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Message started by George Palickar on 04/23/17 at 15:36:57

Title: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical power
Post by George Palickar on 04/23/17 at 15:36:57

Took her out for a ride today, then about 5 miles in, the bike would not accelerate past 40, bucking and backfiring. I turn it around and go back home. Stop the bike, and notice that when the key is ON, no power at all, no lights, no starter response, just like the battery is disconnected. Operate the key a few times, nuthin'. I am scratching my head, getting ready to take the seat off, try one more time and tada, power is there, lights on, battery at full charge, starts right up and runs like a champ.

A few days before this ride, I took the tank off, just to do it for the first time, and cleaned out the spark plug recess, getting ready for the new plug that is coming from BikeBandit. Cleaned the 2 elec connectors under the tank , put it all back tgether, fired it up no problem.

I took the seat off, reseated tall the connectors, and fuses. Rode it 20 miles, no problems, running strong.

I do get a bit of backfiring coming off hard throttle, she must be lean. I am thinking that the Jardine pipe (Loud) i have os too open, and the emco revers cone on the way might help clear that up a bit.

I think there is a broken wire or bad connection somewhere in the big wiring near the battery, fuse, or something. Any tips are appreciated, I will be going over the wiring piece by piece pretty soon. I am an EE, so it's just a matter of getting the schematic and crunching through it, methinks.

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 04/23/17 at 15:38:31

Revisit the connections under the tank.

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by civilsavage on 04/23/17 at 17:59:10

I had the exact same symptoms, and it was a loose battery connection. The screw-in connectors seem to vibrate loose.

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by batman on 04/23/17 at 18:16:48

Back firing (after firing)when you chop the throttle is normal,unless it's a large bang,if it's more like a gargle your OK.

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 04/23/17 at 19:41:32

Recently pulled the tank.
No power, yeah, check the battery, check fuses, then check connections under the tank.

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by batman on 04/23/17 at 20:48:41

You might want to check both ends of the ground off the battery,where it's connected to the case ,for corrosion,and at the battery for tightness,a bad connection at either will cause no power anywhere.

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by George Palickar on 04/27/17 at 09:12:24

Thanks for the suggestions. I pulled the tank off, reseated and cleaned every connector under tank, seat and left cover. Changed the battery with nice new sealed Yuasa. Charged it up. Bike starts, all works. Sheesh, I hope it doesn't let me down far from home! I think I will add some extra tools to my kit in case I need to tear it down on the roadside.

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by batman on 04/27/17 at 15:16:32

George,you should check your alternator output ,you could do it simply by reading the voltage across the battery posts with the bjke running the voltage should be 13and change,or test the wires coming from the alternator (3 solid yellow) by unplugging them from rectifier with the motor running the voltmeter should read about 100 volts AC between any two of the leads (three tests) at about 5000 rpm.THe same test can be used with the bike off test for ohms across the three leads as be for ,there should be some slight resistance in each set of wires,if you find infinite resistance in any of the three reading the alternator is bad.If testing shows the alternator to be good ,and you put in a new battery which should be good ,and you have trouble again ,Id think you might look at the wiring and switches as the cause.

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by George Palickar on 04/27/17 at 18:06:56

Got it. I dl'd some schematics didn't really look at them yet. The charging and continuity checks are quick and easy I will post what I find.

I am really having fun orking on this bike you know. He Savage is a strange little bike and I like the culty club aspect of owning it. It's quirky and far from the mainstream, kinda like me :D

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 04/27/17 at 18:34:59

You are home.

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by batman on 04/27/17 at 21:13:31

But as JOG said earlier ,you really need to be checking your cam chain tensioner ! it it comes apart it will ruin your engine!

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by George Palickar on 04/28/17 at 05:58:54

Yes I agree. I am going to just change it with one of verslavs once I go through all the trouble of taking the case cover and exhaust off. I am a real low mileage fella, lucky if I get 10 miles a week. So, I will come around to it.

The bike has 13500 on it, and I don't hear any chatter or chain noise. Is it really typical for the tensioner to fail with so few miles? If so, that's REALLY a crappy design.

Title: Re: Bike acting bad, then dead, no electrical powe
Post by batman on 04/28/17 at 06:26:44

George ,sorry ,I thought I read that you had 23,500 miles on the bike(someone else's post ) you shouldn't need to check it right away, unless PO used it for a lot of short drives.