| Author | Message | ||
     Tillerman |
Hi all, my Thunderbolt cut out while out riding after an hour. There was no power, no dash lights, nothing. I called out the AA who put a starter pack on it, it fired up, but rev counter was having a turn and AA man said its showing only six volts. I had to have it brought back on a truck and this morn I put a meter on the battery and it was showing 10V. The bike is completely dead Can anyone help? | ||
| Conv90 |
Rectifier regulator or/and the rotor is not charging back the battery. To return home it's needed to charge full the battery until it dies again (after 50- or 100 miles more or less). | ||
| Bd3 |
Agreed that it sounds like a battery charging issue. I had the same issue a few years ago. Check for a shorted wire following the check list in the manual. My short was in the wiring running from the rectifier/regualator along the bottom of the engine near the oil pump. | ||
| Rjn |
i've had the same issue with my M2 as Bd3. check wiring connections first and check voltage output from the rectifier. start with the simple options first and work your way up. | ||
| Tillerman |
Update I put battery on an overnight charge. Next day it showed 11V so scrapped it and bought another. Went out for a ride and it did the same thing. Twice. It cut out, no power, nothing. After a while power returned but took ages to start. Rectifier/regulator seems to be working OK. I strapped on a multi meter and went for a ride. Meter showed 14 and half volts so power going into battery. # So, first time it happened, the battery showed 6V when AA man jumped it. Battery would not charge on overnight charger. # New battery is charging when bike is running. Charge did not drop when it cut out second time or third. It seems to happen when bike has been ridden for half hour. Any suggestions please? | ||
| Blks1l |
What year is it, fuel injected? I can't quite remember the issue I was having on my 2000 S3, but I ended up getting rid of the FI, I had bought the VDSTS and couldn't ever identify the issue. Once it was carbed I never had any issues. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
I can't help you with the electrical issues because all of that stuff is a bit over my head, but after I had some battery trouble in the past I did spend $5-10 on a cheap little volt meter that you just wire in and mounted it next to my dash so now I always know how my battery is doing. If it ever quits charging for some reason I'd hopefully notice before the voltage dropped too much. Worth the few dollars and the little bit of time it took to install just to keep an eye on it. | ||
| Bd3 |
...ditto on the recommendation to add a volt meter to keep track on your charging system in real time. | ||
| Akbuell |
First, the disclaimer: All of my tuber experience is with fuel injected X-1's In my experience, when troubleshooting things like this, only change one thing at a time. Do a complete test, then change something else. It took me a long time to figure out that if I changed 4 things at once, and the problem went away, I didn't know what the problem was. First thing I would do would be to bypass the ignition switch. Ride for an hour and see if the problem repeats. I have had ign switch issues- the calender can be as big an enemy as abuse or neglect. Get some new relays, and replace them and test ride one at a time. Check the ground between the regulator and the frame, just for fun. Hope this helps, Dave | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Probably things heating up because of bad connection! Could be the inside of ignition switch or melting connector from vr or stator! | ||
| Bd3 |
Another possibility that I also had... Check the main circuit breaker. One of the wire-connector-posts on mine worked loose making intermittent contact. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Pull your clutch cover and take a whiff. If it stinks to high heaven, your stator shit the bed. It may have one phase working (I think tubers are 3 phase like the XBs), which is why you show some charging but it cuts out when hot. There is a stator test you can (and should) perform. It checks for AC volts, because that's what stator output is - the regulator changes AC to DC. | ||
| Buellbum |
the first thing I'd do is take the battery to walmart and have it load tested. It could be as simple as and internal short in the battery. with the bike running put a volt meter across the battery terminals. is it pushing about 14v? then no problem with the charging system, it's your battery. | ||
| Oldog |
I think Dave put it best 1 thing at a time. check the key switch first, Your description sounds like its charging fine. the key switch will produce the symptoms you are describing, also when running try giggling the key gently the ks dying will cut in and out, check wiring condition at the switch. mine did that when the switch died |
