Hey guys!

Have an odd problem with my battery. Had my bike for almost a year now, RVF400 NC35 96 and the battery has died twice on me, luckily not in the middle of a ride.

The very first time it died I had it replaced about 4 months ago and it has died again this morning. However, about a month ago my headlights had some issues.

At first, both headlights did not turn on unless I turned on high beam. Normally they are both on but not as strong as high beam. Then after another week or so, high beam only turned on one headlight and no lights at all without high beam.

Currently, when I turn on the bike everything lights up besides the headlight issue, although neutral, side stand etc. lights seems a bit dimmer then usual. Also, when I try to start the bike it makes a loud clicking noise and doesn't turn the engine on.

I was thinking reg/rec problem but all the scenarios that I looked up had the batteries dying asap after a battery replacement whereas mine lasted a fair bit. Maybe I'm wrong? correct me please.

Anyone have any idea what may be the problem?

Sounds like a flat battery. Charge up the battery and once the engine is running measure the battery voltage. Should measure 14-15 volts at 5000 rpm, then turn on the headlights and voltage should remain the same.

A dud charging system can partially charge the battery and thereby give the impression that all is well, but eventually the battery discharges beyond a useful state.

Click and buzz is a dead battery. Loads of threads here about how to test, so I won't do yet another regurge. Missing dipped headlights is often a knackered switch caused by running 60/55 H4s instead of 60/35 H4Rs and not putting a relay in the low beam circuit. It can sometimes be the starter switch as low beam is fed through it so that when you press the start button, the headlights are turned off. But, missing a main beam as well sounds odd. Perhaps the first port of call would be the headlamp connectors. I did have a missing low on one side once that was caused by a corroded wire on one of the connectors.

Thanks for the help guys!

I know for sure the battery is dead as this has happened before, and I know getting the battery charged up and replaced will temporarily fix the problem.

But I want to permanently fix this issue, what I don't understand is why the battery is dying. Is it not getting charged properly? If so what should I be looking at to replace? The battery does last a fair bit after being replaced or fully charged, approximately a few months.

Another thing I forgot to mention is there's this weird burning smell coming from my bike, kinda like plastic burning. I tried to look for it but couldn't find anything so it must be behind the fairings. I'm guessing this issue could be related.

Thanks again guys!

Gavin.

I recommend you investigate the burning smell and suggest you start with the alternator output connector that is located in the area between the front and rear cylinder banks. This connector, along with others in the charging system chain, is a known problem.

As I said above, the battery is probably dying because of a faulty charging system but if you do not measure the battery voltage while the engine is running at 5000 rpm you will never know how well the charging system is working.

Hey guys!!

Sorry to revive such an old thread. But the problem still persists!! My bike has been sitting since I started this thread until about a week ago. Bought a battery charger, charged it up, and it ran as expected! I also bought a multimeter but the weather has been bad lately and no space inside home to work on the bike until tonight. I'm not sure what these numbers mean but I tried testing it in all conditions. Please help me out here guys!!

OFF - 12.6
ON - 12.38
IDLE (no lights) - 12.41
IDLE (lights on) - 12.22
5K Revs (no lights) - ~13.8 (didn't want to wake the neighbours up but it was definitely around that)
5k Revs (lights on) - 13.5

Although it says lights on, the headlight problem I talked about still exists, so lights on are on high beam with only one bulb working. No lights when dipped.

Sounds like you have several issues.

Your choke, the headlight switch is knckered (are you running H4 bulbs without a relay?)

Your charign output seems a little low so either bad reg/rec or low output from generator or bad conections or a combination of them all.

You need to sort all the problems out one by one.

None of them are hard to fix either.

plenty of info on here how to fully check the electrical system over.

Disconnect the rect/reg plug and measure the resistance between all three yellow wires, should be max 2-3 ohms. If more than 2-3 ohms, start by checking the wiring and connectors between the alternator and the rect/reg plug.

High beam problem might be failed bulb, low beam issue could be engine START button. Low beam should be on when ignition is turned on, if not, leave ignition on and riggling the engine START button to see if low beam illuminates. Better still, check that there is 12 volts on the blue/white wire coming out of the engine START switch.

Hey guys, thanks for the help!

@Neosophist.

I know, nothing but problems since I bought my 35. Don't regret it either, it was an impulse thing and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was my first bike and I fell in love with it hehe, I really do enjoy fixing it and learning at the same time!

Will check up on the choke first thing next morning. I heard about the problems caused by the H4R bulbs but I'm currently running 35W H4s, standard iirc.

@magg

Will a multimeter be fine for that job?

Will try out the start button in the morning. The measuring has to be postponed though, need bike to get to uni. But my exams finish soon.

I do agree it's definitely something up with the charging system, will look into it and update on you guys!

Thanks again!

ggavin wrote:Hey guys, thanks for the help!

@Neosophist.

I know, nothing but problems since I bought my 35. Don't regret it either, it was an impulse thing and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was my first bike and I fell in love with it hehe, I really do enjoy fixing it and learning at the same time!

Will check up on the choke first thing next morning. I heard about the problems caused by the H4R bulbs but I'm currently running 35W H4s, standard iirc.

@magg

Will a multimeter be fine for that job?

Will try out the start button in the morning. The measuring has to be postponed though, need bike to get to uni. But my exams finish soon.

I do agree it's definitely something up with the charging system, will look into it and update on you guys!

Thanks again!

H4R are standard and are fine at 35/60W and won;t melt the switchgear

H4 are non standard and at 55/60W will kill your switchgear due to the extra draw of the 55W low beam..