Battery or stator?

[B_Ott]

Recently my bike started not starting without a jump or a push start. The bike has died one time while riding since the problem, well actually while at idle. Otherwise it consistantly runs fine its just when I turn it off it loses charge within 10 seconds and I can no longer restart it without push starting or jumping it. So my question is, if a stator goes bad can the bike be driven or would it just instantly die? I am also wondering if autozone or any other car parts store has a volt meter that they let you borrow?

[B_Ott]

Also I may be wrong about the stator, but I believe it works as an alternator would for a car, am I correct?

[XJ600s]

do you have a trickle charger? if not you might want to get one or borrow one, get the battery fully charged and see if it still acts up. also, check all grounds and battery leads, you could just have a short.

after you get the battery fully charged, take a volt meter across the battery with the engine running. when you rev the engine, the battery voltage should rise to 13+ volts. if it doesn't then it's either your stator or voltage regulator.

if the battery does not get above 12.5v after fully charged, then your battery is dead and it's time for a new one.

[McVaaahhh]

My guess would be battery. If the stator is completely toast the electronics will kill the battery and it would die while riding.

You could always take it to an auto parts store and have them test the battery. (Call first and make sure they can do it on that battery)

[2009RavenR1]

Same test as a car... Get it started... take off the negitive battery cable.. if it dies its the strator

[Zach929rr]

Along with testing voltage across the batt while running, also do so with the bike off to check for parasitic draw.

[longrider]

Same test as a car... Get it started... take off the negitive battery cable.. if it dies its the strator

NOT a good idea on a bike. You can potentially damage the electronics on a bike, plus the stator doesn't put out enough at idle to keep things running

[XJ600s]

I was having the same thing happen to me when I first got my bike, turns out the battery was bad but another thing is that I was running at a lower RPM range than I should have been and all rides were short rides. So the stator wasn't able to put enough juice back into the battery from what I drew out of it getting it started. So if you ride at low RPM's (to save gas) and short rides, you may want to start taking the long way to wherever you go.

After all, its a motorcycle, you never go straight to your destination, you take as many side roads as possible! :D

Good luck, charging issues are never fun to diagnose and rectify.

[The_Jackel]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2009RavenR1 http://www.cosportbikeclub.org/forums/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.cosportbikeclub.org/forums/showthread.php?p=441026#post441026)
Same test as a car... Get it started... take off the negitive battery cable.. if it dies its the strator

NOT a good idea on a bike. You can potentially damage the electronics on a bike, plus the stator doesn't put out enough at idle to keep things running
http://www.cosportbikeclub.org/forums/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif http://www.cosportbikeclub.org/forums/images/buttons/report.gif (http://www.cosportbikeclub.org/forums/report.php?p=441094)

No offense to anyone but not a good idea on anything, you are simply asking for something to get damaged.

[McVaaahhh]

If you have a multi-meter there is a way to test the output from your stator. I can't remember how it's done, but I had to do it on my old ZX7 a while back and it was fairly easy.

BTW, most stators don't charge unless you're up in the 5k+ rpm range.

[Spiderman]

Not sure if your bike has one (I'm assuming it might), but I had a similar problem on my 99 R6, and it turned out to be a bad voltage rectifier. Worth looking into at least.

To test it with a multi-meter, just hook it up to the battery, if it's less than 12 volts when you're revving it, the problem is with the charging system. If it's more than 12, then the problem is the battery. Oh, and Brian, you don't have to be up that high in the RPM range, 2K should be sufficient, I do 3K just to be safe.

[TT5.0]

Follow this guide exactly. It will tell you exactly what is wrong through a series of systematic tests with a multi-meter. Usually these problems end up being either the battery, or the regulator-rectifier.

http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/pdf/fault-finding-diagram.pdf

On a side note, the whole disconnecting the battery thing while the car is running is a very bad idea. That hasn't been a valid method of testing an alternator on a car for a long long time. You could pull it off on old cars in the 70's which had a carburator and simple electronics. Simply testing voltage while the car is running is a much easier, safer method to test.

[B_Ott]

Oddly enough I rode the bike for about an hour and a half straight on the highway (fort collins to aurora) and now the bike has had no trouble starting. I dont know if it just needed a long trip to stay charged but I have been checking to see if it would start every morning and it hasnt had a problem. Maybe I will get lucky and everything will be back to normal. but thanks for all the help, if the problem comes back I will have to run the tests.

[XJ600s]

If you are starting it every morning to see if it will start and not actually ride it, thats your problem. Everytime you start the bike, you pull a large current out of the battery. Do it enough times, and your bike won't start.

Or, if you start your bike you should let it idle long enough to warm the bike up completely, which should allow enough time to recharge the battery. My rule of charging is that I won't start the bike unless I have the bike on the battery tender (trickle charger) or if I plan to ride the bike in the next day or two to charge up the battery.

[Spiderman]

... you should let it idle long enough to warm the bike up completely, which should allow enough time to recharge the battery.
:no: RPMs at idle are not enough to charge the battery! I don't remember the exact number, but you need to be revving it over 2000 RPM in order to charge the battery. 2500-3000 RPM should be good.

[XJ600s]

Technically true, but it does vary between bikes, and letting it idle is much better than starting it to see if it will start and then shutting it off. A few minutes of revving the engine at different RPM's will charge the battery.

[bennice]

I had a '99 ZX6R that had similar problems a few years back. Check the connector between the stator and wiring harness after the bike's been running for a few minutes to see if its hot to the touch.

With mine, I didn't notice till it was too late. The first symptoms were like you described, and I replaced the battery. It was fine for a few rides and then the connector melted completely during a long ride of about 100 miles...come to think of it, it was Memorial Day weekend. Thankfully I had roadside assistance coverage and made it to where I actually could get cell phone reception to get a tow. The problem seemed to go away after a new stator and voltage regulator/rectifier, but I sold the bike a few weeks later so I don't know how well it held up.

[McVaaahhh]

<snip> Oh, and Brian, you don't have to be up that high in the RPM range, 2K should be sufficient, I do 3K just to be safe.

Different for every bike I suppose. :dunno:

I had the same problem on my zx7 and the shop manual said to hook up the multi-meter and run the revs up to 5k and it was supposed to be at 13v.