i just bought a 96 f3 in dec. first ride today. died a mile from home.

1. monday i recharged the battery.
2. all week i have started it and let it warm up (with choke on) and idle for a couple minutes with choke off.
3. i have read all winter that the regulator is the achilles heel for these.
4. so i checked mine and it looks brand new. black with slits going across it, but i looks like the stock plug is plugging into it.... is that right? i thought if that went bad then the battery would be dead also?? it wasn't...

story...
i was riding down the road, my rpm drops to 0. i freak and give it gas, it jumps back to life at 4k. then dies and comes back a couple of times. then T.K.O. off the road i give it a minute, it turns over like crazy, no putt, no fire. after a couple minutes of trying to start the battery started to get weaker and weaker, so i pushed it home...... i have never worked on anything but i can follow directions pretty average

please help!!!!

 

Right before work, I went to charge the battery, I put the charger in engine start mode, and it fired right up? Now I will let it charge at 2 ohms for the night... thanks..again

 

Pull the connector to the r/r and look it over for heat-damage. If the PO was lazy,
they might have replaced the r/r and left a marginal connector alone.

When you say "slits' are you refering to a metal block with fins, mounted to the r/r?

Also, pull the main 30 amp fuse, discard and replace it. Occasionally the fuse will
"almost' fail. Then, heat and/or vibration will create an intermittent break in the
connection. It is located under the seat, on the end of the big, positive cable attached
to the battery. It is accessed under the connector, as part of the housing for the starter-relay.
This is not as likely, but it is a possible source for problems.

Another possibility, a loose connection at the battery, itself.

Check out the things I've listed here, they are mostly easy, and don't cost anything
to check. If they don't fix the problem, come on back and we'll explore further.

Hope this helps, Ern

 

This has R/R written all over it, sometimes there may not be visible damage on it. I would just advice replacing it.

 

Sounds like you're having the same issue that I am. I'll take a look over the things the rest of you mentioned, and see if that helps. Always glad to find advice from you guys!

 

The charging system on these bikes is a trouble spot. However, starting the bike and letting it warm up without riding on it is putting more strain on it than just letting it sit all week. Most bikes don't charge the battery unless the engine is running 3k to 5k RPM. Sitting idling with the headlight on draws more power on the battery and it will slowly die. If you want to keep it charged, take it for a 10 min ride. You can also look at putting a battery tender on it. That will maintain the battery for you for a long time.

The fuel pump is also another item that will leave you stranded on the side of the road. Then 10 minutes later, will start and run just fine. Just something to keep in mind.

 

Thanks guys I will check things tomorrow when I get home from work.

Yes the "fins" are on the thing so I don't think its stock. If it is the r/r what is a good name replacement? Local shop wants $60 just to diagnose it....

Would it try to start (turn over with no fire) right after dieing? If its not charging the battery? This puzzles me... but I know nothing about all this lol.

Thanks again everyone! Ill post update tomorrow

 

just got home, unplugged the charger from 2ohm. fired right up

i know these are not, car "deep cell" batteries...

sooooo does a battery have "juice" for cranking and "juice" for sparking?? so if the r/r is not recharging the battery, it will/may not have enough "juice" to spark but will have enough to push the pistons up and down?? thats what happened, no fire after it died. plugged into the wall(engine start mode), worked great, charged for 8 hours, worked great. is this logical?

im just trying to understand how this stuff works so i can help the next guy.....

 

The normal state for a running bike, depends on the stator output to power the
electrical systems and "top off" the battery to maintain it with a full charge.
The battery's normal role is only to supply power to start the bike. It then passes
the job of running the bike over to the stator.

If the r/r is not working properly, the battery won't be receiving that "topping off"
charge, once the bike is running. The bike will also be depending on the battery to
power all of the electrical systems on the bike. This leads to a constant discharge for
the battery. Since the battery has a finite supply of electricity, eventually it runs out
and the bike dies.

Hope that gives you a better idea of what's going on.

Ern

 

Just went out and nothing is burnt up... My uncle and I are going to go through the PDF walkthrough sometime. sucks I just bought this thing and have already lost all confidence in it....