Dead battery = no tach?
06-02-2011 | 03:39 PM
#1
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Newb
Squid
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 45
From: Avondale, AZ
Dead battery = no tach?
I went to fire her up today but the battery was dead. After a jump it seemed like it was running straight off the alternator. Blinkers were spastic and the lcd readout was flashing but my big concern was the tach, it jumped a couple times but stayed at not for the entire time the bike was running, about 20 minutes. Will a bad battery cause this or do I need to replace/check something? This is a '98..
06-02-2011 | 06:00 PM
#3
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MotoGP
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 5,053
From: NYC
Did you jump it with a city bus? Could be the regulator (which is why your battery was dead; it wasnt charging). Also when this happened to me it fried the ECU which made me live w/o a tach for a while til I got a new ECU. Put a volt meter on the battery, then start the bike. My guess is its not gonna be charging so the voltage wont go up but down (til it dies)
06-02-2011 | 09:45 PM
#4
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Squid
Joined: Nov 2010
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From: Avondale, AZ
It had been sitting for a while so I was expecting the battery to be low or dead. I need to get a trickle charger. @Smokinjoe, did your speedo work? I didn't ride it after all this so just curious if it will be working. Gotta take it to emissions tomorrow.. :/ But no city bus..lol
06-02-2011 | 11:15 PM
#5
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MotoGP
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Posts: 5,053
From: NYC
Yes my speedo was fine. Just the tach was mia. I actually just mounted a small 2" tach so I would have something til I got the new ecu. The city bus thing was just because you may have fried components with an over-powered jump charge.
06-03-2011 | 05:10 AM
#6
Senior Member
Superstock
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 320
If it was just the tach, probably not this, but check fuses since that's an easy starting place.
Earlier this week I had my tach, speedo, odometer, and neutral indicator stop on me during a ride (I thought the whole gauge had stopped, but later realized the signal indicators still worked). I was sure it was wiring-related since I was messing with that a couple months ago. But after taking off the fairing and gauge cluster and not finding any loose wires, I decided to check the fuse. Sure enough, it was the fuse. I did all that work unscrewing everything for nothing.
So the lesson learned is . . . Always start with the easy stuff!
PS: The temp gauge also stopped working on me, so if I would have known what each fuse is connected to, this would have been an easy diagnosis for me. Always learning something about this bike . . .
PPS: Oh, almost forgot, my tach and speedo only worked sporadically when my R/R was going bad, and I never had an issue with that after swapping R/Rs. So I agree it could be R/R related.
Earlier this week I had my tach, speedo, odometer, and neutral indicator stop on me during a ride (I thought the whole gauge had stopped, but later realized the signal indicators still worked). I was sure it was wiring-related since I was messing with that a couple months ago. But after taking off the fairing and gauge cluster and not finding any loose wires, I decided to check the fuse. Sure enough, it was the fuse. I did all that work unscrewing everything for nothing.
So the lesson learned is . . . Always start with the easy stuff!
PS: The temp gauge also stopped working on me, so if I would have known what each fuse is connected to, this would have been an easy diagnosis for me. Always learning something about this bike . . .
PPS: Oh, almost forgot, my tach and speedo only worked sporadically when my R/R was going bad, and I never had an issue with that after swapping R/Rs. So I agree it could be R/R related.
Last edited by evines; 06-03-2011 at 05:14 AM.
06-03-2011 | 10:21 AM
#8
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MotoGP
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,871
From: Phoenix, AZ
Arizona motorcycle emissions = PITA. It's a good thing, though, cause Maricopa county has so many pollution problems caused by motorcycles that we need to keep the things well regulated. 2 stroke leaf blowers are a complete necessity, cause brooms are so hard to use, so I'm lobbying to subsidize them...
06-04-2011 | 02:07 PM
#9
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Newb
Squid
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 45
From: Avondale, AZ
Arizona motorcycle emissions = PITA. It's a good thing, though, cause Maricopa county has so many pollution problems caused by motorcycles that we need to keep the things well regulated. 2 stroke leaf blowers are a complete necessity, cause brooms are so hard to use, so I'm lobbying to subsidize them...
So.. I got the battery yesterday, dropped it in, fired her up, did a few laps around the block(about 10 minutes). Today I go out at it's dead again. Put the key in and and only the headlight comes on! Push the engine start, not a click or anything! I need to diagnose this fast! I have seen the regulator posts so I am looking into that, what else should I be looking at? Bad alternator, shorts, power drains?
06-04-2011 | 02:48 PM
#10
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,707
From: Essex, UK
As the 2nd post said - New upgraded R/R (esp if you have an unfinned original) and probably now another new battery - but don't keep wasting new batteries till you get to the cause - see 2nd post
Last edited by Wicky; 06-04-2011 at 02:51 PM.
06-04-2011 | 02:56 PM
#11
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Newb
Squid
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 45
From: Avondale, AZ
R/R is definitely my next step, but it's going to be a few weeks before I can get one so I was more curious as to if there is anything I can do between now and then just in case. I will have to pick up a multimeter to check it all too. I do have it on a tender now..
06-04-2011 | 10:32 PM
#13
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MotoGP
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 5,053
From: NYC
Did you put a voltmeter on the battery when you installed it? They only cost a few $ but can save you buying 10 more batteries. If the r/r is dead then you will keep killing batteries. Have you recarged those old batteries? One run down does not kill them.
06-05-2011 | 08:03 PM
#14
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Squid
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 45
From: Avondale, AZ
I had the first battery tested, no good. I am going to pick up a meter in the next week or so. Right now it is sitting on a tender until I can get to testing everything. After a day with the tender it was back to full charge.
06-05-2011 | 11:06 PM
#15
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MotoGP
Joined: Jul 2007
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From: NYC
Just curious, did you have the battery tested by the same guy who sold you the new one?.... Also, what I am saying is to put the voltmeter across the battery ON THE BIKE, first off, & then running. This will tell you if the RR is functioning. Testing the battery alone tells you very little. (except that the guy would love to keep selling batteries).
06-05-2011 | 11:11 PM
#16
Thread Starter
Newb
Squid
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 45
From: Avondale, AZ
Just curious, did you have the battery tested by the same guy who sold you the new one?.... Also, what I am saying is to put the voltmeter across the battery ON THE BIKE, first off, & then running. This will tell you if the RR is functioning. Testing the battery alone tells you very little. (except that the guy would love to keep selling batteries).
I got what you were saying about the voltmeter. It was the same guy but, I honestly could tell the battery was no good, plus it was several years old so since I am going through this I figured I'd get a new one anyway.
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