Sorry to repeat threads: Charging System
 

Hi all,

I want to throw my bike of a cliff, it's doing my head in and I'm feeling extremely stupid.

Last time I took my bike out it stranded me because of no charge and I had to bump start it, luckily I was near home.

I don't understand all the tests everyone goes on about because me and electrics don't get on or work but what I have done is: buy no new motobat gel battery and a new reg/rec last year to cure it ( the battery has been on trickle charge all winter), but after reading all that I can find and be bothered reading I'm still confused so I have done the following tests.

Battery Ignition off: 12.56v
Battery Ignition on: 12.4v
Battery Engine started: 14.8 - 15.1v and the same when at 5000rpm.

Is something amiss or should I be looking at something else? Should everything be fine?

Please don't go into put probe from volt meter here or there because I am clueless about volt meters except the real basics. Unless you can teach an ape to use one then it will be a waste of time.

I do have a slightly dodgy ignition switch. Could this possibly be the cause of my problems?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Hey there Chippy,
Sorry I can't offer any advice, but it is good to see you back on the forum.
I hope you get it all sorted out.

Hi Hamlin,

Not been on for ages, had yet another back operation just before Christmas and was unable to ride the bike for about 8 months before it so haven't done much to the bike.

Good to be back and fit enough to ride, just need to sort the thing out.

Hi chippy.
Those volt readings you have attained seem all good.
And the one at 5000 rpm indicates the charging system is working.
When you say it left you stranded, was the battery effectively flat?

Those readings when the bike is running indicate it charging as it should. If the bike has been sitting for a while and not really been ridden, it could just be a case of having a flat battery. It may have had just enough to get it running but not enough for when you tried to start it again. For example, I let my mustang sit for the winter. This spring, It had just enough juice to fire up but after letting it warm up for 10mins, and driving it to the gas station a couple miles away, when I went to start it again all I got was clicks. I had to get jumped.

These bikes, Like cars, have an alternator. With an alternator you need energy from the battery to generate an electromagnetic field for which it can cut through and generate power. Older cars and motorcycles used a generator. Generators have permanent magnetic fields in them allowing them to generate energy without the need for initial input. In a car with a completely dead 0-volt battery, if it had a generator and manual trans you could bump start it. In a modern car with an alternator and a completely dead battery putting out 0-volts, you could not bump start the car. Spinning a generator will generate electricity. Spinning an alternator without using a battery to excite its coils does nothing.

So, with that said, and hopefully you still following along, it could be that when you initially started your bike it was enough to get it running but flat enough that it wasn't able to output enough to charge your battery up in the time you rode it. To be a bit redundant, your values seem to indicate a healthy charging system. If you fully charge your battery and let it sit for a while and it significantly drops in voltage that could indicate a short somewhere in the bike causing a constant draw with the key off, or a bad cell within the battery causing an internal short.

Battery should charge fine with those figures. You haven't got something else connected to the bike, like a usb or gps power point?

Hi John,

I had a 12v cigarette type attached to the battery that wasn't being used but I have since removed that. The battery is on a trickle charger all the time as well.
Now that I have removed the 12v thing I'm hoping that everything will be ok.
When I said it stranded me, I meant there wasn't enough juice in the battery to turn the starter over, the bike started with a bump start. It was after about a 1 hour ride which is why I was worried and it wasn't sat and 2500 revert during the ride, I used it like I stole it so I couldn't understand why the battery wasn't charged. I only left the bike for about 5 minutes before I came back as well. Once I had bumped it back to life it ran like a dream.

Starter clutch?

https://cbrforum.com/forum/how-tos-8...uccess-139015/

https://cbrforum.com/forum/cbr-1000f...-damper-96059/

https://cbrforum.com/forum/cbr-1000f...starter-49213/

Was it an easy job. Enlighten us all.