| Author | Message | ||
     Xb12xmike |
Last night i took my bike out for a ride,...just spitting rain drops,..then a heavy drizzle, not too bad, after it clears up and 10 miles later.. my oil light comes on, seems to be running ok. i pull over and the oil and neutral lights seem dim to me and i also notice my headlight seems dim as well...so I shut it down..and of course it wont start again. click click click... like a low battery. (never had any probs before.. except a year ago i left my light on and needed to re-trickle-charge it) Ok...so i jump start it with car battery... ride 4 miles... totally dies,..not lights work at all... jump it again.. let sit and charge for more than 5 min this time...ride another 6 miles, stop at diner for takeout, i shut it off... (no biggie-caged friend is with me) but she restarts fine like nuthing happened ?!?!?!?!?... ride home and cover. I havent messed with it yet... but all I was gonna do was re-trickle charge my battery and see what happens but i dont wanna get stranded again. Thanks, mike | ||
| Hughlysses |
Check battery connections for tightness (adding a washer is necessary on some bikes because the bolts can be a smidgen too long), charge battery fully, and be sure to check the 77 connector. Directions here: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=d4rbxwr_20dq5khf | ||
| 99savage |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/447431.html?1238866314 | ||
| Xb12xmike |
Thanks,.. mine didnt act like that,... however i will check my wires tommorrow. I did forget to mention some stuff about the 2nd time it died (when it died fully and i jumped it for more than 5 min) before it died, i noticed the instruments where at zero,..i mean they were not working at all....the bike ran for another 1/2 mile then kaput. tonight it started a tad sluggishly but is running fine,.. shut it down and it started right back up like nuthin happened. Well,.. after looking at that post i will give it a good going over tommorrow. Thanks! | ||
| Etennuly |
Yeah, seeing as it ran fine later, that sounds like battery connections, Hugh is on it. If it doesn't have a washer of some sort on the battery bolts they can seem tight. If you can grab them with your hand and turn them at all they are not tight enough. If the "77" connector is kaput and, or the VR is dead, it wouldn't come back to run well again. | ||
| Hughlysses |
My 77 connector had an intermittent connection that caused similar problems. I saw the same exact thing that the gauges went to zero about 2 minutes before the bike died completely. Most of the 77 connectors shown here have been partially melted. Mine looked nearly perfect. When I disassembled the connector it had VERY tiny burned spots on the metal. I disassembled the connector, cleaned the terminals, tightened them up slightly with needle nose pliers, and reassembled. No problems since. Oh yea, most important thing. Install some kind of voltage monitor; I used this one: http://www.customdynamics.com/LED_battery_gauge.ht m#LED_Battery_Gauge_with_Remote_Flush_Panel_Mount_ LED The voltage monitor will let you know if you have a charging system problem before the battery gets low enough to strand you. | ||
| Tginnh |
Hughlysses - thanks for the link. Just ordered one. | ||
| Tginnh |
Actually, I bagged on the order when the shipping costs were calculated. $8.50 for shipping from NC to NH for a little item like that which only costs $25. Anyone know where to get the same or similar item for a reasonable price including s/h? Thanks. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Wal mart has a trolling motor battery monitor you can hack up. Lots of repackaging work, but its $12 or something, and includes both an LED indicator and actual volts on an LCD. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Wow. That's weird. Same thing happened to me on Saturday morning. Turned out it was a bad voltage regulator. More here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45 2659 | ||
| Doncasto |
Skifastbadly: Mine was a "bad VR" when the dealer worked on it as well. To their credit, I suspect that the VR went as a result of the shorting at the 77 plug. My reading here drove me to check the plug when I got it home (25 miles later). . .it was fried, and although I don't know if it fried before or after the new VR - I am leaning toward before. You may want to spend a little time double checking yours, too. If the dealer was on his game and had the new version VR in stock, he may have replaced the problematic 77 connector with the later upgraded version. If the dealer was not quite up to par, you may find a damaged connector still lurking and ready to put you on the shoulder again. There are several slick fixes available here by many more skilled than I. I did the "Neanderthal Splice" on mine and eliminated the connector completely. There may even be a connector upgrade available from a Buell friendly and conscientiously information current dealer. YMMV . . .hope you were in the warm embrace of an completely current (although expensive) dealership. If not, contact Zac at High Country HD/Buell Parts department for information on the availability of the connector upgrade. Don | ||
| Tootal |
Harley/Buell voltage regulators suck! I replaced four on my old Electra Glide before I bought a Compufire. They are great but don't make one for the Buell. I just replaced the Buell's at 15,000 miles. Mine failed in the opposite direction. It was putting out 17 volts at 4000 rpm. I cracked the throttle entering the highway and blew my headlights out!! | ||
| Ronmold |
This will replace the "77". Cut off 2 & use dielectric grease http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/6YJ03 | ||
| Pso |
When mie went out. My radar detector immediatly gave the message ref. voltage drop. I only had about 5-10 miles before total failure of bikes electronics. i guess what I am saying is that even with some form of V. monotoring system you only have a limited period of time. I have ordered the new connectors that replace the #77 fro buell, will see how well they work. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Just checked the 77 connector on my 07 Uly and sure as hell, melted plastic. PSO, can you point me to a part number or a catalog or something that references those new connectors? Thanks | ||
| Pso |
Skifastbadly-Sure can, I will need to do it on Tues. Order form is at home. It is also on this web someplace, where they not only talk about the part but also how to do the install. The swap out connectora cost me $19 + taxes. I am also not sure if the VR fails or if the connector fails. When mine was warrentied out I did not get the VR back so I do not know the answer to this. (Message edited by pso on April 13, 2009) | ||
| Skifastbadly |
I just got of the phone with HD customer service, and before that, my dealer. Neither admits to knowing anything about this problem. So, I can either field engineer a solution, or take it down and get the plug replaced..and wait for it to fail again. Ticks me off. | ||
| Rwven |
No kidding, they won't admit to knowing anything about the problem? What a surprise....  | ||
| Hughlysses |
Well, they obviously know about the problem since they updated the plug. Perhaps a PM to Court is in order? There have been quite a few Uly VR and stator replacements, at least among the high-RPM Uly riders (Ft_bstrd and Chadhargis come to mind). I wonder if their problems weren't actually 77 connector problems that were mis-diagnosed, or at least ignored until something else fried? | ||
| Doncasto |
There have been several incidents like this over the years with Buell/HD. In my personal opinion the pernicious tuber front motor mount bolts/bracket breakage is in the same vein. If HD/Buell or their dealerships were to officially acknowledge these problems as being more than incidental, they would then possibly be opening up a liability window. I believe that HD/Buell have lots of people on payroll that are particularly sensitive to liability issues. These HD/Buell personnel may have instructed the dealerships in the wisdom of treating these design flaws by saying, "No $hit! Never heard of this happening before!" I am sure that the dealer(s) in question either has not . . .or will not admit to having ever read BWB. On newer motorcycles (especially under warranty) HD/Buell have generally preferred to treat this type of failure as incidental and rare until such time as they find a compelling reason to do otherwise. YMMV . . . | ||
| Xb12xmike |
I took the 77 connector apart and bent it so it was a tighter fit... Then took it out saturday for a light 25 mile run...then sunday for a nice longer 165 mile run to LBI and the Barnegat Lighthouse... I used to go there as a kid. Restaurant is long gone, but the Bike ran fine. I plotted a course on my GF's GPS and suction cup mounted it to my RPM plastic....I was worried it would fall off but it worked great. Saw this on our way ...  pitstop  parked at Andy's  Andy's lots of cool stuff inside  Lighthouse  My GPS  parked  | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I love the GPS mount! | ||
| Ronmold |
Whoa! Your mount looks "tachy" | ||
| Armymedic |
I like my RAM mount on the left side of the bars. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
I just got rid of the 77 connector. I had to cut the damned thing off, there was no use in trying to remove it otherwise, since it was melted. I cut both connectors of, but I made sure I didn't cut any wire, I wanted to have the option later of putting on an updated connector. One issue on that: the "male" side of the connector has red and black wires going in, but the 'female' side, that is the connector on the voltage regulator side, has two wires both black. So be SURE and somehow mark which is which or you have a 50% probability of badness later. Once the wires were free, I used a submersible pump connector kit (Home Depot, five bucks) to connect. Essentially, this is a crimp connector with heat shrink waterproof tube. Crimped both sides, slide the connector on, shrank (shrunk?) it, and now 200 miles later everything seems to be running just fine. | ||
| Werewulf |
i was told that it doesnt matter about crossing the two black wires... | ||
| Skifastbadly |
I find that difficult to believe, but I'm a complete ignoramus when it comes to electrical things, so I could be easily convinced by a knowledgeable explanation as to why this would be so. | ||
| Ronmold |
" i was told that it doesnt matter about crossing the two black wires..." Right, and the dem's stimulus package will fix all our economic woes! | ||
| Rays |
Werewulf, you have been misinformed I'm afraid. That is the DC output of the regulator and it certainly does matter which wire is connected to positive and which to negative. The output from the stator is AC and is the input to the regulator - these can be connected in any sequence. |
