Possible reg/rec faults.Want to be sure - Got home OK!
 

Hi all,

Started bike this morning and fine as usual. Rode 25 miles to work and everything fine. Got to work and decided to restart the bike (I really don't know why) and nothing at all. Its like the clutch wasnt pulled in but it is. The speedo went upto 30 and back down again and the oil and neutral light dimmed.

I think I've read about this problem on here before but I cant find it, PLEASE help!

Andy

Re: Possible electrical fault - stuck at work!
 

did u leave ur park light on?? u might just need a jump start?

Nope, parking light wasn't on and it started fine this morning before I rode to work. What puzzles me is the speedo going upto 30 then down again, its never done that before! I think I may have a short somewhere as when I press the starter the odometer goes off then on again and I dont think it did that before either but I may be wrong

Could just be a flat battery Try jumping it off or get 3 strong blokes and bump it off but use 2nd gear!!! If you get it running go and get your battery tested it might be goosed.

its sounds like either the battery or the rectifier

If it was the battery why would the speedo be going crazy?

I had the exact same speedo/rev counter issue in my car a few weeks back. The problem was that the alternator was fried. Sometimes it would start, sometimes it wouldn't. Then one day I had a speedo telling me I was doing 150mph whilst parked with the handbrake on, speedo was erratic whilst driving for the next 10miles or so, then everything went back to normal, with the exception that the battery warning light was on.

In biking terms, that's your Reg./Rect.

Expensive, yes, but think yourself lucky, it cost me £340 + labour for the alternator fitting!

I dont know, but a few times the batteries been flat on my Curvey SVS, the speedo and rev counter needles have whizzed round the dials.

TBH it does sound like the battery is flat. When you thumb the starter is it accompanied by a whirring / buzzing / clicking noise coming from under the seat.

The other thing to check would be the fuses under the seat, are the battery terminals done up properly and clean and not corroded. Rule out the basic stuff first, before you start looking for shorts etc.

Just checked the battery and its measuring 11.4V then when I thumb the starter it drops to between 3 and 5 V so sounding like the reg/rec?!

Fizzwheel, I agree that the battery is probably flat. However, WHY is the battery flat.

In this circumstance, the bike has been ridden 25 miles, so the battery should of been charging for that distance. Turn it off, try to start it again immediately, nothing.

I reckon the battery is flat because of the Reg./Rect. not working, or at best, being faulty. A faulty rectified will happily feed random values around the rest of the system (as happened in my car - the speedo is electrical, not the old mechanical type, so feed it a random voltage, the speedo reports a random speed).

Granted, I could be wrong, but thats how it looks to me.

As a point of interest, I know that a pointy without ANY Reg./Rect. at all will only go for 8 miles. Then it dies. If you have a Reg./Rect. that's plugged in but not working, you might get further than this. If you have a 25mile ride home, charge the battery if you can, and by all means try it, but take a mobile phone with you & be ready to call out breakdown recovery.