Project is finished - but have a problem

[Gullarm76]

Hi Everyone

I have finally finished the project and have had a few shake down runs to make sure everything was running as it should. Everything seemed to be going fine,put 200 miles on the clock in three days, just had to tighten a few nuts and bolts etc but had a big problem on friday and I hope someone can help as I am all out of ideas.

I rode into work, bike running really well. Finished work put key in ignition and battery flat. I tried to bump start which it did but was running very strangely, asumed it was because the battery was flat and not supplying enough power for the spark plugs. I charged the battery and the bike started as normal, switched the headlights on and the bike died, no power to the ignition nothing!

I checked the battery with an optimate and it was knackered. I got a brand new battery, charged it up and nothing! I have checked the main 30amp fuse, and the other fuses for lights, horn and ignition and all OK. I have checked the voltage with a multimeter on the battery and reads 13.3 volts.

Normally when I switch the ignition on the neutral lights etc come on but now nothing. Is there something between the battery and the ignition that could be stopping power getting to the ignition? I will check the regulator when it is running, if it is broken I have read that you can use a yamaha R1 regulator instead of the honda item. Anyone done this before?

I am not sure what to check now, any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[vfrman]

Have you checked the engine cut off switch and starter button? There may be some gunk in there that isn't letting the circuit complete. Also check your grounds. Those are the two easiest/cheapest things to start with.

[wullvfr]

hello-

at what point were you getting 13.3volts??????

was it with the bike running but at what revs?

first of all,when you get no lights check the voltage at the battery,it should be very low especially not to power the lights.

charge the battery up fully and start the bike,the charge rate at 5000rpm shold be between 13.5-15volts.normally 14volts at least.

as for the reg/rec,if the battery has enough juice in it,it will run for a good length of time so long as you don't use lights etc.if you are getting a charge then the reg rec is fine,but if the voltage does not rise or actualy falls ever so slightly then it is more than likely the reg rec is faulty.

if however the voltage goes up but not by much then i would suspect the alternator to be putting out too little voltage.
you can test the output of the alternator if this seems to be the case.


william

[greggo]

Will, he's not able to start the bike to check those voltages....

This happened to a friend of mine. Check none of your wiring is crushed against the frame, my mate put a bolt through his loom once and it flattened the battery, took us AGES to work that out.

Other than that, as said before, check your ignition circuit including inside your ignition barrel (You could spray a little contact cleaner in there and work the barrel to get it in).


13.3 V is common for a top range lead acid, plus it depends on the accuracy of your meter.

[Gullarm76]

Hi Guys

I have solved the problem (vfrman diagnosed actually). I started by starting at the back of the bike checking all wiring and electrical connections and found that the earth on the engine had worked its way loose.

Tightened back up with a little thread-lock and hopefully it will not come loose again.

I checked the voltage on the battery when running at 5000 rpm and it shows 14.4V. Is this sufficient to test the operation of the regulator or do I need to check the whole charging system?

Because I travel only 5 miles to work each day I will always put it on an optimate overnight to ensure good battery performance or should I not do this so potential charging problems will be highlighted.

Thanks for the replys and will post pics when fairing back on

[vfrman]

Yay! I win!

[PARUS]

Yay! I win!

Guys,

Are there any control points in wiring loom that allow easy to check which part of loom is broken or not connected properly. I saw this sort of testing exist for BMW, what about CBR400 ?

[Gullarm76]

I would also like to know if this is possible for any future problems.