engine died

[punchy]

hi all, been out today for a ride,i stopped after around 60 miles to stretch my legs,came to start her up
and she would'nt fire,starter motor was barely moving..when i turned the key the starter barely moved,the
lights on the dash dimmed then came bright but nothing..i pushed her and bump started it in second gear and she fired up no probs,ran good all the way home..any ideas...?

[Chad in Michigan]

probably the battery. had that happen to me right before mine died. you might want to check your charging system too, be cause your regulator/rectifier may be dying. mine died a year after replacing the battery.

[hootmon]

What Chad said.. You have a pre 2000, so the regulator could be going bad.. Get a volt meter and check it out. Also make sure all of your battery connections are clean and tight..
I've had a regulator that overcharged and boiled the battery dry
I've had a regulator that put out just enough power that the bike worked OK so long as I didn't put any additional strain on the system (Like running an Aux. light), otherwise the battery would drain while I rode and it wouldn't start when I got off... - Later this regular died..

[punchy]

iv'e just checked the battery terminals,they're ok...gone over the wires,they're ok..started the bike and let it run then turned off..came to start it again 10 minutes later and it would'nt turn...when she does start
and i rev her the headlight goes brighter which i presume means it's charging..i've currently got the battery
on charge and its showing that it needs charging..ie three out of 4 bars..ideas please..

[LIMagna]

Still sounding like the regulator ... did you put a voltmeter on it while it was running?  Mine would undercharge too (especially after the bike warmed up).  Fortunately, I put one of these on it:

http://www.phatperformanceparts.com/Kuryakyn_L_E_D_Battery_Gauge_Chrome_p/4219.htm

and found the problem before the bike would not start.  New regulator resolved the issue completely. 

[punchy]

no i have'nt got one of those, but iv'e decided im gonna get a new reg/rec as a matter of course after
the advice iv'e been given...i'll let you know what the mechanic says after he's stuck a gauge over it...

[lragan]

If you are near a Harbor Freight Tools store, you can buy a simple digital multimeter for around 5 bucks.

If the battery is low, then at about 3500-4000 rpm, you should read 13+ volts.  If it reads a lot higher than this, it means the battery is not taking charge.  Take the seat off, and measure at the batter terminals -- no, not the connectors to the battery, but touching the terminals themselves.  You can also measure from the terminals to the accompanying connector.  It should be zero volts, or at most a few millivolts.  If more than this, the terminals need to be cleaned again.

When fully charged, at 3500 rpm, the battery should read 14.5-15 volts.

[John Luttrell]

It sounds to me like your problem is a bad battery only; I'd bet that changing the battery will have you back and running like new.

[Magnum Magna]

I would look into what John said.  Before changing it I would give it a good charge and check the output voltage then see if it is the battery or Regulator or both.


My regulator is putting out 14.0 to 19.0 volts.  That is bad by the way.
On the Magna the only thing I have found to be weak is the regulator.  The same regulator on the VFR is prone to going out also.  It is under the seat so it is in a hotter area then the Magna is.  Some of the smart people of Moot have designed a bracket to put the regulator in a place with more airflow then under the frame. I should be getting my bracket next week.  If you were going to replace the regulator I would consider doing the modification at the same time.

[punchy]

this morning i dropped the battery into my local bike shop to be tested,the mechanic put  what looked like a flattened out hot air paint stripper across the terminals and said the gauge should not drop below 10 after keeping it on the terminals for 15 seconds..it never moved, so the battery is holding the charge and does'nt
need replacing.....the mechanic seems to think it could be some goo around the solonoid,so iv'e cleaned that up and things have been ok..so far..   Tomorrow i'll take her for a spin and see how things go..punchy

[TLRam1]

I did not read the entire thread, take heed in what was said about the regulator. The mechanic is probably not familiar with the history of these bikes.

Get a volt meter and check for voltage while running if not done so already.

[punchy]

well i went out and bought and fitted a kuryakyn battery gauge...charged my battery up pressed the starter button.The bike roared into life but on the gauge after the initial led scan the first 4 lights stayed on
the first 2 red,second 2 amber..the first red one was the brightest (really bright) then the first green light
started flickering...im presuming the reg/rect is knackered..what do you think...............dont 4get the battery was tested and found to be ok.. ideas please..

[John Luttrell]

Not sure if you have a service manual, so here is the pages with tests you need to complete; you will need to run these test with a good multimeter.

[hootmon]

The bike roared into life but on the gauge after the initial led scan the first 4 lights stayed on
the first 2 red,second 2 amber..the first red one was the brightest (really bright) then the first green light started flickering...

Here is the gauge punchy is referring to...

[LIMagna]

I've got that gauge on my bike.  Normally, when I first start the bike (no choke, idles pretty much at or just below 1000 rpm), only the amber lights are on (up to the amber lights that is) but within a few seconds as the idle stabilizes, the first green LED illuminates.  When riding (anything above about 2000 rpm or so), two green LED's are lit.  If I have my turn signal on, sometimes the rightmost green LED will flicker (at an idle, the single green LED will flicker).  It doesn't matter whether the engine is cold or warm, it pretty much operates as described all the time.  However, before I changed out my RR, after the bike warmed up, unless I was really high up in the RPM band, I would see no green LED's lit (only the amber's on back).  I took this as a sign that the RR was not working properly when it got hot so I replaced it.  Since it now operates differently (and more in line with what I would expect), I suspect that it was probably on a slow decline.  I agree that an actual analog (or digital) gauge that displayed a real number would be better but the LED's at least give you an idea of what range the voltage is in.  green=good, red=bad, amber=so,so  ... keeps things simple I guess.