Electric/Mechanical gremlins?
 

I have a 2000 SV650 and for the longest time it has had electric gremlins. I use my bike mostly for commuting around 3 miles a day, i work weekends so rarely get a long ride. To supplement the lack of riding I use a maintenance charger on my bike (admittedly just a £50 halfords one) my bike used to go flat mid ride and stall too, the engine would noticeably lose power while the battery lost power which doesn’t seem normal

Now, up until the last few weeks I was having to charge my bike every other day or it would go flat, I realised the rectifier had failed and had a new one fitted, as well as fitting a new yuasa battery just last week

The problem is I am still having issues with my bike, the idle is not smooth, there is a ticking (cam tensioners? idk?) and it still has inconsistent power delivery, ie sometimes the lights flicker, like the neutral light etc

I am almost beyond myself, I have almost zero experience or comfort taking apart motorbikes, so I have no idea what to do

Anybody have any ideas what I can do? or anywhere in the north Yorkshire area I can go to have everything looked at?

Honestly at the moment I might just fling it off a cliff but I cant afford a new bike


I probably havn't explained everything very well but I will try to if you have any questions

Re: Electric/Mechanical gremlins?
 

Hi,
Do you have the ability to check the charging voltage (you just need a multi-meter - perhaps a friend or neighbour has one you could borrow)? That would be a good place to start, it needs to be around 14V (certainly over 13.3V) otherwise the battery will not be charging - this is a really easy check.
If that is okay check the resistance to earth (well, actually the negative return path from the terminal) - again this is a really easy thing to do that will just take a moment.
If those are okay then make sure the tickover speed is high enough (mine was set at 1000 RPM when I bought it, it was only charging at 12.7V at that speed) - it should be 1200-1500 RPM, that might solve the lumpy running as well.
Those things are the easiest and cheapest to check, and may well solve the problem. If they don't work and you are not comfortable with fixing bikes then I suspect someone from this site who knows your area will recommend a mechanic soon.

Good fortune.

Alan

Re: Electric/Mechanical gremlins?
 

Tbh, if you are only doing three miles a day, the best thing you can do is either get a pushbike to commute on, or have a detour going to work so that your journey each way is around 15 - 20 miles. Three miles is not enough to allow the engine to even begin to warm up and clear the condensation out. Those sort of journeys will guarantee you a knackered engine in very short order.

Re: Electric/Mechanical gremlins?
 

You probably have more than one problem with it. The charging issue requires a proper diagnostic check as said above. No point in just buying new battery/rectifier etc without checking everything first including alternator output and wiring connections.
The poor running might be related to all that but is likely to be something else. When was the bike last serviced? That means throttle cable play,choke cables/plungers lubed,plugs cleaned/changed(wet front plug clean out drain hole),carb balance,valve clearances to name a few often ignored items. Its nearly twenty years old and needs a regular critical eye to keep it sweet.

Re: Electric/Mechanical gremlins?
 

The failed rectifier may have affected the stator windings. Also older SV are well known for corroded connectors, and a good clean plus ACF50 spray seems to be the mutts bits for that, and maybe while you are on wrap some self-amalgamating tape around them to seal out further water entering.

https://www.toolstation.com/self-ama...ir-tape/p23876

Search on forum for 'charging' and 'lumpy running' or other key words or phrases that may cover your problem, there is a massive amount of information already on here. I must admit that sometimes it is easier to search from outside the forum in Google, Bing or similar - just spell out the problem and add SV650 or SV650.org and this site often comes up bang on the thread you want..

This search in Google battery charging problems sv650.org is how i found this.. ( and a lot more threads on this forum)

https://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=109555

Re: Electric/Mechanical gremlins?
 

Good advice chaps,
I have a feeling the bike just needs a good service as that may not have been done for some time, but ShadowCaptain may have bought it as cheap transport to work and may not want to lay out the £500 it might need to get it into good order.
A 20 year old bike will not be a very good solution to cheap commuting - it would be better for ShadowCaptain to change it for a much newer moped or scooter if that is all he is using it for. In the meantime he needs to get his bike fixed (even if only to sell it) and it sounds like he does not have the ability to do so himself, a main dealer will be needlessly expensive so does anyone know a reliable and cheap motorcycle mechanic in N Yorks?

Re: Electric/Mechanical gremlins?
 

All good advice and....


Check for corrosion on the fuses and their holders.Pull apart all the Electrical connectors and clean Spray with Isopropanol Contact cleaner,

https://www.toolstation.com/contact-...xoC_VkQAvD_BwE


And I use a small screwdriver with a bit of grit paper wrapped around the end and gently work it in and out of the female sides and again gently on the male spades/pins to remove corrosion then blast with Carb/Brake cleaner.Let this evaporate and then apply the Contact cleaner.I also treat all mine after this with ACF50 both inside connectors and the lead areas going into them

This is one area of Motorcycle Maintenance often overlooked but any Roadside breakdown company will tell you that over 80% of call-outs are Electrical faults and not Mechanical.Motorcycles,by their nature,are more prone to be affected by moisture and contaminants in the air as they are more exposed to the elements than automobiles and over time this causes corrosion of the Electrical contacts.

Also Electrical contacts benefit from regular use as the Current passing through actually slows down corrosion as does some small amounts of heat they may generate to stop moisture sitting on them.

Cleaning and treating every connector including Bulb Holders was one of the first jobs I did on my SV650 when I got it and I repeat every two years.This also includes the Handlebar Controls.


PS
The big Green connector on mine under the tank near the Headstock had quite a bit of corrosion in it so was a breakdown waiting to happen.I've seen several posts about this connector on various forums.

HTH :)

Re: Electric/Mechanical gremlins?
 

check your oil level...

Re: Electric/Mechanical gremlins?
 

Just had to pull, clean out and fix the block connector for headlights / sidelights etc in the nose of the fairing on mine. There was a fair bit of corrosion in the headlight connections causing them to flicker and cut out sometimes. Cleaning them out as described above, spraying with contact cleaner and removing the terminals from block to squeeze / tighten the female sides a bit and put a very slight twist on each male termianl and reassembling has sorted all my problems.

Re: Electric/Mechanical gremlins?
 

Could be a few things but checking the charging system first would be a good start. The new rectifier and battery should be fine but best to know. As said, a 3 mile ride is nothing so if you can knock out a few more miles say once a week it'll feel better for it. Regarding the lumpy running, these things are picky about plugs so you could put a new set in, not hard except the front one is a pig unless you have girl hands. Don't remove the rad, just undo the mounts and swing it forward and you can just manage it.
Really it does need a once over as an old bike could have been fiddled with or neglected. Has it got a stock exhaust?
Yeah the camchain tensioners can tick, they were crap before 2003, but those ones go straight in to a curvy. A lot of twins tick though. You can try winding them back. Engine off, put it in third, and bump it backwards a few times. If it's much quieter but only until you cane it and it comes back, then they're probably clapped.
I'm not far off but it'll be a few months yet before I can realistically offer to help I'm afraid.