Like battery is dead... but not quite the battery...

[Visitor Q]

Well, went for a long haul ride today, after about 60 miles the bike acted like it was hitting reserve and rolled to a stop with half a tank in it. Rolled it to side of the road, left it for 10 minutes (it sometimes does that when it goes on reserve, so i assumed it had just picked up something bad and needed to calm down) and tried it again. Soon as i pressed the ignition button everything dulled accordingly and nothing happened... like a flat battery.

Fair nuff, lights off, choke a tad on, bump started. Got to destination. Stayed there a bit, went to leave (in the dark) and it started fine (with no lights on) and i poddled up to the gate, went to double check my pockets and it stalled (in neutral!) at its idle.

After repeated bumping and stalling i realised it was just not running if the revs were allowed to drop. So cue going through traffic/junctions/etc screaming my tits off and generally looking a cunt.

It then cut out on me pulling out of a junction and nearly got me killed. Repeated bumping, ragging and off i went.

Anyway even with lights off the bike wouldnt charge, and for instance indicating or using the brakes would nullify all light coming from the beam, and on several occasions made the engine physically stutter.

Now i havent tried a different battery yet, as ive had a night of it. But the fact its holding a pretty strong charge until i get running, and then not giving it enough stick to keep it turning fast makes the bike stall surely that means its something more malign?

My guess is rectifier, generator, alternator, etc. Im not sure which it is though, frankly because i dont know 100% clearly what they are. I just know the bike isnt charging ok which leads it to;

-Battery doesnt charge
-The battery isnt being charged

Note the distinction. I will run it about with no lights on etc to give it some charge (rather then charging the battery... to check which it is) and take it over to the dealership i bought it from.

Its annoying as hell though.
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From September 2014 to January/February 2015 I will not be using any English, nor reading any. As such, I won't be on here. PM at will, but I won't be checking/posting unless in emergencies. Certainly not for the first couple of months. Please berate me savagely if I break that rule...

[stinkwheel]

[Visitor Q]

[Nath]

If you can borrow a good battery off someone else might worth a go though.


I had weird problems which turned out to be a dodgey battery. If I jumped it off a car battery, as soon as I removed the jump leads the bike would try and die. If it didn't, it would die as soon as I touched the throttle.
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Hard livin', hard luck.

[Robby]

Reg/rec.

A healthy battery will regain enough charge to start and run for about 10 minutes with all other electrics turned off, if left for an hour or two. Its a chemical reaction thats make the electricity after all.

However, if you have been riding around with it much like that, or intend to continue doing so, you'll probably have damaged the battery. So I'd be fitting a new reg/rec and battery.

[Kickstart]

Hi

I have had a regulator / rectifier screw up by randomly not charging a battery. New battery would fix it for 6 months, and the used battery would be fine on other bikes afterwards.

A lot of modern bikes do need the battery to run. Dead battery results in no sparks.

It does sound like it is charging a bit. You can keep it running by revving it, and that is likely to be using more power (although the engine will have more momentum to overcome the odd misfire).

Stick a voltmeter over the battery and see what it gives with the engine running. Blip the throttle and see if it goes up.

Probably best to take your battery off and charge it first. Can check the fluid level in it as well if it is not a sealed battery.

Although Hondas do regularly kill the regulator / rectifier units, this does not sound like it to me. Check the connections are clean to the reg / rect, check the contacts are clean and well clamped on at the battery (and the earth point on the frame) and also thoroughly check the starter relay (under the tank, just forward of the battery) as these have a habit of screwing up with fairly random results.

All the best

Keith
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[Visitor Q]

Think i will just buy a new battery, as it seems more fun then riding the 15 odd miles to collin colins with my bike misbehaving just to get them to shove a new one in there and tell me 'oh it works' which i would assume it would... for about 30 minutes until its not charged properly.

Pain though.
____________________
China traffic/travel bike vid - When I make a sweeping statement, please add the word 'statistically' in to the sentence before you bitch...
From September 2014 to January/February 2015 I will not be using any English, nor reading any. As such, I won't be on here. PM at will, but I won't be checking/posting unless in emergencies. Certainly not for the first couple of months. Please berate me savagely if I break that rule...