey121]

Thanks for the replies so far,


2 things..

Stator? Startermotor?

Rectifier?

I'm not massively clued up on this stuff, new to it all! Keen to learn though ��

 

[RJ2112]

Thanks for the replies so far,


2 things..

Stator? Startermotor?

Rectifier?

I'm not massively clued up on this stuff, new to it all! Keen to learn though ��

Your charging system is made of a few main components. The alternator is the device which is spun by the motor, which generates the electricity. It is composed of a stationary part (the stator) and the rotating part (the rotor). As the rotor spins, the fields generated by it are coupled into the windings on the stator, and the alternating current (AC) is then sent to the rectifier. The rectifier is a series of one way gates, that force all of the current to flow in the same direction -- direct current (DC). The Voltage (equivelent to pressure) is intentionally slightly higher than what is safe for your bikes DC electrical components, so the whole thing has enough energy when you have evrything turned on and you can charge up the battery. The Regulator is a safety valve, which limits the pressure -- like a waste gate on a turbo.

If the stator is burnt up, you cannot get the initial AC voltage you need, to charge the battery and keep everything running. If the stator is good, and the rectifier is bad, you won't get the right flavor of power, and the peak voltages will be high enough to damage parts.

If the regulator goes bad without the other two going south, you can boil the electrolyte out of the battery, possibly run the lamps too bright..... like someone's turbo would act if the waste gate were locked shut. Might take a long time to realize there's a problem.

 

[Bailey121]

All sorted! Touch wood...

Tried a mates battery in her and she started straight away no problem. Tried my battery in his and his wouldn't budge! So... a new battery later and a 100mile bike and she's still going strong!

So relieved that it was a simple problem!

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[RJ2112]

All sorted! Touch wood...

Tried a mates battery in her and she started straight away no problem. Tried my battery in his and his wouldn't budge! So... a new battery later and a 100mile bike and she's still going strong!

So relieved that it was a simple problem!

Thanks for all the replies.

Buy a multimeter so you can make sure you know what's going on.....