No charge(possibly!)

[Lona]

Hi Chaps,
The beloved borrowed my bike (1995 M900) to go to Manchester last week. It got to Abington services before the electrics died. I'd only bought a new battery on the Saturday, but it turned out the system wasn't charging. Now, himself had loaded the bike up with panniers etc, and admits he may have just pulled out a plug somewhere. Having checked all the plugs, the bike is now starting, but hasn't been anywhere yet to drain it (though lights etc are working OK). Unfortunately the multimeter is giving "inconclusive" results (His words, not mine). Aside from buying a more sensitive meter, or riding the Monny till it dies again, is there anyway of testing whether the generator has ceased to function (Don't think it's the rectifier as there are no blown bulbs etc)?
If it is the generator, does anyone have one they could sell me at less than the extortionate prices I've found so far?
Cheers
Lona

[M600TED]

Place the multimeter across the battery terninals with the engine off,should read approx 12.40v then start the bike and should see it go to about 13.8v wit the engine running,you might need to blip the throttle to make the generator do it job(does on cars sometimes anyway?)
then put your lights on full and see what it reads,shouldnt drop by much?
hope that helps lee.

[Lona]

Hi Lee,
Thanks- the figures will be helpful, as we didn't think there was enough difference between the "off" and "on" voltages, but I seem to remember that was about what we got.
Ta muchly

[M600TED]

As long as ur getting approx 13.5v ish with the engine running and the lights on you havent got much wrong.
You say you fitted a new battery,did you charge it up on a optimate(or similar) first before fitting it?(takes 12hrs or so)

lee :)

[Lona]

Aye, the battery was charged overnight.
Hubbie has just given me these figures- Not getting more than 12.4 volts dropping to about 11.6 with lights on and engine running.
I'm going to have to bite the bullet and take it out for a run (armed with my AA card)

[M600TED]

yup sommat amiss there? but dont condemn the geny yet though,could be a loose earth? A good auto electrician should be able to locate the fault for about £20? might save you a few bob if its not the geny?
lee

[Lona]

Argos have a special offer on a much better multimeter than our current one (no pun intended), so we'll buy that tonight and do some "earth checking."
Thanks for your help Lee,
Maybe I'll get on my touring holiday after all.

[spacemonkey]

And if it does all go tit's up then get alternators and reg/rectifiers here: http://www.electrexworld.co.uk/

[Lona]

And if it does all go tit's up then get alternators and reg/rectifiers here: http://www.electrexworld.co.uk/


A hearty endorsement for Electrex World. The multimeter identified a short within the reg/rec, which is why we did not get the usual "blown bulbs" symptom. I ordered the new reg/rec on Sunday night, it arrived first thing Tuesday morning, and the bike ran like a dream for the whole holiday (850 miles in 4.5 days!). The reg/rec from Electrex World was a lot cheaper than anywhere else we tried, and it was delivered to the door. What more can anyone ask? :D
Thanks to everyone for all their help and suggestions.
Cheers

[Pedro]

From what I understand the Electrex reg is a better spec unit than the original fitment.

Ped