Suspect electrical problem with newly purchased ER-5 (2001)

[daws0n]

Yesterday I purchased a Kawasaki ER-500 C1 locally from a private seller. Condtion is good for age, with reasonable service / MOT history and low mileage (20k). Price was decent, and as I sorely need a new bike for my daily work commuting I bought it.

No issues on journey home, and started first time this morning and rode for a couple of miles. Engine runs fine and all lights working, although the horn sounds little wonky (fluctuates pitch). Tried start it again an hour later and nothing worked! Luckily there was a garage less than a mile away so I pushed it there. Verdict - dead battery, showed bad voltage and failed "drop" test. I bought a new one to install and all has been fine riding to work and back home again.

The only issue I was made aware of before purchasing was a faulty rev counter... As the speedometer works it's something I can live without, but looking online today I see that this is a common fault whenever a regulator rectifier goes bad on this model. Typically, it cooks the battery takes out the rev counter and possibly the CDI also. I contacted the seller again about it's history and was told that the rev counter did not work when he bought it. Since then (2015), it has clocked about 1,500 miles.

As the battery failed so suddenly today I am concerned that the reg/rec may not be functioning as it should. Using my (cheap) multi meter, here are the readings obtained from the new battery terminals:

13.5 volts with engine off
14.6 volts with engine idle / all lights off
15.2 volts with engine idle / full beam on

Applying throttle is not raising these values (I was seeing an occasional drop if anything). Are these figures within a safe range? Superficially, the bike is running nicely but I don't want to be in a situation where the new battery dies prematurely or worse another electrical component fails.

Any advice would be really appreciated

Cheers

Dawson

[jaffa90]

Try another meter, it`s about 1 volt too high.

[daws0n]

I was hoping so Jaffa - had the readings confirmed today with another multimeter, along with a quick check at a local garage. Readings were again a little too high - 14-15v with throttle applied (no lights) and 15-15.8v with headlight on. The technician recommended keep an eye on the figures for drifting and not to run the lights on often as with the extra load the voltage could potentially damage something if it creeps up any higher.

Genuine new regulator from Kawasaki is expensive, but they're only £30 on ebay second hand. Am tempted to go for a used one, just in case there are other faults elsewhere.

I've taken the side panel off and the plug points are all clean, will check over the earth connections later this week. My two previous Yamaha bikes always had one next to the front sprocket, is it the same with this bike also?

[Polarbear]

If you have 13.5v on the battery with the engine off on two meters there is something away with the faeries. Is that straight after stopping the engine or after being stopped a while. A fully charged 12v battery should settle about 12.8v but that is after being off charge for a good few hours.

The other thing is that in my experience a failed reg/rec results in seriously wrong voltages, very high or very low, not 1 volt difference.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[daws0n]

Spent some time on the bike this evening, checked most of the molex connectors I could get to under the side panels and engine chassis - very little contact corrosion but cleaned them up with contact cleaner anyway.

Air filter checked and that's stinking, so I'll get one ordered up soon. Annoyingly, everything put back together and now the rear left indicator is not working! Fingers crossed it's just a bulb, was too dark to take it out (the covers are really tricky to unscrew) but measured a good reading on the black earth wire on the housing so hopefully nothing broken.

Will take a few more voltage readings tomorrow morning when bike is cold.

[daws0n]

Up early this morning for another go. The screw threads holding the indicator cover on were rusted tight, so figured I would take the "easy" option and check the indicator wiring at the plug size for a reading which I traced to the left hand fairing.

I pulled at poked at the molex plugs for ages, but they won't come apart! There's about 2mm of play but then it locks, can't for the life of me suss out how to free it. Must say I do miss the simplicity of my Yammie with straight forward bullets plugs / rubber jacket. Any tips on tackling this for future reference guys?

Decided to check the bulb as plan B, got the cover off and heart sank a little to see the filament still intact. As luck would have it, put the bulb back in and it's blinking away! Didn't expect that, but I am happy it's working again.

Fresh (cold) reading from battery terminals:

13.12 engine off

14.61 with engine running idle (light off), dips to 14.1-14.2 volts with throttle applied

14.63 with headlight on, 14.9v with throttle applied

[MattEMulsion]

I'm not sure how you can get a 12v battery to give you a 'cold' reading of 13.12v. Are you sure your meter is correct?

Other than that, as far as i can see you seem to be chasing a problem that doesn't exist. You've bought a bike with a knackered battery, you've replaced the battery and have no further problems. If the rev counter hasn't worked for years then that's that. As for pulling connectors apart and messing around with the electrics, stop now because you are going to just cause other problems.

Get on it and ride it!!!
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Yamaha YZF-R6

[sickpup]

[daws0n]

@MattEMulsion

Yes the meter appears to be accurate, same reading were confirmed at a garage yesterday.

I hope I'm chasing a non-existent issue, but as the bike unfamiliar to me I'll remain cautious for now. It's still being used daily and I'll keep an eye on the voltage readings for a good while yet. Ignoring a potential issue could prove costly and expensive to repair, it seems ER-5s don't react well to high voltage.

I'm no mechanic but competent enough to take apart a few contacts to clean, but I must admit a few of the plugs on the bike are rather tough! It's in good clean condition though, so no need to strip it down any further. A thorough contact clean did wonders for my old XJR when I first bought it (fixed an intermittent headlight fault) so I'll stick to the habit.

@sickpup

I think you are onto something there as the battery is brand new and fully charged out of the box I believe... Another reading today after ride home shows 12.99v with engine off - seems to be settling down a bit.

[daws0n]

Ok... Haynes manual and new regulator have arrived today (got a good deal on an electrex world RR154 - the wiring colours are different on one side, hopefully OK as-is??). Bike has been fine for work commute for nearly two weeks now, though I am easy on the throttle and no need for lights this time of year.

Hoping to get it installed over the weekend. I've had a quick look and the current regulator is stuck on pretty tight. Common sense says it's clockwise direction to loosen as the bolts are facing upwards, before I go applying any more force there's no reverse thread weirdness to look out for is there?

[Polarbear]

Why are you changing it when you don't have an issue?

and no, there are no left hand threads involved.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[daws0n]

Cheers for clearing that up PolarBear.

Bike seems to be running / charging happily for a few rides now, but as I said I've not needed to use the head light or revved the bike hard. Since sticking the full beam on ups the voltage to ~15.8v, that's a little too high.

Interested to see if the new regulator improves the reading. If so, great. If not, I have peace of mind it's doing it's job OK and a spare

[daws0n]

I let some ACF-50 soak into the bolts over night, much easier to remove now.

New regulator installed - the old was a 3rd party replacement (tour max pro) and substantially smaller than the electrex world one put in it's place.

New readings:

12.7 engine off
14.52 engine idle light off
14.5-14.55 with revs, headlight off
14.3-14.6 with revs, headlight on

Not seeing a clear fluctuation when applying throttle, but it's good to see the voltage not longer passing 15+ volts.

Fingers crossed all will be OK now and this battery will live longer than 12 months!