| Author | Message | ||
     Germanlion |
Hello everyone, I have been reading through all cases here but have to admit that neither I am a technician, nor is English my native tongue which makes it really hard to understand the abbreviations and technical phrases. Anyway, I was wondering if my Buell was charging correctly. As I already had to give it to my dealer once due to an empty battery, I am unsure whether the voltage readings are OK now or not (since I have read various "acceptable" voltage outputs). When I am driving the bike, the voltage output says something between 13.8 and 14.5V if I am not mistaken. So here comes the problematic bit: when I am waiting in front of a red traffic light, the voltage drops slowly and might as well say anything between 12 and 12.5V eventually. Depending on how long I am waiting. It does not drop below 12V like before the battery replacement(11.6-11.8V were the readings). The battery symbol does not appear (which it did before the battery was replaced), neither does any other symbol or display message. Hope you guys have a hunch so that I can ask my dealer to replace these parts before my warranty is void. | ||
| Sprintst |
#1 - What year is the bike? #2 - Does it have the Harley add-on wiring relay harness fix? (see video below) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBYEYGJfyBw #3 - Do you have any starting issues? (slow to turn over) #4 - does the voltage drop vary based on engine temperature? (does it drop when hot, and not when colder) (Message edited by sprintst on February 01, 2015) | ||
| Germanlion |
1) 2010 2) I would not think so. However, what does it do exactly? He said 14V plus at idle?? Why would this work and is not the standard solution? 3) No I havent. As I wrote, I just got a new battery and maybe starting issues will show later after some time. 4) Will check in a week as soon as I am on the bike again. What would these two different situations tell me? Thx a lot! | ||
| Sprintst |
1) 2010 can have the stator issue, 2008's don't 2) I'm not sure, but I would think the 2010 would have come with the harness fix installed. Watch the video and check under the seat, it's easy to find the add-on harness 4) The harness is designed to reduce voltage when the bike is hot, thereby relieving stress from the system. That would explain the voltage drop. The problem of course is that under 13v and you aren't charging the battery. Get in the low 12's and you are discharging. It's an innovative approach, but not a good solution The real fix seems to be the EBR modified rotor and remove the harness I did my 2009 when I was having the bike trying to die while in stop and go traffic. My rotor was partially burned, but still usable. Since I did the EBR modified rotor swap and removed the harness, it's been trouble free (Message edited by sprintst on February 01, 2015) | ||
| Germanlion |
2) Ok will do  . Right now it is around 0 degrees here and my garage isnt close so I will have to be patient until the weather changes. EBR = Eric Buell Racing rotor I guess? Ok will do some reading and get informed on that. So your bike died in stop and go? Mine didnt, just didnt start after I stalled it... SO I still need to find out whether the battery is being charged or not will make a video as soon as I am on it. cheers... | ||
| Germanlion |
Ok guys. I had the dealer have a look at the voltage and so on as it fell below 12V according to the dashboard. My dealer tells me everything is fine. They checked the stator / rotor / maybe voltage regulator... I dont know. According to them it produces around 13.5 to 14V at 4000rpm. Consequently, the battery should get enough juice to charge. I am sceptical as he said when all electrical loads are on (lights and fans when the machine is warm), the voltage still drops below 12V after some time and the battery light still goes on. Has anyone got an explanation for the battery light? I think I will have to bring the bike to another mechanic of my trust just to make sure... btw: The battery is new (replaced by dealer). It is a motobatt, maybe not the best one, but it should do its job I guess. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
I have an '08 and the voltage drops to 12.0 or lower during extended periods of idling (with the fans on, obviously, since they pretty much never shut off once the coolant temp has gotten high enough for them to come on). It has drained the battery enough that the bike wouldn't start afterward. (This was while stuck in traffic a couple of years ago at MotoGP in Indianapolis--the traffic was going into the parking area, so I never got to run the bike at higher RPM to charge the battery. I ended up having to do a push start and pop the clutch.) The '08s, with the weaker charging system, are apparently prone to not putting out enough current to charge the battery under idle conditions with the fan running. Based on your voltage dropping during idle, I'd guess that your bike has the harness installed which cuts the stator down to 2 legs under certain conditions, to reduce stator heat. If you have the harness removed, that'll probably alleviate your low voltage at idle, but the extra heat will likely cause your stator to burn up sooner than usual. Of course, it seems like the harness wasn't a permanent fix--some bikes that had the harness installed still cooked their stators. So, short version: Either ride around the low voltage and budget for a stator replacement in the future, or have the harness removed and budget for a stator replacement in the near future. | ||
| Germanlion |
As I have the 2010, I should finally take off the seat and check for the harness... this will be top priority when I take it to another dealer soon... | ||
| Dannybuell |
get this! http://americansportbike.com/newdir/Item/A16501 | ||
| Germanlion |
I get the hint ... removing the seat is No.1 with a Buell, huh? | ||
| Germanlion |
Hey guys, just thought I should report on the latest events. So a few weeks ago my buell did not start (again). Battery empty. After long discussions with my dealer he picked up the bike and brought it to Harley. Apparently, the bike is fine due to the following reasons: 1) New Battery was to small / weak 2) Stator / Rotor work fine... My bike has the harness fix... which reduced voltage output so drastically, that when driven a few kilometers, it decreased the output to 12.5 or lower... thus battery was discharging constantly. 3) harness fix was removed. Output now is everything above 13.4V even in traffic jams when the bike unfortunately is turning quite warm. When I am between 3 and 4000rpm it is somwhere bewteen 13.8 and 14.1V. 4) The ECM errors where deleted... up to now no fuel sensor error. 5) Looks like I got an ECM update as well... there is no cogging of the engine when lower than 3000rpm. Throttle reacts much softer when clutching, changing gears and the engine seems to have more torque especially in lower rpm. | ||
| Stimbrell |
Unfortunately with the harness fix removed the next problem will be the stator overheating and failing, that is why the harness was fitted to these bikes, it is almost guaranteed that your stator will now fail. | ||
| Germanlion |
Ok, I already got the rotor upgrade by twinmotorcycles... so my rotor is all good? Correct me if I am wrong, but repairing / replacing the stator is relatively cheap and easy in comparison to the rotor, isnt it? So if my stator burns out, I would just have to replace it with one: http://twinmotorcycles.nl/webshop/artikel.asp?guid=YXHFSC&aid=5768&cid=5152&s=&a=&aname=Buell_1125_models_2009-2010_replacement_stator COuld I replace it in advance to avoid the problem? (Message edited by GermanLion on May 15, 2015) | ||
| Squish |
If you have the rotor upgrade (with oil-jet hole modification), and you have installed the modified rotor from twinmotorcycles, then you should be able to leave the harness fix removed and keep the higher charging voltages - the stator should be safe with modified rotor. (I am not the expert with the systems, though.) | ||
| Stimbrell |
I did not realise you had the Twinmotorcycles rotor upgrade, I have that too and removed the harness from my 09, you should be good to go now. | ||
| Germanlion |
Sounds good. thx! As far as I know I have the rotor upgrade (oil jet it is!) but only the not the rotor itself. The part only cost like 230euros... It is not the modified rotor itself (900euros??). Ok then I am still missing an essential part... the modified stator. But as I said... a stator is not an issue to replace and buy. From what you guys wrote I deduce my rotor is still threatened. | ||
| Sprintst |
If your rotor has the oil jet, and you've removed the HD relay harness, as long as your system is working I won't worry about the stator My stator was partially heat damaged when i did the EBR rotor, and I've put 8k on since then with zero issues | ||
| Germanlion |
OK  great... maybe I am keeping the beast in spite of all the problems  No they checked the stator... was not burned in any way. no damage at least not visible. |
