jihem Posted August 4, 2005 Posted August 4, 2005 Hi all, i currently have to commute on my bike, we're talking 30 kms all together, a mixture of urban streets, large roads, lights, etc... Obviously i can't really rev the bike too much and i cannot really stretch the legs of my bike (but stilll i arrive at work with a big grin and the same when i go back home, even if they asked me to stop park in the underground lot as the bike was starting the alarms of the high salaries' cars) except the occasionnal fast run on an empty boulevard. i was wondering about battery charge in quite short town uses like that as i recently discover my indicators don't seem to function properly under 3000 rpms now, but do catch up if i just had a quick, faster burst on the bike. Can the battery still be fine to light up the engine but be too low to drive the indicators at idle ? Can the battery being, maybe, too low in charge, also induce the engine to hiccup ? thanx :-)
Guest Nogbad Posted August 4, 2005 Posted August 4, 2005 Hi all,i currently have to commute on my bike, we're talking 30 kms all together, a mixture of urban streets, large roads, lights, etc... Obviously i can't really rev the bike too much and i cannot really stretch the legs of my bike (but stilll i arrive at work with a big grin and the same when i go back home, even if they asked me to stop park in the underground lot as the bike was starting the alarms of the high salaries' cars) except the occasionnal fast run on an empty boulevard. i was wondering about battery charge in quite short town uses like that as i recently discover my indicators don't seem to function properly under 3000 rpms now, but do catch up if i just had a quick, faster burst on the bike. Can the battery still be fine to light up the engine but be too low to drive the indicators at idle ? Can the battery being, maybe, too low in charge, also induce the engine to hiccup ? thanx :-) 57304[/snapback] If you have a suitable charger, and believe me a car charger is NOT the right thing to use to charge the battery in the V11, charge the battery overnight and see if the problem disappears. I think you may be right. The slow indicator is a bit of a giveaway. If you ride with the lights on, the alternator is borderline below 3000 rpm so I understand.
txrider Posted August 4, 2005 Posted August 4, 2005 Get an inexpensive digital multimeter like RadioShack sells and check the battery at the end of the day. Should show 13.0 volts immediately after a ride. If less, then not enough engine revs/run time for alternator to recharge the battery. Love the part about execs car alarms being set off...
Guest anawrocki Posted August 4, 2005 Posted August 4, 2005 I can atest that a low charge on many other vehicals will cause a weak spark and poor drivability and I see now reason why our bikes would be any different.
jihem Posted August 5, 2005 Author Posted August 5, 2005 Love the part about execs car alarms being set off... 57312[/snapback] yes, those Lexus alarms are so damn sensitive ! If one citizen cannot fire its Tubi race cans in an underground parking without having three LS 300, a Voyager, a Renault Espace, a couple of Merco and the boss's 911 go crazy, what freedom is it left in the West ? thanx for the answers, but i guess my questions weren't too clear. 1/ i'm surprised the battery accepts to start the big engine when it doesn't want the indicators to lightened up. 2/ can a battery low in charge be responsible for hiccups when riding around town now, or is there something else showing its neck ? merci
Guest Nogbad Posted August 5, 2005 Posted August 5, 2005 yes, those Lexus alarms are so damn sensitive ! If one citizen cannot fire its Tubi race cans in an underground parking without having three LS 300, a Voyager, a Renault Espace, a couple of Merco and the boss's 911 go crazy, what freedom is it left in the West ? thanx for the answers, but i guess my questions weren't too clear. 1/ i'm surprised the battery accepts to start the big engine when it doesn't want the indicators to lightened up. 2/ can a battery low in charge be responsible for hiccups when riding around town now, or is there something else showing its neck ? merci 57335[/snapback] Well, don't assume you have a single fault condition. You could have a slightly low battery combined with dirty connections on the indicator circuit or a bad earth somewhere. However, the fact that everything works ok over 3000 rpm, and your type of riding, points to the battery. I can't comment really on the starting thing.
orangeokie Posted August 5, 2005 Posted August 5, 2005 . . . i was wondering about battery charge in quite short town uses like that as i recently discover my indicators don't seem to function properly under 3000 rpms now, but do catch up if i just had a quick, faster burst on the bike. Can the battery still be fine to light up the engine but be too low to drive the indicators at idle ? . . . 57304[/snapback] A battery voltmeter sounds like a good idea. Here's one mounted on a Triumph. I found this little number while browing the net. (Click Pic for details)
dlaing Posted August 5, 2005 Posted August 5, 2005 1/ i'm surprised the battery accepts to start the big engine when it doesn't want the indicators to lightened up. 57335[/snapback] That is strange. Not sure how relevant it is, but the different batteries have different resting voltages. With the Spark 500 and Hawker batteries, you can determine the state of charge by reading the following voltages: 12.84V 100% charged 12.50V 75% 12.18V 50% If you have a Yuasa, the numbers will be lower. The advantage of the Yuasa is that it takes less voltage to fully charge it. The disadvantage of the Yuasa is that your signal ligths will dim more when the engine is at idle....but only a very subtle difference. 2/ can a battery low in charge be responsible for hiccups when riding around town now, or is there something else showing its neck ? merci 57335[/snapback] It is possible that you are not getting enough juice for the coils to pass enough to the spark plugs. Your type of riding is not that great for recharging the battery, and scan also increase carbon build up. A volt meter could give a clue. I have been meaning to document my voltages at different conditions, so if something goes wrong, I'll know what normal is. However if your bike starts fine, than that is a clue that the battery is fine. But it is not a definative clue. I think fuel mixture is more likely responsible for hiccoughing than spark....but I could be wrong. I suppose the ECU could glitch from low volage, but it is designed to work at much lower voltages than would occur from a battery that could turn the starter.
Cliff Posted August 5, 2005 Posted August 5, 2005 I must be missing something but there's no mention of any running problems. Just speculation that if the blinkers are affected maybe the ECU. Some flashers are a heated bimetallic strip so they are sensitive to load and battery volts. Changed your bulbs to a different wattage? Injectors are sensitive to battery voltage but the OEM ECU has compensation for this. Battery volts can easily drop to 8V when cranking. That doesn't seem to affect the ECU. On my sport I see the battery volts come up to 14V within seconds of starting with less than 2000RPM. You could try turning on or off your headlights and see if there is a difference. If think your missing is just due to the nature of the beast. Ever since the 16M ECU ( 1996 ), guzzi have had a miss to some degree. Even with the PC it is not totally eliminated.
Skeeve Posted August 6, 2005 Posted August 6, 2005 1/ i'm surprised the battery accepts to start the big engine when it doesn't want the indicators to lightened up. 2/ can a battery low in charge be responsible for hiccups when riding around town now, or is there something else showing its neck ? 57335[/snapback] 1: The battery might have accumulated enough of a charge while sitting to just kick the engine over & start, but then is struggling to maintain the minimum current/voltage needed to keep everything ticking along smoothly, finally getting enough of a charge back by the end of your one-way trip to be able to recover in time for the next start event. Typically, this results in riders commuting fine all summer w/o noticing any problems, and then a sudden & mysterious "failure" the first cold autumn morning (or evening) when they go out to fire up their bike to ride to work or home... 2: As others have said, it will certainly only help for you to check/clean all ground connections, run separate ground wires for critical connections, and rig the starter & headlight to run off their own individual relays (with an upgraded electrical cable to the starter to help reduce losses there...) - but that's all pretty normal for any motorcycle [Why is it bikes always seem to have such wimpy electrical systems? Are the factories just too cheap to hire an EE intern? Sheesh...]
jihem Posted August 6, 2005 Author Posted August 6, 2005 the plot thickens: the battery is fine and well charged... it seems like the handlebar switch is showing it has 23.000 kms tho...contacts were a bit dirty, i cleaned them..i wonder if the turn switch hasn't decided to work its own mind... as for the hiccups, well, it is strange as it went better today... surprisingly, i noticed the hiccups were more ...hiccupy when the weather was colder and wet this week..today, it was a fine weather again, and the bike seemed ok... mmmmh. i didn't know i was buying a Rubik cube
Guest Nogbad Posted August 6, 2005 Posted August 6, 2005 surprisingly, i noticed the hiccups were more ...hiccupy when the weather was colder and wet this week..today, it was a fine weather again, and the bike seemed ok... 57404[/snapback] That's the opposite to my V11. If it's cold and damp my bike loves it. It's smoother, pulls better and doesn't pink at all in wet cool weather!
dlaing Posted August 7, 2005 Posted August 7, 2005 That's the opposite to my V11. If it's cold and damp my bike loves it. It's smoother, pulls better and doesn't pink at all in wet cool weather! 57405[/snapback] Ditto.
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