Took my bike out for the first time since I bought it (used, 4k miles, sat for over a year), after a month of prep work on it, and sadly it looks like there is more to be done.

It has a brand new battery (a working one.. already replaced the bad one I was sold), and it was fully charged when I got out there, started fine, and ran well, but after about 3 hours of riding, and on my 4th attempt to start it that day, when I hit the starter button it made a clicking sound and would not start.

I bump started it, but after another hour it started sputtering (like a fuel issue) and died. Turning the key did nothing (no lights/horn/etc) and I couldn't bump start it either. Had to tow it back in, which wasn't how I hoped the day would end =P.

Anyway, I'm fairly new to bike tech in general, but seemed to me like the battery isn't getting charged while I'm riding... any advice?
I'm going to disable the kickstand sensor tomorrow hopefully, since I heard that can cause issues.. but I'm open to many more suggestions!

- Swing.

 

Maybe check for blown fuses.

Charge battery, start the bike, and check voltage w/ bike running.

Good luck!



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Do you have access to a digital meter? You need to get the bike started anyway you can then put a meter on the battery and see what the output is. I would start there before I did anything else.

 

Gonna need a volt meter to test it yourself. HF gives them away from time to time. You can get one for $4 bucks on sale.

You should read 14.2 -15.2V at the battery @ 4,000 RPM
A fully charged battery is around 12.7V measured a few hours off a charger.
When cranking the voltage should not drop below 10V on a good battery.

 

Your bike is not charging the battery. The EFI runs off the battery, when battery voltage drops, EFI turns off.

There are a lot of electronic part/pieces to the charging system.... If your not an electrical gearhead, take it to the shop.

Otherwise start with the wiring and check for circuit continuity, stator output, and find what piece is broke.

 

Thanks for the input all!! I have a little list going now and hopefully will find the problem!

I'm hoping that it is semi-obvious and that I can figure it out myself with a bit of detective work, but I'll have to take it in if I get stuck.

 

Never assume a "new" battery is a "good" battery. Make sure your connections are clean and tight. I always charge a new battery before I install it. I also read date codes and cherry pick the newest one on the shelf.

 

Hi all, when installing a 12v lighter socket to my bike yesterday, I noticed that the -ve battery terminal was about to break off so I decided to replace the battery with a Motobatt 8 Ah item. The old batt was original (4 1/2 yo) with no charging or power issues.

Out of curiosity, I put my voltmeter across the new batt when idling = 13.3v. When I revved the engine, the voltage began dropping off to 12.6 @ 4,000rpm; not good, kept on dropping as speed increased. Same readings when original batt was reinstalled. The alt output voltage was over 70VAC @ 4,000rpm on all yellow wires & the diodes in the reg are okay. I don't have access to three 12v batteries to perform the reg circuit check in the manual. Do you think I have a faulty regulator? Any other checks I can perform?

I'm reluctant to buy a new reg as they're expensive. I could try bike wreckers but it could be hit & miss with a s/hand part. Cheers

 

Don't know why it does it but those voltage readings are normal. Mine has done that since new (I can watch voltage on my gps).


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Thanks Dynobob. Learned something today.