| Author | Message | ||
     Crashing |
o I go out to start the bike this afternoon to leave for lunch--75 degrees out and I had driven it to work--click, click, click, click. I think to myself--I must have left this parking light thing on. HMMm so I bump start it and away I go. Well about 2 miles later, the oil lamp comes on, followed by the gauges (sppedo and tach) going to zero and the bike sputtering along. I rode it like that for about 5 more minutes since I was only about 10 minutes from home but decided to shut her down. Only other symptom that I noticed (maybe unrelated as its been going on the whole time I think) was that the RPM would go down to only about 2k and then sort of level off there unless i was at a stop sign and let a little clutch out and then pulled it back in which would bring it down to 1100 or so. I thought that was weird too. Got it home and the battery read 11.24 volts so its toast. I put it on the charger anyway. My question: Would the battery itself cause the other stuff? If so I was thinking, buy a new battery and see what happens. Dealer is about 30 miles from me and I don't have a truck so sometimes I just replace the most likely thing if I think its cheap enough rather than the hassle and expense of taking it down there and paying the hourly rate. I'm hoping this beginning with the bike is not a foreshadowing of things to come! I did check when I bought it and all the recalls were done and the bike was serviced at the dealer only and the last service was done in April less than 2K ago. It sure is fun to ride! And lighter to push than the sporty but i don't want to make a habit of it | ||
| Maddiemsu |
Sound like the battery is the culprit to me. | ||
| Froggy |
What you bike did on the way home is normal if you got a dead battery. The bike acts all funky like that. Personally I would just get a battery from autozone or something for cheap and just use that, as its not worth the hastle of driving / trailering to the dealer for it. Hell I got a good dealer and I would rather spend an hour to drive to autozone, get a battery, drive back and then do the swap. It would easly take a day minimum going by a dealer / warrenty route.  | ||
| M2nc |
The same thing happened to me on my M2. The mechanic at the dealership forgot to hook up the voltage regulator to the battery. The bike ran on the battery until it did not have enough juice. The symptoms started when I lost the gauge. Then the lights got dim. Then the motor would sputter if I revved past 3000rpm. Eventually the bike died after 80 miles. I would make sure the battery is getting a charge from the voltage regulator. You may change out or charge the battery and then have the same issue again. | ||
| Dentguy |
Sounds like the charging system. The battery just stores energy for starting and running parking lights when the engine is off. It doesn't keep it running. If you jumped it and it was running it should stay running as long the system is trying to charge. I'm not saying the battery might not be bad since it didn't want to start, but you should check the charging system if you can get it started back up. If it's not charging a new battery will make it run for a while until it wears down. Hope this helps. (Message edited by dentguy on September 26, 2007) | ||
| Hughlysses |
Given the fact that it's a used Uly, it may just be that the original battery is shot. You can get it tested at the dealer or an auto parts store. If the battery is OK, suspect the charging system. Troubleshooting and/or repairing it usually isn't too difficult. | ||
| Crashing |
Cool--thanks for the advice. I've picked up a battery and a service manual and will go from there. If all fails and I still have to take it in, I will still have a new battery and a service manual which would have cost what taking it in for an hour or two of labor would cost. Follow up to come.... | ||
| Arcticktm |
Check your charging system health before you (potentially) destroy a new battery. I agree with Dentguy that it is unlikely the battery alone is the issue once the bike is running, and especially at cruising RPM where you shoud be making enough juice to keep going. If you are not so electrically inclined, maybe you could buy on of the cheap electrical testers that plug into the cig ighter in a car to check the battery and charge system. They are only a few bucks at most auto parts stores. I have had one for many years that works as a quick check. I never used it on a bike, but I see no reason it wouldn't work in the Uly accessory plugs. | ||
| Depsisko |
I had a problem which I thought could be the battery or possibly the starter. Acted more like the battery (gauges acting funny that sort of thing). Took it into the local HD dealership, 3hrs later they say the computer says every things OK. I get it back home, have the same problems. Come to find out the ground from the battery attached to the frame was loose. Blasted vibration backed out the TORX screw. Loctite, #27 torx bit, no problems since. (Message edited by depsisko on September 29, 2007) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
A loose battery connection can manifest in all kinds of weird symptoms. I had a loose cable that showed up as a low oil pressure condition. | ||
| Orangeulius |
Your new battery should fix it. I went through the exact same thing. | ||
| Crashing |
ok so I put in the battery and it was at 12.6 volts--no motor running. I fired up the motor and the voltage went to 11.8. Punted and brought in to the dealer partially so my wife wouldn't see me tearing into my "new" bike! They tore into it and said stator and are relacing. Well at least I have a new battery now! And I splurged and had them replace the dunlops with some pirellis too. They also said the primary gear? was getting a little worn so they recommeded replacing that $25 part while in there. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
The chain tensioner? | ||
| Crashing |
yes the chain tensioner--you got it-- | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
The primary chain may need adjustment but I really doubt that the shoe needed replacing. Those things last a long time. Maybe that is 25 bucks for the adjustment. You better get a bit more knowledgeable about your bike or you are going to go poor real quick. | ||
| Stevenknapp |
A friend of mine, an ex-Buell mechanic (now H-D service manager) says that the shoe can wear and need replacement. His theory was that it was set tight at the factory, which wears it quickly, then as the chain stretches all is well. | ||
| Crashing |
that is what I am afraid of--the "poor real quick" part. Do I have to be a mechanic to ride a Buell? I want to get to know my bike but from the cockpit not a lift. if this is required, I will be out of this brand quickly. Ride not wrench. This isn't the 30's or 40's where bikes had points and fuel was poor and you had to have greasy fingers to ride a m/c. I know there are guys out there that would rather wash and polish their bikes (HD riders usually) and put doohickeies on them. I like to ride 'em not work on 'em. I'm all about general maintenance, and I know things go wrong but I am not afraid to call a POS a POS either. Not there yet. This bike was serviced by the dealer I'm taking it to on time up to 6800 miles and owned by a guy who worked there so I would think it would have been a decent used bike. Dealer just called and said that it may not be the stator. more testing (read $$) underway. Does the SNAP-ON tool van automatically start pulling up to your house if you buy a Buell? @#$% The primary belt was loose by the way. They tightend it up and put on the new part. We'll see.. Thanks for all the responses so far--I'll keep you posted | ||
| Hughlysses |
Crashing, Very few of us that do work on our Buells have had to do anything other than routine maintenance. The good thing about them is that if you don't mind doing your own work, parts are cheap and the bikes are easy to work on. If they decide your problem is not the stator, you might suggest that the dealer thoroughly check the connectors in the charging system. A few people have reported problems with a connector adjacent to the engine filling with water or the pins pushing out the backside of the connector. | ||
| Crashing |
thanks again. The resource available here is truly valuable. Most of my initial frustration is that riding season is winding down and I just really wanted to ride the bike the last week or so and its been in the shop. They now think the problem was just the battery. Since it was new they assumed that it was fully charged and they think the fact that it wasn't affected the diagnostic machine and threw them off the real trail. They had more than 8 hours into the bike but will only charge me for .75 hour which was the number for replacing the tensioner. That was pretty cool of them after all. I'll quit my bitching and start riding (and learning more about this thing) now. | ||
| Ulywife |
The resource available here is truly valuable. That's the way most of us feel here! BadWeB has saved lots of us time and heartache when it comes to our Buells and the local dealerships. Hope you get some good riding time in this weekend. | ||
| Chas1969 |
If not the stator then voltage rectifier/regulator moves to #1 on my list of why this problems. All the bmw's (non-airheads) I have expierenced these symptoms turned out to be VR/VF. Shorts are a maybe but usually near the stator. Chas | ||
| Rays |
Crashing - Hopefully your issue is sorted but just in case the intermittent charging (or lack of ) returns, there have been a couple of us with 06's who have had this caused by the female sockets in the connector where the VR connects to the main loom. If this condition exists the act of unplugging / re-plugging this connector can 'clean-up' the contacts for a while and it will look like it is all working, for a while. I put this guide together for someone on Badweb some time back. http://docs.google.com/view?docid=d4rbxwr_20dq5khf I was ready to burn my Uly way back when this left me stranded on the side of the road (twice) and my dealer couldn't find the problem, but since finding and correcting this I have covered another 24,000km without an issue. Keep the faith - it will be worth it.  |
