Need help on my SV in Bristol

Dear all,

I have not been able to ride my SV since early november last year because...well nobody really knows what is wrong. I am so frustrated because I haven't got the money to bring it to a garage and everybody I know who could repair her did not know any solution either. I live next to uni, which is very convenient for my final year, but apart from that, there is nothing around and I end up spending an aweful lot of money on bloody busfares for busses that never turn up. And I miss my bike.

My question is therefore, if there is any SV rider on this forum that lives in Bristol and has time to help me. i would rather pay some of you guys for their inconvenience and effort instead of some garage that will charge me however many hours of work just to search for the error, because to be honest, all I can say is that the battery does not charge.

I know you guys are all very helpful and I have asked questions on this forum before, but I am afraid I have to admit that I am a stupid girl, and advice such as exchange the X and the Y and bridge this with that and measure the Voltage here and there and if it is more than 14 and if it is less than 12...and so on... does not help me at all but drives me insane! I just cannot put all your helpful advise into practise, hence the call for somebody to come around and have a look.

Here is the problem as far as I can narrow it down: One day, I drove to a tyre place 10 mintues from my house, my SV would not start anymore. The place was so kind to put it on charge for me while they fixed a new tyre, on the way back I went up and down the M32 with high speed - next day, the bike won't start.

So I go and buy a new battery (money, money, money) and three days later - the bike won't start. So somebody tells me that the regulator/rectifyer or what ever often stop working on SVs. ~So I buy a new one of these, recharge the battery, aaaaaaand - three days later I have the same problem. Then I get lots of advise on "it could be the altenator, or the wiring or the etc". But I am out of money that I spend for parts I didn't even need!

I stopped using my bike now because even when it is charged, it just does not feel right to ride it. It feels as if I am constantly working against something and the exhaust constantly bangs. Someone told me that is because the sparks are too week.

I am sorry for this long email, but I had to explain my frustration. I would be ever so greatful if somebody would be able to visit me in Bristol and point out to me what it is that needs to be done or maybe even do it themselves. Like I said, I'd rather pay somebody who knows what they are doing and does not rip me off.

Thank you ever so much for your pacience - and please - no highly technical jargon anymore, I don't get it...

All the best,
Nadine

Sounds like a job for Hovis.

[flymo]

Hi Nadine,

Sorry I cant help as I'm a little too far away. But for whoever may be able to help I found this extremely useful guide to troubleshooting motorcycle charging curcuits. Its got me out of a few scrapes before after stripping wiring looms.

http://www.offwidth.co.uk/bike/gener...lt_finding.pdf

For info, the colours of the wires from the generator on my K3 are black (thats the three main charging wires).

Mike

Ok no jargon but we need facts. What is the model of the bike?

And to get the facts straight you have installed a new battery AND a new regulator/rectifier?

PS. The south & west surfers cover your section of the world. You might want to also post in there to get someone more local.

Originally Posted by Raf

Ok no jargon but we need facts. What is the model of the bike?

And to get the facts straight you have installed a new battery AND a new regulator/rectifier?

PS. The south & west surfers cover your section of the world. You might want to also post in there to get someone more local.

Sorry, should have mention that: It is a SV 650s 2001 model, the curvy one. And yes, I have replaced both, the battery AND the regulator!

Thank you very much for the advice, I will post there too, hope I will find somebody...

All the best, Nadine

Ok, I am supposed to be going here on Sunday, Bristol is not exactly on my way, but it is also not a million miles from Hully.

Soooooo ... if no one closer to home can help out, I might be able to help at the weekend.

But before we start you can do some simple tests to determine the likely cause.

Do you have access to a multimeter, a screwdriver and some allen keys?

Those items are all you need to do a fairly comprehensive test. Its the multimeter that is the key to this. As you can see a cheepie is only ~£6 to buy, you might be able to get one from Woolworths or something too? I don't know what part of Bristol you are in, but there is a Maplins there.

The meter will come in useful for many things in the house and garage, so don't see it as a one off silly buy.

Anyway, back to the start, do you have one or know a mate that has one? I/we should be able to give you some basic tests that could solve/isolate your problem. At a minimum, if you can do these test first, if/when I do come, I can bring the relevant parts to swap over (replacement is sometimes the best way to isolate a problem).

To be honest it sounds to me as if the generator has gone, or you have a short somewhere ... this short is draining your battery, just like if you had left the lights on ...

It'll be easy for YOU to ascertain which with the multimeter and you can feel all proud you found/helped find the problem yaself!! Without a multimeter at your disposal, you are on a hide to nothing really and will only spend more money!!


Oh and if the voltage is low, the bike will pop and fart!!

Originally Posted by Blue_SV650S

Ok, I am supposed to be going here on Sunday, Bristol is not exactly on my way, but it is also not a million miles from Hully.

Soooooo ... if no one closer to home can help out, I might be able to help at the weekend.

But before we start you can do some simple tests to determine the likely cause.

Do you have access to a multimeter, a screwdriver and some allen keys?

Those items are all you need to do a fairly comprehensive test. Its the multimeter that is the key to this. As you can see a cheepie is only ~£5 to buy, you might be able to get one from Woolworths or something too? I don't know what part of Bristol you are in, but there is a Maplins there.

The meter will come in useful for many things in the house and garage, so don't see it as a one off silly buy.

Anyway, back to the start, do you have one or know a mate that has one? I/we should be able to give you some basic tests that could solve/isolate your problem. At a minimum, if you can do these test first, if/when I do come, I can bring the relevant parts to swap over (replacement is sometimes the best way to isolate a problem).

To be honest it sounds to me as if the generator has gone, or you have a short somewhere ... this short is draining your battery, just like if you had left the lights on ...

It'll be easy for YOU to ascertain which with the multimeter and you can feel all proud you found/helped find the problem yaself!! Without a multimeter, at your disposal you are on a hide to nothing really and will only spend more money!!


Oh and if the voltage is low, the bike will pop and fart!!

Lol,
ok, thank you very much! I will run away immediatly to get one of those meters and the rest, and then I will do the tests. - What tests are these actually (slooooooooow please )?

[flymo]

Oh and if the voltage is low, the bike will pop and fart!!

Ah! maybe thats whats wrong with me....my voltage must be a little low

Originally Posted by NadineDieBiene

Lol,
ok, thank you very much! I will run away immediatly to get one of those meters and the rest, and then I will do the tests. - What tests are these actually (slooooooooow please )?

Have you ever taken the riders seat off before?

If not, then the little black triangular panels below riders seat need to come off to reveal the riders seat bolts. They only need 1 allen key to undo the side bits, then a larger allen key to remove the seat bolts themselves (one revealed by removing black side panels).

Tescos do a allen key set, its basic, but has all the allen keys you need. They are ~£1.50 for a set of 8 or so and include the 2 sizes you need!

[jambo]

Ok, there are 2 options. All a battery does is hold charge. If there's none in there and the battery's new then either:
1) The charge is not being put in there in the first place
2) It is going in, then escaping through a bad bit of wiring

Buy that £5 multimeter from maplins or similar.

Take the front seat off the bike using the 2 little 4mm allen bolts on the plastic triangles below the seat, then the larger (6mm if I'm right) allen bolts that hold the seat on.

You can now get the battery cover out of the way and see the battery.

Take it out and charge it.

Set the multimeter to measure DC Voltage. You will probably have a setting that reads 0-20V DC or similar. Test the voltage across the positive (+) and negative (-) terminals of the battery using the multimeter. This should be around 12 Volts.

Put it back in the bike and check it again. It should still be 12V.

Start the bike. Check the voltage again with the bike running. It should now be higher than it was before, showing the charging circuit is attempting to put electricity back into the battery. It should be about 14V. If you blip the throttle it should never go under 12V, or over about 15V.

If all of that is ok then the alternator & reg/rec are probably ok and the bike is charging the battery.

Set the Multimeter to measure resistance. Turn the bike off. If you measure the resistance between the Positive (+) and negative (-) terminals of the battery, it should read at infinite. If you get a nice low value for resistance, then electricity can flow from one terminal to the other with the bike off, you have a bad bit of cable somewhere. Check the wiring where it runs near the battery where the seat bolts went in and see if the insulation's been rubbed through.


Post up what you find.

Best of luck.

Jambo