electrical problem with the bike...need help

chvyeter

Registered
Especially if the bike is warm after just shutting the engine off and trying to restart the motor turns over slowly and almost not at all sometimes. If I keep trying the clock on the guage cluster resets like the battery is really low. I've checked the battery and it's got little over 12 volts. Any suggestions? I was thinking stator may not be charging up the battery sometimes.
 
What is "a little" over 12 volts? It should be 12.6 at rest. What happens to the voltage reading when you put a heavy load/draw on it? What is the voltage reading when the engine is running up off idle?
 
How old is the battery?

Is it a stock battery?

Do you have a battery tender or a trickle charger - if so, charger it for 24 hours and see it that helps.
If not, buy a new battery.
 
sounds like it could possibly be a bad ground - check the ground cable on the starter. if that has a poor connection it will cause strange issues. a good battery cannot overcome a bad ground. Check all the positive connections while your at it - clean and tight.
 
How old is the bike...mileage etc...starter could be knackered and heating up internally due to transmitted heat from the engine effecting the windings.
My Gen 1 Busa benefited from having extra ground/negative cables from the battery to the frame and also between the starter body and the engine block rather than just relying on the bolts/mounts that hold it in place.

However....Form your readings of the voltage drop during cranking it does sound like the battery has seen better days.....was it ever parked up for more than a month without being on a trickle charger?...if it was then the cells have sulphated...it may be possible to get some of the life back using a smart charger but its not a longterm fix
 
bike is an 01 and stockish battery. Not sure of it's age I just got the bike a couple of months ago. I have a tender but ride it everyday pretty much so I don't usually hook it up.
 
Take the battery to any auto store and they will test it for free...

I work at a car dealership so I could test it just didn't know what the cranking amps even are on it. Honestly I've not looked to see if it's posted on the battery somewhere.
 
I ran a second wire from my battery to the starter because when the bike is warm it doesn't have enough amps to crank it. It worked like a charm!
 
Check out your rectifier plug on the left side of the frame under the hump/rear seat. You might have to remove the tail to get a good look at it. Mine was crumbling apart and the wires were arcing causing all sorts of problems. Eventually I started getting no charge while running. I'm pretty lucky but it seems like there was no damage to the rectifier or battery.
 
I'll have to dig into in some more and look at all the above suggestions and get back with everyone. Thanks for the help.
 
Back
Top