| Author | Message | ||
     Sandmacker |
My bike has broken down again . Ridden it twice and both times it will not restart . I have owned the bike less than a month.Had a new battery and now they seem to think the stator has gone. This seems to be a major problem with the 1125's from what I'm seeing to the point of people getting modified stators , and fearing to ride any great distance for fear of breaking down. Just reading the forums people. It seems that the heat and low revs(under 5000) are causing the problem If I was to put an additional oil radiator on to increase the amount of oil and to aid cooling it in the hope of it keeping the engine heat down so not to cook the stator, would there be any repercussions that could come from it?? Like wise , I have heard of an instrument cluster for about $250 AUS that runs of the disc, which would decrease the load on the stator /battery . I have also thought of adding a small radiator to help cool the motor. The over all idea is to obviously cool the motor and to not over load the electrics under 5000 revs ,which ,from reports is what's causing the stator issue . I've heard many other Buell 1125 owners suffer the same problem .To be the first owner of a bike with less than 5000Kms on the clock and have it fail every time you take it for a ride is totally unacceptable. My greatest concern is that there seems to be no definate solution to this issue, which inevitably means it would have to go . That would be a shame as it is a great ride. If someone can help me in my inquiries as to what to expect and how to address it,it would be appreciative Thank you | ||
| Jules |
IF it is the stator just get it rewound with a higher grade insulation... Althought it's too early to be 100% certain that this is THE cure it seems reasonable. I'm not aware of anyone with a custom rewing experiencing a failure. Rewind the stator/replace the VR with a better quality (either a MOSFET or a switching one..dependant on your budget) and then you SHOULD be good to go. That's a lot cheaper than the solutions you're already considering. What's the IC that runs off the disc (and what disc does t run off?). Decreasing the load is actually a bad idea for the VR, that gives even more stator output for it to shunt to earth and that'll kill the VR more quickly. Does your bike have the harness "upgrade"? I assume you have an 09 model (your profile doesn't say)? Anyone "fearing to ride long distances" really isn't thinking things through... Get the stator rewound and the VR swapped (not essential). It's not "overloaded electrics" nor is to 5000 RPM level correct.. I'm afraid your research is flawed... | ||
| Xnoahx |
As for heat management, you may want to look into getting the Erik Buell Racing race ECM. It is supposed to make the bike run better and a little cooler. It is on my list of things to get | ||
| Tbowdre |
I think jules is correct at this point. only time will tell +1 Xnoahx | ||
| Sandmacker |
Thank you for your imput fellas .As soon as the warranty runs out I will make those changes . So; 1/ replace the ecu with a Erik Buell Racing one = runs cooler 2/ rewind stator with higher grade insulation 3/ Replace voltage regulator with a higher quality item My bike is the 08 1125R ,and according to the dealership , all the recalls have been done. (cough)??????? I'd say that the "harness" upgrade has not been done . I'm uncertain as to what the harness is , as I openly confess that I'm not that mechanically minded , especially in the electrical dept. As for the IC , a mate told me of it .According to him it runs off the front disc ,and is the size of a cigarette packet. He claimed he seen one on the net on a Buell. I'll get the site from him . To inform you ,I do think the Buell is a wonderful bike to ride . I thought very long and hard as to what I wanted in a bike and the 1125 ticked the boxes. I was also aware that it was probable to expect some issues, and considering the price, I believe it was worth a shot, because there is nothing on the market that does it like the 1125. The closest being probably a Bimota which asks for a lot more cash. But to purchase a near new bike and have to break down on EVERY occasion is asking a hell of alot of patience from me. I heard they won't tour on them because they need to be put on a trickle charger every time it's parked up . The information I gleaned were from forums where owners were speaking up about the issues they had with the stator. Maybe I've misinterpreted ,but one thing is for certain , a heck of alot of Buell 1125 owners run into stator problems very early into the bikes life. And to be sure , there are very few bikes that don't have some indiscression of some sort, some of which we can tolerate. I do like the way the bike rides , and I'd like to think that what ever glitches they have can be over come. I wouldn't of bought it ,despite others warning me not to . I will attend to these things as soon as the warranty expires. The Buell would have to be one of the best rides in the motorcycling industry,from my humble average Joe's perspective. I'm hoping that it can be one of the best bikes from a reliability perspective also. Surely I'm not asking for too much? | ||
| Mhpalin |
the 08s don,t have the stator problem Mike | ||
| Tsnake |
ooops! a 08 finally! so maybe its something else | ||
| Xnoahx |
Seeing that it is an 08, when you say the bike will not start do you mean it cranks but doesnt fire or that the battery is too low to crank the bike? | ||
| Mhpalin |
This may sound silly happened to me check to see if your battery cables are tight Mike | ||
| Sparky |
2 non-starts from 2 rides is definitely not even close to the average population of 1125 owners. Many '09 owners clock thousands of miles (kms) before having some kind of charging system problem; '08 owners rarely, if at all, report similar issues. But, didn't the 08s have a problem with the instrument cluster (IC) that would somehow cause the battery to discharge under certain conditions? Maybe this is your problem and, if so, it has nothing to do with the stator or voltage regulator. Rejoice, the fix for an '08 IC discharging the battery can be done by your dealer with a particular flash of the ECM. Search the forum for details. | ||
| Daggar |
The fix for the cluster drain is not a flash, but a replacement cluster. | ||
| Dktechguy112 |
The 08's DO NOT have the stator problem that 09/10's have, the reason is the 08s have lower output stator. I'm not saying your stator is fine, I'm just saying all the stuff you are reading about on here is from 09 owners with higher output stators. The only problem i know of on the 08's, is some early 08's have a problem with residual draw on the battery from the ic, this is fixed by upgrading the ic to an 09 ic, cost = $250. Don't worry, the 08 does not have stator issues, just get a new IC, and you are good to go. I would talk to your dealer about getting a new ic for free, because this is known issue on the 08's. but either way, enjoy your new bike. | ||
| Sparky |
I stand corrected re IC issue: brain fart.  Thanks. | ||
| S21125r |
Sand, I believe the battery drain by the IC was reference in Tech Tip 396 from Nov 2008 - have your dealer search for TT396. | ||
| S21125r |
Also invest in a battery tender if you haven't already. My 08 will take several weeks to self discharge, but I keep it on a tender to help that little battery all I can. When I bought my bike new (40-50 demo miles) it already had the tender pig tail wired to it, so I figured it was probably a worth while addition. | ||
| Sandmacker |
The dealer last time said that it was charging , and this time said it may be intermittent and therefore the problem wasn't registered the first time. Sorry ,I didn't know there was a difference in the 08/09/10 models apart from the paint work and maybe the gear indicator on the IC. I will purchase a battery tender immediately . When I go to start the motor ,it makes a repeated tacking sound.Definately sounds electrical. The motor does not turn over.I have mentioned the IC issue with the dealer ,but he did not indicate that he will replace it. Most of my riding btw is straight out to the country hills. I do not commute with it. That's 10kms and I'm there  generally 200 > 500kms per week end pending the weather I'll stop 2 to 6 times on average in a day . Park up , come out 1 or 2 days later to try and turn it over to make sure the battery doesn't drain,.... won't start. I once got it jump started , took it for a spirited 100 kay ride to try and get the battery charged up .Turned it off and tried to restart,.......nothing but the tack tack tack sound . Done about 1000k's since I got it (4300kms) and it has spent more time in the shop than on the road. | ||
| Jules |
As it's an 08 it's UNLIKELY to be the stator (I think yours would be the first 08 to have that issue if it does). It DOES sound like the parasytic draw issue with early 08 ICs.... at least the part about not starting after a couple of days sat in the garage. The second part though where it doesn't start after a 100k ride is a bit more worrying as that indicates the battery isn't actually charging.. I'd be inclined to jury-rig a voltage meter directly to the battery and take a ride whilst monitoring the battery voltage, that'll give you a good indication of what's what.. Then I'd have a quick look at the draw from the battery with everything turned off - just to see if something is drainingt ha battery... I did read previously that if you shut down the engine using the kill switch rather than the key that this would shut down the circuit causing the issue - I don't know how accurate that is but the OP was adamant it worked.. | ||
| Sprintst |
. (Message edited by sprintst on May 01, 2011) | ||
| Xnoahx |
Kill switch should always be off when the bike isnt running. It can cause drain issues |
