Electrical issue
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Permanent Student
Squid
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 94
Electrical issue
Hello all!
Had something strange happen on last nights ride. I have a relatively (<1 yr) new battery, 68,000km on the bike, standard maintenance.
1)first rest stop after 2 hours or so of riding, I attempt to turn bike on - key in ignition, ON position, gauges light up. I hit the starter and gauges and lights go off completely with an audible single click from underseat area.
2)I open up the back, all wiring looks normal. Turn key off and on - hit start and she fires up no problem.
3)so as to not be stranded, I ride home. The entire ride home gauge backlights and headlights flicker aggressively, and needles are jumping all over the place. Briefly they would display accurately but no longer than 10-20 seconds before being very loose again. Bike did get me home.
I havent started any troubleshooting yet as I got home late, but am about to start. My guesses are battery or RR, would the symptoms make sense with anyone else that’s had RR failure?
Had something strange happen on last nights ride. I have a relatively (<1 yr) new battery, 68,000km on the bike, standard maintenance.
1)first rest stop after 2 hours or so of riding, I attempt to turn bike on - key in ignition, ON position, gauges light up. I hit the starter and gauges and lights go off completely with an audible single click from underseat area.
2)I open up the back, all wiring looks normal. Turn key off and on - hit start and she fires up no problem.
3)so as to not be stranded, I ride home. The entire ride home gauge backlights and headlights flicker aggressively, and needles are jumping all over the place. Briefly they would display accurately but no longer than 10-20 seconds before being very loose again. Bike did get me home.
I havent started any troubleshooting yet as I got home late, but am about to start. My guesses are battery or RR, would the symptoms make sense with anyone else that’s had RR failure?
Administrator
MotoGP
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 4,402
From: Kempner, TX
Likely a bit of both
RR wiring or RR itself is likey with a dead battery now as well
Get battery charged up, get your test meter out and start the diag with checking all connections.
Battery to cables.
Cables to ground and stater relay
Relay to starter.
RR connector to wiring harness
If you put a wrench on the starter terminal nut do not let the stud turn or you risk breaking the insulator inside.
all good so far...then
key off bat voltage
key on volt
key on running volt
still good?
test stator and RR
stators are pretty robust on this bike so it’s not likey but must be ruled out.
If it is the RR that has failed or a melted RR plug, replace both with a MOSFET RR kit
RR wiring or RR itself is likey with a dead battery now as well
Get battery charged up, get your test meter out and start the diag with checking all connections.
Battery to cables.
Cables to ground and stater relay
Relay to starter.
RR connector to wiring harness
If you put a wrench on the starter terminal nut do not let the stud turn or you risk breaking the insulator inside.
all good so far...then
key off bat voltage
key on volt
key on running volt
still good?
test stator and RR
stators are pretty robust on this bike so it’s not likey but must be ruled out.
If it is the RR that has failed or a melted RR plug, replace both with a MOSFET RR kit
Senior Member
MotoGP
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 5,066
From: NYC
I agree with above but don't overlook the check of the the battery for tight clean connections. A loose or corroded battery terminal connection would cause everything you saw. Especially since it started fine after the click (which is likely the starter solenoid under the seat.)
Last edited by smokinjoe73; Oct 6, 2018 at 06:44 AM.
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,707
From: Essex, UK
I agree
Many moons ago my bike conked out like yours and would only start when battery lead was wiggled. Turned out the + terminal on battery had worked loose. Still a good opportunity to go through and service the charging system & connections and improve it with better mosfet R/R for reliability.
Many moons ago my bike conked out like yours and would only start when battery lead was wiggled. Turned out the + terminal on battery had worked loose. Still a good opportunity to go through and service the charging system & connections and improve it with better mosfet R/R for reliability.
Thread Starter
Permanent Student
Squid
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 94
Update - bike sorted!
Wicky; same problem as yours
, (+) bolt was very loose. I tightened it and did a quick ride, no more gauge drama.
Did proceed to do all the checks E.Marquez listed as well, everything is good. I’m however missing a 10A fuse for odometer
so will be adding that.
Thanks everyone for your replies, I’m pretty happy it was a simple fix. Will look into RR upgrade though, would rather do that as preventative maintenance.
Wicky; same problem as yours
, (+) bolt was very loose. I tightened it and did a quick ride, no more gauge drama.Did proceed to do all the checks E.Marquez listed as well, everything is good. I’m however missing a 10A fuse for odometer
so will be adding that.Thanks everyone for your replies, I’m pretty happy it was a simple fix. Will look into RR upgrade though, would rather do that as preventative maintenance.
Last edited by 2.5i; Oct 8, 2018 at 11:54 AM. Reason: typo
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