| Author | Message | ||
     Buellifer |
I think my voltage regulator went bad... But you guys are pretty good at figuring out problems. Here is what happened... I started the bike before leaving for work and at first it did not want to turn over but then it did. I got to work shut it down everything seamed normal cooling fan was running etc... Then at quitting time I turn the ignition on to dim lights and it would not crank. So a buddy got his jumper cables and hooked them up the lights were bright but when I hit the starter button it tried to turn over but would not. It's like the starter was cranking over half way then would stop. Hope you guys understand my description of the problem. I feel like I'm looking at a new regulator and battery. What do you think? | ||
| Two_seasons |
Tighten your battery terminals. 10mm for that. If that doesn't do it, pull battery and take it to your local battery shop. Have it load tested. | ||
| 86129squids |
I got my 79 GL1000 to start today with a screwdriver jump across the solenoid. Gotta clean some connections. YMMV | ||
| Buellifer |
OK I just put a new battery in this past March... The jumper cables we used were connected to the battery terminals of my bikes battery and there was plenty of power transfer. The starter was trying to turn over but even with the jump it still would not turn over completely. So it is not lose connections. If the regulator is no good wouldn't keep the bike from starting even with a fresh battery connected to the system? | ||
| Boogiman1981 |
No it shouldn't. May have corrosion between the starter housing and the case. Could be dirty connection fromm ground cable to the chassis. Could be dirty contacts in the starter switch itself. Could be weak solinoid. Chances are bad/dirty/broken ground connection is your culprit as that's the most common mode of elecc failure on bikes cars trucks etc. | ||
| Buellifer |
I'm heading down to my work to trouble shoot the problems you guys talked about. | ||
| Teeps |
Be sure to check connections on the other end of the battery cables. Especially the ground cable to the frame. | ||
| Kilroy |
Yes check the simple stuff first, everyone wants to make excuses for the battery or connections because the battery is "new", and that turns out to be the problem 90% of the time | ||
| Sifo |
Get a full charge on the battery, then check voltage while trying to crank. If it drops well below 12 you have a battery problem. It's possible that your jumpers didn't have a good enough contact to carry the amps to crank it over. As has already been suggested, check the cable connections. If you can get it started, either by jumping or pushing, you can check the voltage to see if the charging system is working. If everything up to that point checks out, I would be suspect of the starter. | ||
| Sparky |
If you have to jumper it from a car, make sure the car is not running. A running car will likely have more voltage available than the bike's voltage regulator is designed to handle safely. | ||
| Buellifer |
I checked all ground connections even wiggled wires the battery was drained I had a new one with me connected it still would not turn over the starter cranks about half way then stops and sometimes when I hit the starter button I lose complete power.. So after 2 hours of messing with it I called AAA recreational got it towed to my dealer and let them deal with the problem child. Surprisingly I'm not mad this is the first real issue with my 2009 firebolt in 22,000 miles. | ||
| Two_seasons |
Make sure you let us know what the HD dealer finds. I'd bet my right hand it's connector issues at the starter. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Bad ground somewhere. | ||
| Buellifer |
The bad ground was inside the battery. The worse part, what made me take it to the dealer. I bought a new battery to connect to the bike and it would not start with it. Come to find out the new battery was defective as well. What are the chances you can buy two brand new batteries with in 3 month of each other? So it cost me $148 for a new battery and labor. But it could have been a lot worse. | ||
| Buellifer |
Two_seasons it's going to be hard to ride your motorcycle with your right hand gone... LOL | ||
| Xb9er |
i had a new battery. worked well for awhile then wouldnt hold a charge. Had it tested and it got a bad cell. Its just one of those things. If your voltage regulator went bad it wouldnt have done anything, it wounldn't have did a half crank |
