[bparro]

Hello again, I bought a new battery for my bike a month ago and thought I had solved my starting problem...wrong!



I was riding along at 70mph on the highway one day and realised my turn signals were not working. Then I realised my headlight was off too! I pulled over and had that brains to keep the bike running while I checked all the electrics. None of the electrics worked. I rode straight home and the bike seemed to perform like usual. Once it was shut off it was dead. Decidded to check the battery and it was dead. Charged it and the bike wa fine again. So, what is my prob? Could a bad regulator cause the battery to not charge? Is it the rectifier?

 

[bandit]

hi,it does sound like a charging problem.

http://www.genebitsystems.com/david/MotorcycleElectrical/ChargingProblems.htm#How To Use MultiMeter

 

[Shep]

Check and change the main fuse holder,



http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=27

 

[thackney]

https://www.rmstator.com/PDF/fault_finding.pdf

Go here, print and use.

 

[Lamontacycle]

Forgive me if I'm repeating myself as I recall posting this comment to my KZ1000 forum: About a year ago I had 3 aging vehicles(1978 Kawasaki, 1989 volvo, 1985 mercedes)all with charging problems and spent way to much money on parts and hours with the test meter. All 3 ended up having identical problems: faulty grounds. In the case of the KZ1000 -the ground cable 'looked' good on both ends. Replaced it and everything worked fine. Ditto on the volvo, the Mercedes needed an additional ground returning to the engine rather than the chassis. In all three cases, the charging systems always read under 12 volts, even with new parts. Fixed the grounds and they all popped up to 14.5 or so. That is now absolutely the first thing I check if I have an electrical problem. Ground cables are cheap when compared to batteries, stators, alternators, rectifiers, regulators.....

https://www.rmstator.com/PDF/fault_finding.pdf

Go here, print and use.

 

[bparro]

Very good info guys! Thanks. The main fuse has been replaced my the PO but he did a nasty job with the soldering iron.

I checked the ground wire visually but I admit that I have not spent much time getting into it. What did you replace the ground wire with? A new old stock one, or any new wire with the correct gauge?

 

[marnargulus]

You can do the main fuse switch without a soldering iron. Get the mini O-hole clamps and the screw that held the fuse in will fit just fine. I did my main fuse switch in about 3 minutes (one minute to remove, one to screw in the fuse leads, one to put back on). Just FYI, not saying it is better but it works the same.

 

[marnargulus]

And this sounds like a stator problem if you aren't even getting lights when the bike is on.

 

[NateDawg]

Do the stator test as per General Discussion / Quick reference on this forum. I'd put money on it being a shot stator over a poor ground to the RR though. Sorry

You were able to continue riding despite a dead battery, which means your charging windings are shot, but your 2 coils on the stator designated for the cdi and coils to the spark plugs were operating normally. I had the same problem. You can start your bike by putting it on the center stand, in 5th gear spin the back wheel. But the stator won't charge the battery. Bettcha, if you take the 3 yellow wires coming out of the rear motor case, you will see continuity with ground with an ohm meter on at least one of them.



What I did is bought the cheapest G8 stator I could find from Ebay and a 1 lb roll of 1.2mm solid copper polyurethane coated wire and rewound my own stator. Sold the old CDI and bought a brand new Ignitech ignition from Cobram. Along with a new cam chain and cam chain guide, new rear gasket and o rings and seals. As I was counting up the cost of everything, it was very tempting to charge the battery and put the bike up for sale. Then take the money from the sale along with the $400 + I would have spent on repairs, and get a different bike. As I kept thinking on this, I knew Karma would come back to me somehow if I did this. Not only that, now that I have done these repairs, There are so many new parts in there, I shouldn't have to worry about a lot of stuff for a while. Might be a little pride in the fact I fixed it myself to, and now I know the bike better. It put some hair on my chest

 

[marshallf3]

Eliminate the easy to check / inexpensive possibilities first. Grounding & main fuse, poor / corroded connection on the stator connector, bad battery. (yes, it's possible)



Next, if you don't have one get a volt meter. (Usually around $5 on sale at Harbor Freight) and start testing.

 

[thackney]

I second Marshall's post. The battery must be fully charged---see the rmstator fault finding guide and all connections must be good before you can do proper testing. The 3 yellow wires under the seat are notorious for having a high resistance in the connector. I have redone mine with spade connectors soldered to the wires and covered with shrink wrap.

 

[marshallf3]

Yea, if you analyze the circuit there are times when there's a lot more current going through those connectors than anything that size is usually rated for thus they do tend to get oxidized/corroded over time. Get a tiny round wire brush (often found as a welding tip cleaner) at most any hardware or discount tool place to clean all the contacts up then cover them in silicone dielectric grease before re-assembly.



http://www.dowcorning.com/content/news/iam_news32.asp