Bike doesn't start in cold weather

Budapest Hungary

 

I never said it put out 15 volts. According to the manual it says when you rev the bike to 2000rpms it should read 14.5 volts of charging output when you connect to the battery terminals. Is there a place where it says after 20 minutes of riding your charging output will only put out 12.5 volts? I wonder if I'm being clear. If you say it's not charging, why is my bike now down to 11.7volts after a ride today? It just gets lower and lower after each ride unless I connect it to a charger the night before and I don't want to do that anymore. If you say it works then you better come out to LA and prove it to me.

 

Okay tiger , looks like you put in a stator, and voltage regulator , the only other item is the ROTOR perhaps you should look there next

 

Yes, I checked it and it reads fine. But now the motor is starting to sound rough on acceleration. Still idles great. My uncle and I took the top end down to the jugs a couple months ago and we discovered the plunger to the cam chain was missing. We replaced it and the engine sounds fine but now the loose change chatter has gotten louder like the engine is working harder. Is it possible that after the engine has been working out it's own kinks if the cam chain tensioner might need one more adjustment. Also, the clutch sticks really bad when I try to put it in neutral at a stop light. I already adjusted the clutch cable. How do you know when you need to replace the clutch plates?

 

clutches making noise as you described need to be looked into pull the cover. there is oil under the cover. clutch repair inspection instructions described in link below

sticks as in it does not release when you squeeze the clutch. by that I mean if your in first gear clutch pulled and the bike keeps rolling?
is there a lot of slack in the clutch cable at the clutch housing end of cable?.
do you have 3 mm play at the clutch lever (gap between perch and lever )?




read this about how to replace clutch
CLUTCHES 101-Part 1: the 400/550/600s with pics

 

Right, it sticks when I pull the clutch I still can't shift from 1st to neutral but only when I'm stopped. It shifts fine when I ride. I already messed around with the cable. I tightened it to within spec and I just can't pull it up from 1st to neutral. Again, this is when I'm stopped. Thanks for the read up.

 

more questions
1 jams up in 1st at a stop?
or can you shift up to second when you cannot get neutral?

 

Well, both. I'd say about a third of the time it's jammed in 1st and can't move it. Another third it's as you described where it will go into second but can't find neutral. And the rest of the time it's working okay.

 

Back to the rotor it is possible the windings which are encased in shellac are breaking down when engine heats up . Try to focus on fixing one problem first ...I can tell you are getting frustrated go slow you will figure it out.

 

Okay. The rotor ohms out okay. How else do I check it?

 

see if it floats

 

Here is what I'm trying to tell you, the rotor may ohm out fine...UNTIL it is hot at that point you can have a break down in the windings , pulling the rotor can be a little difficult. To pull the rotor on my a Honda I threaded a front axle shaft into end of the rotor and smacked it 3 or 4 times with Thors hammer (8pound) and it popped right off , not sure about the 550 maybe similiar.

 

So I may need to have a tail in between my legs moment and confirm that my charging system is indeed working properly. I apologize to all who tried to tell me in the first place. I guess it's normal that the charging system will measure lower output after it "senses" that the battery is charged but I can guarantee you, the battery is not fully charged after a full ride. However, I rode the other day with only 12.1volts to begin with and it charged back UP to 12.6. I'm curious, though, why the charging system puts out 14.5 volts on a fully charged battery during the first 20 minutes of the ride then reads lower later on when some juice has been used up? Shouldn't it be opposite? Just doesn't make sense. I've read that the charging systems on these bikes are at the best, bad so I'm just going to let it go and trust all is well. I'm guessing it's good practice to put the bike on a trickle charger every night but if I don't will I still be okay? I guess this is more of a trial and error thing. I can definitely say that the bike has never died on me nor has it never been able to turn the engine over and ever since I put new plug caps on I'm pretty sure that helped the poor starting issue. I get a nice meaty blue spark now as oppose to a faint yellow one.
So I will move on and address my new issue. Yay!
As mentioned before I'm getting some loud noises from the engine. It sounds rough and the chatter has increased. One thing I noticed prior to the loud noise is that when I would slow down coming to a stop light the engine would make this higher pitched sound but then turn off when I would actually stop. No it's not the break. That squeaks too but it's not bad. I have to admit I do not use the correct oil (20W-50) so I bought some and should come later in the week. My uncle and I took apart the engine about 2 months ago and afterwards the engine sounded fantastic. We also replaced the plunger that was missing from the cam chain. He made sure the cam chain was adjusted properly but I'm wondering if now that I've ridden the bike a bit it may need one more adjustment. We also adjusted the valves so all is within spec and I still get a popping noise on deacceleration but I already have the pilot screws twisted out to 3.5 turns. Any ideas what's going on. Sorry if I sound a little vague.

 

Thanks but I actually think my charging system is working properly. See my new post. Thanks.

 

I'm guessing I might have scared everyone away. In any case I have a new problem and if anybody can help that'd be great. This is my first bike and I probably shouldn't have bought this thing but I'm broke and it's all I have. Anyway...

The engine is sounding really rough, it pops excessively on acceleration, and it can't idle.

A couple of weeks ago I was noticing that whenever I start slowing down a higher pitched sound would come from the engine like something was dragging. Last week the engine started thumping kind of loud and now the whole bike shakes a bit at idle. It also pops excessively on acceleration and it dies at every stop light. Last night, I started the bike and it backfired on me. It kind of seems like the bike isn't working on all 4 cylinders even though it is. I changed the oil and oddly enough it kind of helped with the shaking of the bike but all the other symptoms are still there. I adjusted the valves last December and I went through the valves a while ago. It's like the whole bike is just off. I adjusted the cam chain and that didn't change a thing. Any idea what's happening?

 

adjusted the cam chain with pointer on the "C" ?

 

The battery is under the greatest load when starting the engine. The total charge of the battery can be depleted by as much as 10% (going below 80% of full charge is bad for a lead-acid battery) even during an easy, warm-weather startup. Charging voltage must be above the resting voltage of the battery in order for it to take a charge. The higher voltage allows for a faster charging time (though amperage plays a greater role in charging time than voltage does), and helps to reverse the chemical reactions that take place when the battery is discharged, therby increasing its useful life.

A fuller (and beetter) explanation can be had here: https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/