dead bike

doggit · Post by **doggit** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:51 pm

hi, i just got back from le mans and what a terrible ride back it was, and wanted all your knowledge, well the bike is hooked up to an opti mate while at home, because i have an alarm on the bike, and went to france on friday did some riding round and then went to the motogp, all seemed ok, but on the tuesday morning i and a mate set off for blighty, the bike was almost dead, luckily my mate had jump leads under his seat, he also rides a firestorm no alarm, we got the bike going, and i thought that would be that, but little did i realise what was to come, each time we stopped for petrol which as you all know is very often, out came the jump leads, and it took ages to get mine going each time, in the end i had to ride with the petrol cap open so i didnt have to turn the bike off, well what i wanted to know is what could cause this problem, is it the alternator not putting a charge into the battery i thought a ride from france to england ( manchester) would have done this, the battery is quite new, and as i said its on an optimate, so battery condition should be good, or could it be the starter motor / celanoid, and where abouts on the bike is the alternator, i am also thinking of getting the alarm taken off, but not sure who to go to, either an alarm fitting shop or maybe a honda dealer, any help you give me will be gratefuly used
thanks carl

Phaeton · Post by **Phaeton** » Tue May 22, 2007 10:35 pm

I would suspect the regulator/rectifier there's a howto somewhere which tells you haw to test it, a search will turn it up I'm sure. Or somebody more helpful will post with the link.

Alan...

cupasoop · Post by **cupasoop** » Tue May 22, 2007 10:52 pm

Phaeton wrote:I would suspect the regulator/rectifier there's a howto somewhere which tells you haw to test it, a search will turn it up I'm sure. Or somebody more helpful will post with the link.

Alan...

Top of the workshop section.

Phaeton · Post by **Phaeton** » Thu May 24, 2007 5:52 pm

See told you that somebody nicer than me would come along.

For what it's worth I'm just finished the mod took about 20 minutes & that included checking the PC to make sure I got the wires the right way round. I didn't cut the wires just put a thin scredriver down from the back & released the terminals from the holder. Taped them up & pushed them onto the R6 regulator, this was bought off eBag for Â£15 including delivery.

Alan...

doggit · Post by **doggit** » Thu May 24, 2007 6:21 pm

the reason i thought it might be the alternater was i already did the R/R switch last year and also used an R6 one, but maybe i have corroded wires, but i will get a multimeter and follow the how to guide, as soon as i got in from france i hooked up to my optimate and today tried starting the bike and hey presto started
carl

Pete.L · Post by **Pete.L** » Fri May 25, 2007 10:11 am

Maybe your electrics are fine.
Have you considered it could be a duff battery. Do the usual electrical checks and if it all seems ok it migh be time for a new battery

Pete.l

chaz · Post by **chaz** » Fri May 25, 2007 11:44 am

never expect a battery to be perfect, I bought a brand new cbx 750, straight out the crate, first morning out it wouldnt start, battery had been charged before I rode home.
bump started , dropped, damaged, wrote to Honda no joy!!
result found to be buckled battery plates, on a new dry battery supplied from Japan!!

doggit · Post by **doggit** » Fri May 25, 2007 12:36 pm

thanks for the advice, i will do the checks on sunday and if all pans out ok, i will look at getting a new battery, the battery i have in at the mo is about a year old, but as you say not all batt's are good, will let you know the outcome, also i will look at getting the fcuk'n alarm ripped out as well, its an old meta one and cant see a way of just turning it off, so i think it will be a job for a proffesional
carl

Post by **sirch345** » Fri May 25, 2007 12:38 pm

chaz wrote:never expect a battery to be perfect, I bought a brand new cbx 750, straight out the crate, first morning out it wouldnt start, battery had been charged before I rode home.
bump started , dropped, damaged, wrote to Honda no joy!!
result found to be buckled battery plates, on a new dry battery supplied from Japan!!

May be the dealer buckled the battery plates by giving it a quick charge (to many amps) before you picked it up as he was running short of time

only a suggestion

doggit · Post by **doggit** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:11 pm

have borrowed a multimeter and will do all the checks, but i feel stupid, as i dont have a haynes manual yet i wanted to know where the starter motor is on the bike, sorry to sound like a complete numpty
carl

LotusSevenMan · Post by **LotusSevenMan** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:49 pm

Starter motor at front of engine low down!

Check voltage ouput with engine running as in multi meter across the battery terminals. Should read about 14.2 -14.5 at tickover. Lower you have a problem with the output from the alternator. If OK, then suspect battery capacity. Check this with meter across terminals as the check above having left it OFF the Optimate overnight. Push button and watch voltage drop. Below 10.5 ish consider battery now as a doorstop!!!

LSM

From Rich 'Cupasoup'

http://www.electrosport.com/Images/fault_finding.pdf

doggit · Post by **doggit** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:07 pm

thanks LSM for the idiots guide it will make the job easier now, i will also try the fault finding flow chart as well,
carl

derryUK · Post by **derryUK** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 4:39 pm

When you go out in the morning the battery voltage should be 12.6. This is based on that after full charge (ie a ride) the terminal voltage will drop quickly to 13.2 V and then slowly to 12.6 V.

If it is less than this then the battery isn't holding it's charge and hence be sluggish turning over your starter.

Let us know how you get on.

Derry.

doggit · Post by **doggit** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:03 pm

well i have used the meter and as far as i can tell i am getting all correct readings as stated in some of the posts, i have had it on the optimate and also replaced the spark plugs, and fires almost first try, and i have booked the bike in to have the alarm disconnected, also will go to a mates tomorrow who is more electricaly savvy than me, and let him check with the meter, i will post his findings when he has done it, fingers crossed it turns out to be just my crappy alarm sucking the battery life away
carl

doggit · Post by **doggit** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 5:09 pm

well finally got the problem sorted. went to my mates and i took the fault finding sheet ( worth its weight in gold

) and also shelled out for a haynes manual and took that, we followed both the sheet and also the manual, and after reading, checking and reading, checking we found the fault was my R/R its an R6 one so was suprised by that, but when thinking back to our trip to Le Mans last year i put the R/R on before we went and about 3 days into the trip we were having to push start the bike all the time, but put it down to the fcuk'n alarm

but it would appear that i had bought a faulty R6 R/R, my own fault because i didnt check it when it was fitted to my bike, so for now i have had to use my old R/R luckily it still works ( well for now anyway ), but i will try to get another R6 or R1 version, so thanks to you all for your help its been invaluble
carl