| Author | Message | ||
     Bigdog_tim |
He said it was charging - but not enough to keep up. The only electric thing I have is the Uly heated grips (they installed them). I do have a tender for this bike - just never got around to installing the pigtail. I probably won't until this is fully sorted - will pack the charger for a while to see if the problem repeats itself after the new VR is installed. If a 1500 mile weekend won't discharge her - I will proclaim the problem fixed and keep her on the tender when she is garaged. Assuming you have your bike serviced by a dealer, I suggest asking them to do a charging system check or wait for the manuals to do one yourself. Until the manuals come out, I wouldn't know where to start (nor would I trust the results if I did know where to start). | ||
| Fresnobuell |
did you run your high beams during the extended ride? | ||
| Baggermike |
I was told by the guy who had the buell team work on his bike that the bike is suppose to run high beams and heated grips above 2200 rpm, I find on my bike this is untrue, I just got my bike back from the shop monday and was told I would have real facts but then was left out in the cold that it tested good was the only answer I got so far and is not what I was told I would hear, I brought the bike into the shop so I could get the answers to my questions I was told I would and then did not as of now, I am still waiting to see if Buell calls me with the info that I want to know and was told my questions would be answered, when I hear something I will post it. Mike | ||
| Blake |
Ever characterize the power draw from your vest? Possible it might be drawing more than 90W? It is just one more variable to eliminate. | ||
| Baggermike |
I have a vest that is 67 watts that I have used and the engine light came on riding to the dealership, if buell does not get back to me I now know how to test the whole system, I am waiting to hear back from them like I was told and they told me they will give me facts, it is not my job to find out what is wrong with the bike, the problems seems to be long range riding not short runs, this is when I have had problems riding the highway at 4300 rpm for 1.5 hours using 120 watts should not be a problem if the bike can handle high beams and heated grips at 2200 rpms, but if running high beams with heated grips and it is suppose to charge or hold at 2200 rpm that is 106 watts and my jacket liner should not take more than that, I am waiting for them to go on sale for the summer season and buying a 60 watt jacket liner, they should be going on sale soon with the warm weather coming, I should be able to use a 60 watt jacket liner and maybe 25 watt glove liners no problem with the high beams off, the warm weather is coming and if heat is an issue then we will be seeing more of us having problems and what is going on, there is a motorcycle volt meter amp meter that attaches between the neg battery post and frame with a shunt type thing, Kisan makes it and I can get it with a smart charger for 180, I plan on getting this and a really good battery before I start touring, I will get it figured out with out Buells help if I have to, but right now I will be riding with out the battery tender and see if I have any problems, I will be riding with just the high and low beams on and nothing else, the bike has to be able to do this they designed it to run both high and lows at the same time, I found out tonight that I have to hook up a switch to shut off the low beams so at night I can use the high beams for seeing far distances, the low puts to much light in front of me and that reduces night time vision which I found that out yeas ago, I got the digital hids for low and high and are super bright, I also have led front running lights and waiting for a led tail light so that will reduce the wattage needed which is a good thing. Mike | ||
| C4bird |
Bobup, It have been checking it pre/post each ride, and each ride is generally 30-50 miles. I only started checking the voltage out after seeing this thread, so have checked it about 5-6 times now. Thought maybe it would level out some where, so haven't had in on the charger in a month. Good news is there is less than .01 volt drop between post ride check and pre ride check (roughly 2-3 days). To give some more background, I am not running any accessories, bike is 100% stock in that regard. | ||
| C4bird |
Tim, I got mine the week before christmas, and have not had a whole lot of great weather and chance to ride for more than an hour or two. The battery on my bike was low when I first got it, so put it on the charger for 10-12 hours a couple times to make sure it got a good deep charge. It appears all these short rides, with most of the rpm range being below 5k is drawing it down slowly. Sure hope this is a temporary thing, as this will be my main mode of transportation here in a few weeks when my truck goes out of commission for the rest of the summer. | ||
| Bigdog_tim |
My experience may not be appropriate as a comparison measure for all others. That being said - for those that are concerned - the validation is easy. Just check the closed loop output of the battery before and after each ride. Don't get me wrong - I do NOT believe my experience is a definitive answer - just my experience. Of course, once I have a new VR, I will post my experience... just in case. | ||
| Bobup |
C4bird....I had been using a tender from day one and riding when the weather would allow. I took the tender to charge my XB at another location, at that time the weather turned wet and I had not ridden the 1125 for 10 days, went out to ride to work and battery was TOTALY flat...panel lights did not even come on. If the battery goes flat in a week just sitting, there is something wrong. A person can not be expected to take a tender and extension cord on every trip just to "make sure" the battery has a charge. I am starting to believe that there is more to the issue here than just the bike's charging system not keeping up with the draw while in use. There must be a draw on the system that is draining the battery even while shut off. Mine is in the shop at this time with this being 1 of 3 issues. And, NO, I am not using/arming the security system...I believe the fork lock does more to prevent theft than a engine kill. IMHO | ||
| Tijuanajack |
I just experienced my first dead battery on the 1125r. I just returned from dropping it off at the dealership. I hadn't ridden the bike in 3 days and tried to start it up this morning and the dash would not even come-on. So I told them to check out this website and start calling Buell CS so they can start getting more info. This seems to be my first issue with my 1125R. As soon as I get it back I will post what this shop tells me. Toby | ||
| Spectrum |
Well some encouraging news on the charging system front. As you may remember I had traced my charging systems problems to being a heat related issue. Basically when the Coolant Temperature gets above 185 degrees the voltage drops below 12.5. The 2 times my battery went dead it was 70's degree days and I got stuck in stop-n-go traffic for 15-20 minutes. The coolant temperature got to around 200 degrees both times. Well today it was in the 70's and once again I got stuck in stop-n-go traffic. This time for an extended period of time (45 minutes). However the coolant temperature never got above 179. The LED voltage meter showed the charger system holding steady at 12.5 volts as well. When I got home, stuck the voltage meter on it and battery was at 12.7 volts.  The only difference is that before I was at around 600 - 700 miles and now I'm just over 2000 miles. So it appears as the bike is breaking in, it's starting to run cooler which means the charging system is maintaining higher output. Now it's yet to be seen if this holds true as the weather warms up. Not sure how well the cooling system will fair in 90 degree weather, but at least it's encouraging news for a change. | ||
| C4bird |
I sure hope this is the case for me. Still have less than a 1000 miles, so maybe it will get better. I have noticed on the last 2 rides, the coolant temp hasn't gotten above 180, even while sitting in traffic (around 50 degree ambient). After the charge over night, voltage at 12.83, took off for a 50 miles ride. Got back, voltage is at 12.67. Purposely ran the rpm a little higher to see if that would help, doesn't appear to have made a difference (every time I have checked, been a .15 voltage drop from pre to post ride). Not sure if I should wait it out to see if someone gets some good news or let the dealer play with it for awhile. I'd rather not so long as I keep keep riding it  | ||
| Baggermike |
do not take the bike to your dealer yet, BMC is suppose to get back to me and it has been a week, I was told to bring the bike in and was told it was good when I am having the same problems as the rest of you guys so I am calling Monday and hopefully get some answers, if not I have more test I can do, and will also be calling BRP-ROTAX, they are the ones who designed the motor and charging system, also the accessory jack will shut off it the battery gets to low so someone knew that the charging system is weak, and it will shut off the accessories when the battery runs low, I have a light hooked up to mine to see if this happens plus a voltage meter and if I had the money Kisan sells a volt and amp meter that goes between the neg post of the battery and frame and give running info as to amps and volts plus an ice alert feature, it was designed for motorcycles and for 180 you can get it with a smart charger which is what I want but will not be able to afford it to May along with a new battery, so lets everyone wait till next weekend to see if the BMC will figure out the problem and get back to use. Mike | ||
| Slypiranna |
I was just told that the charging system as designed is insufficient below 7k with full loads...as if you didn't know that already. I was also told that Beull is developing the 09 model with a redesigned charging system that corrects all these listed issues and will be offered as a kit fix/no recall/for 08 owners. No word of price, warranty or if free or anything related as of yet but it is in the works. This was told to me by a service tech that just came back from the famous seminar on the 1125r. ...along with a service manual that I should be beat with a broken drive belt for prematurely running my mouth about. "the charging system as designed is insufficient below 7k with full loads"  That is misinformation. Please do not post such second hand rumors as fact unless you are willing to back them up with the name and contact information of your source. Apparently either some "technicians" are unable to accurately convey the precise meaning of what they are supposed to be learning, and/or some of their customers are unable to correctly interpret what their technicians are telling them. Either way, we end up with some very bad misinformation. So let's all please be much more careful and precise and thorough before posting such "factual" information. Blake (Message edited by Blake on March 24, 2008) | ||
| Spectrum |
...along with a service manual that I should be beat with a broken drive belt for prematurely running my mouth about.  | ||
| Slypiranna |
...yes, I deserve that one... ya never know though, those peak calls concerning just that to customer service the other day might just get em off their tails?...I was one of em! | ||
| Baggermike |
Slypiranna I sent you a pm and want your advice. Mike | ||
| Reepicheep |
If thats true, then I will officially pronounce the design flawed. Unless "full loads" is something like 200watts over what the stock bike would draw (high beams and factory heated grips). If thats the case (which I find incredibly unlikely), both badweb and Buell needs to get to work designing a switching voltage regulator. | ||
| Court |
>>>>do not take the bike to your dealer yet, That is INACCURATE information. Call BUELL CUSTOMER SERVICE and arrange to have the problem looked at by your authorized Buell dealer. One of the problems with the internet is that folks tend to believe what they read and come to rely on instead of the proper channels. Before long you'll be sucked into believing that BRP-Rotax had something to do with the design of the charging system, that Buell rushed the design to market, that they used some sub-standard batter and that 3 vapor aliens from Buell were someplace in Florida with a secret elixir fix that is being kept in a compartment with the submarine missile launch codes. There are over 1,000 1125R's floating about that have exhibited zero electrical problems. CALL BUELL CUSTOMER SERVICE. Have the information they need ready and be prepared with facts not your opinions of what your 1964 Hodaka Super Rat did under similar conditions. They can help resolve your problems. They are not a chat service and under no conditions will they take your theory of what you think the problem is, commission a research study and call you with the results. It's a motorcycle. If it stops working, get it fixed. CALL BUELL CUSTOMER SERVICE | ||
| Jpfive |
My bike carries full loads at lower rpm's. The Buell tech told me the system was designed to do this at any rpm over 2200. Since having my stator replaced, I see 14V in diagnostic mode, at idle, with high beams and heated grips turned on. Tried the same thing after fueling, while hot, and saw 12.5V at idle, and 13V when revved to 2000. The charging system is up to the job folks. If yours is giving problems, take it to the dealer. Jack | ||
| Doerman |
I thought the programming was something like this: DEF(Problem = SEVERE, MINOR, NON-REPEATABLE) IF((Problem = SEVERE),StopRiding <and> CallDealer)) IF((Problem = MINOR), RideToDealer <and> Discuss) IF(DealerDiscuss .NE. Results) THEN(CallBuellCS) IF((DealerDiscuss .NE. Results)<and> CallBuellCS .NE. Results) THEN Call(endlessloop(1125RBadWeB-Discuss)) IF(TIME=7DAYS in Endlessloop) Hit esc Key and CNTL/Alt/Del to Stop THEN (FIND_alt_Dealer) OR (USE-ORIG-Dealer) AND (Invoke Sub(Polite-Approach)) AND (BuellCS) Does that sound about right?  | ||
| Jpfive |
The endless loop is certainly true... | ||
| Court |
That's about it . . . I only read Fortran but get the drift. Common sense . . . . should be. | ||
| Ccryder |
For... what???? When I first learned Fortran we used "JCL" cards and such. WHAT A PIA!!!! Couldn't tell if it was the card punching machine (anybody hear about hanging chaff) or the nut behind the keyboard punching the keys. Time4 a reality check, 1125 where are you???? Oh yeah, time2Ride her. Neil S. | ||
| Slypiranna |
With all due respect...if it is in fact, INACCURATE INFORMATION SIR COURT...then the dealer/certified tech that I am to have service work done in a week must NOT BE qualified? Or is it just bs customer relation tactics that are being thrown to the general public (until all known problems are diagnoised and corrected)? There simply is NO reason to try and sidestep this and other issues that are obvious problems. There is also no reason to be told that you have to ride this bike above 4k rpm to keep out of the low speed mapping issues. Try going through a 15mph school speed zone at 4k... If tail pipe emissions are the reason for the lean mapping then they SHOULD HAVE HAD A CAT IN THE EXHAUST...LIKE ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE ON THIS PLANET! I was also TOLD BY THIS TECH that the lower current below 7K also contributes to the low engine speed fuel injection mapping. Again, not my words but that of what seems to be a knowledgable buell certified 1125r tech...just back from the training seminar in Wisconsin. What I would give to be able to attend that class. This WAS advertised as a street bike. If what I'm "hearing" here is in fact the way we all go about this machine then I hope that illusive service manual is ready to purchase soon and I'll forgo the warranty deal and go back to FIXING this new bike myself...at least I will only have my self to blame/complain in the mirror to...in the end. The owners of this 08 model might just become the most experienced and qualified wrenches by the end of the year! p.s...I promise not to post anymore of what I learn so as not to rock this "boat" more than I already have. Peace out. | ||
| Nickcaro |
" 3 vapor aliens from Buell were someplace in Florida with a secret elixir fix that is being kept in a compartment with the submarine missile launch codes." I knew it!!!! That story of only 2 vapor aliens was a hoax!  | ||
| Brad1445 |
Slypiranna I personally do not believe in the peer pressure editing method. AS a future owner of the next version of this bike I want to learn everything I can. We can keep calling short falls 'features' or 'personality' but I prefer the open honest method of communication. Please let us know what you find out. | ||
| Reepicheep |
We have more then one person here claiming that they have an 1125r, fired it up with heated grips and bright lights, and found it putting out 14v at 2200 RPM. We have about 992 people *not* posting here because they just hop on their 1125r and ride it every day and have no problems. We have at least 2 people here that had bad voltage regulators. We have at least 2 other people here that are having problems that are not yet clear, one of which appears to be completely fixed, but not explained sufficiently (I can't tell, its really confusing to follow). The conclusion that the bike was designed to only carry a full load at 7200 RPM is slightly harder to believe then the vapor aliens bit. I do believe there are possible charging issues ON SOME BROKEN 1125r's though. If I had one, and Buell and my dealer were not working hard to fix it (on their terms if its with their money, on my terms if its with my money), I would be finding another dealer. If a dealer tech told me the stock bike with stock accessories (which would include the heated grips) will only charge the battery when revved above 7200 RPM, I would politely ask him to verify that with the factory, preferably getting something with a name of a person that will stand behind the statement. If they don't come back with a name or a correction, I would quickly find another tech or another dealer. | ||
| Baggermike |
Ok you say call BMC and I did. A BMC tech called me back and we had a nice talk. He set it up for me to bring the bike into a dealership so they can test my bike to get answers and facts to my questions. I dropped the bike off March 11th. March 14th they finished and and gave BMC the info on the test. I picked up my bike Monday the 17th and asked what did they find out and said it is working like it should and they gave the info to BMC. I have waited all week for a call from BMC to give me facts to my questions that I promised that I would get. I would think a week would be plenty of time to call me back with the facts. Can anyone tell me that it should take longer than a week for BMC to call me back. Or that I should have been called by now. I made a promise and was given a promise. I have waited for this call all week and have not received it. NOW did BMC screw me or is it just taken longer to figure out the facts. I know my battery is not as good as the one I took out of my nephews bike, same size and same battery as mine but have seen his is better. I did have a bad voltage regulator and was replaced back in early January. I also know my bike was charging up to 14.5 volts and now only 13.9 and as I increase the rpms the voltage drops. I made another ground wire to help. when I go on long rides the charging system goes down and will be going on a long ride next week and will see what happens. I know the system is not working like it should, maybe I just need a new battery or maybe more. I just do not understand why BMC themselves, not my dealership, would promise me facts and answers to my questions, would arrange for me to bring my bike in to a dealership to give me facts and answers to my questions and then leave me hanging. Any suggestions? Mike | ||
| Jpfive |
I'm on vacation, so I've got a little more time for these posts... <sigh> once again, with a little bit of enhancement... I took my bike in to be a test mule to help diagnose a rideabililty problem on another owner's bike. While I was in I asked if they could check my bike for a current draw, as it had - once - drained the battery dead over a four-day period. The Buell techs (just two, Cody and Jason - all the way from Troy) checked for battery draws with everything turned off. Finding none, they went to the stator. When analyzing the stator, they found some random grounding indications when the bike was running, which they had no answer for. In addition, the charging voltage, when warm, was less than nominal. After replacing the stator, the random grounding indications were gone, and the warm charging voltage was back up above 13V. If the old stator was grounding, say at one point in its rotation, then that could have accounted for my one-time drain, due to the stator stopping in that position when the bike was shut down (this is speculation on my part, BTW). Since the stator change, my bike has not drawn down over several days of not riding, and I have taken voltage readings, at the Buell techs' request - across the battery terminals, and in diagnostic mode, and communicated these reading to them via phone and email. My bike is working fine now. I attribute this to the fact that I called this to the attention to the dealer, and that Buell cared enough to send techs down to work the problem. I believe, from what passed in one conversation, that Buell will, in time, make a higher output stator available to those who have need of it. In the meantime, the OEM stator is equal to normal street bike needs. I know that I will not be opting for one of greater capacity, but others probably will. I am completely satisfied, and delighted, with my bike. To the extent that I've contributed to some of the 'problem' mythology now attributed to this wonderful machine, I am sorry. It was not my intent - but things have a way of getting legs on forums that defy prediction. The only problem that I have with my bike is that I don't get enough opportunity to ride it. Jack |
