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Iron Butt
Posts: 802
| On a ride from SoCal the voltmeter went to 16.2 volts, the red battery light came on and my GPS shut itself off. So, here we sit in a motel till Monday when the dealership opens. For the last couple of hours the voltmeter was sitting right below the red zone so I figured something was gonna happen and it did. Bummer  2011 bike with 5000 miles on it. Oh well it could have been worse if it had failed tomorrow on our ride up into the mountains. I was just telling my wife that I've been riding since 1964 and this is the first time a bike has ever stranded me. I've always been able to get them going but not this time. Battery connections are good and the bike starts fine so the battery must be OK which only leaves the regulator. Anybody got any other ideas of what to check?
Marc |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1117
Northeast Ohio | I would start it and pull the negative off the battery and see what that does. I wonder if there could be a short in there... |
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Visionary
Posts: 1484
LaPorte,Tx. | I would also check the connector at the voltage regulator. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1350
| Are our bikes like cars now? Disconnecting the battery doesn't help because it's integrated into the electrical system? Not like the old days if the vehicle died it was a bad charging system.
I agree that the new systems aren't easy to monkey fix and keep you going like the old days. I prefer the new systems until there is a problem.
Keep us posted on how you make out. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1117
Northeast Ohio | My thinking was if the charging system "thought" the battery was low due to a short, that the voltage may go back to normal for a ride home if the battery was disconnected. I don't follow the integrated into the electrical system part? There is still a negative and a positive on the battery. If the battery requires more juice because it is low, the charging system would give it more. It is an easy try... |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 802
| I ended up getting towed from Goodyear, AZ to Arizona Victory on Saturday. I used roadside assistance which worked perfectly. Yesterday I rode it the 2 miles to the dealership where they ended up replacing my regulator with one from a new bike. Cost me $200 to cover next day air for the new one to put back on their new bike plus the labor to R&R it from the new bike which I was glad to pay. Otherwise I would have been stuck there. According to the tech the '11 bikes now have a higher output stator which requires a different regulator than the older bike. I think he said the '11 now puts out 80 amps while the older one put out 60 amps. I hope this was a one-time problem.
Marc |
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Visionary
Posts: 1350
| marcparnes, glad to hear you are back on the road.
Score Bo, the reason I asked if our bikes are like our cars is several years ago my brother had is alternator fail on his truck. His fully charged battery didn't mean a thing the mech said because of the way the electrical systems are setup. I don't know what the difference is but I had to tow my brother home. That's another story. He drove his other pickup while I did what I could in his dead truck. I told him make sure NOT to touch the brakes. We had a 12 foot chain between us and my truck had no power brakes, no lights, nothing electrical in the dark. When we got home I jumped all over him for towing me way too fast. He said I was doing fine and thought 45 was okay. O.o If one little thing had happened and he would have had 2 totaled pickups. Not to steal the thread. |
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Broke Down in Phoenix