NewBird Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Background - 2014 Americade. Bike was running fine and then electrical failed. Tripmeter reset to 0, time reset. inspected battery and found some corrosion. Got restarted and went to the Yuasa tent where they inspected and replaced the existing battery with a new Yuasa. No issues there after. Full disclosure here, I know very little about electrical systems. Stored the bike for the winter and had battery on tender. This year while parking on a side street at americade I suffered a nearly identical failure. The rider of the bike next to me had a device called Micro-Start wnd gave me a jump. I rode back to Lodge (20 miles) and had no trouble restarting thereafter. Now - upon thinking of the events and what they had in common it came to mind that both failures occured after a period of very slow travel in traffic. Very low RPM and presumably not much in the way of battery charging going on. That coupled with a higher coolant temp which turned the fan on which presented additional demand on the battery. So, the question is have any of you had a similar situation occur? If so how did you resolve it? Thanks in advance for any help. Also, I am considering installing a set of Michelin Road Pilot 4's. Any feedback? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuffguyF4i Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 What is the failure? Dead battery? clicking of the starter with no turning over or also other issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXitanium Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 When that happened on my bike - it was my stator. I bought a new battery and rode home with the headlight unplugged. How many miles total have you put on since you replaced it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_40 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Running the fan for a long time at idle does drop the battery that's for sure. Once or twice mine almost didn't start after sitting it traffic for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Krypt Keeper Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Headlights, fan, brake lights, any add on electric farkles will drain the battery at idle. If fan is running a lot at idle, can rev up some to get water pump moving more to help. 1500rpm or so works for me. In slow traffic on hot days I will also pick a line not behind a car, try to get some air flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockmeupto125 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 I'll throw my 2 cents in as well. Idling in traffic, lights on, fan on, even the extra draw from the brake light...it all adds up to draining the battery. Its just not a city bike. The need for speed....airflow for cooling, rpm to get the stator and water pump to a functional speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 So maybe get your stator rewound with more wraps? That'll increase the output for ya. Switch out when you can, the lights for LED's will help too. If you are going to putt around the city a lot, change out your fluid to something that stays cooler longer (water wetter?) and see if that helps keep the fan at bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXitanium Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 I have a spare burnt one in the garage I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Install a volt meter. Then the next time you're stuck in traffic, you will know if the battery is getting too low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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