pre-electric check

I have to go over the whole wiring tonight to troubleshoot why my new battery wouldn't crank after about 3 hours of riding...

I just wanted to hear some feedback before it's 3am and I'm like wtf did I miss...

I did a voltage check yesterday and I get 14.5 ish at 3k rpms and it tops at like 14.7 or 8 on the high end. I get 12.38 at the battery while off, 11.8 or so with the lights on in 'run'.

I believe there is a corroded or busted wire not grounded somewhere and I'm planning to take the chapter 6 electrical section of the manual along with some new harnesses, twisties, wires etc.. and going over all the resistances in the manual

I want to rip out all the wires and redo it looking at all this old electrical tape, but barring that, are there typical things that might not be 'so clear' in this manual? Or "generally good things to do" while I go over all this **** in the next days?

-Nate

 

12.38 V is low for a charged battery. You might need a new battery.

Fully charge it on a battery tender with it off the bike, and test the voltage off the tender at 30 minutes apart. If the voltage drops all by itself, your battery is likely bad.

 

brand new agv battery.. put it in monday
think it was 12.42 when i first opened the box- electrical system has to killing it...

it's on the tender now so we'll see tonight..

 

Ok, well I still think that's a little low.

What does it do when you hit the start button? Does the solenoid "click"? Does it turn over and not fire? Have you tried jumping the solenoid?

Of course, I just had a "duh" moment there, but check your safety circuits, especially the kickstand switch, but also the neutral and clutch switch. I believe the kickstand switch will cut off your ignition and starting circuit, where the clutch/neutral switches will only affect your starting circuit (which ends at the solenoid).

EDIT: Do voltage drop testing , not resistance testing to make sure you are getting 12V where you expect.

Checking your ground is never a bad idea.

If your charging system is working (and it sounds like it is if you are rectifying from 14.3-14.8 V), your battery is charged (especially at the end of the 3hour ride), then it's likely your starting circuit. Redoing all the wiring is quite a task and won't be cheap, so I hope you have some experience with this.

 

I'm not going to redo any wiring tonight...
Solonoid clicks, no crank..
The 11.8 with the lights on in run is what made the mechanic at my garage tell me it's a ground or resistance issue somewhere...

It's not the kickstand or clutch / neutral- although I went through that same 'duh' moment while I was looking like an idiot on the street attempting triage

It's been years since I've done an electrical project, but between the weak headlight, these issues, the phone usb charger i want to put on and all sorts of old taped wires barely hanging on this might be a good one to get back in the game... i mean i could snap the tail light wire if I put a bungee cord on quickly 70 miles out

i dont see why the wiring would be expensive... you don't need oem anything if you know how to make diagrams and where to use fuses

 

Is there a headlight relay? Headlight being on can drop your voltage a bit.

Did you try jumping the solenoid?

Well if you are going to wire it to spec, you'll need to repin all the connectors, and there is a lot of wire, getting the proper colors (to make future troubleshooting easier) and pins can add up. If you are going for simplified wiring harness, that's different.

 

There is no headlight relay, but while Im at radioshack today that might have to happen- maybe I'll run a switch through the right handlebar where the dimmer switch is on other models...

I hadn't thought of juicing the starter directly..

But, since last night before bed the unhooked battery was 12.82v, and today at lunch it was 12.90- I think I might just be over-reacting.
I guess I thought I didn't need to put a new agv bettery on the tender because the charging system would handle it while riding
That and i have a chewed up battery in my apartment that I don't know if it was killed since I bought it or just old