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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Broke down on the freeway
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Message started by savagegreenhorn7 on 05/03/17 at 00:41:37

Title: Broke down on the freeway
Post by savagegreenhorn7 on 05/03/17 at 00:41:37

Hey guys, I had a very unfortunate event occur this evening, I was rolling down the bay bridge in 5th gear going about 60 mph, all of a sudden my bike just dies, everything electrical shuts off and my motor goes too, bike is completely dead, no power whatsoever... I tried to push start and everything, I got it towed home and checked my main fuse and it looks fine.. what could have caused this? I'm at a loss.
:-/

Title: Re: Broke down on the freeway
Post by Dave on 05/03/17 at 03:42:28

Check the connections at the battery, and the connection of the ground strap at the engine case down by the oil inspection window by your right foot. Check the electrical connectors under the tank....they can work loose if the last person that put them together didn't get them far enough together for the latch to lock in place.

Title: Re: Broke down on the freeway
Post by Papa Bear on 05/03/17 at 05:21:48

This should be easy to diagnose with a multimeter if you have a working knowledge of where voltage is SUPPOSED to be and where it is.
If you aren't handy with a VOM it might be best to have a tech look at it.

Title: Re: Broke down on the freeway
Post by batman on 05/03/17 at 07:01:56

I'm guessing by now you have a volt/ohm meter ,if not you need one! If your battery is dead ,and your bike quit underway you might want to check your alternator ,even if the bike 's not running you can pull the plug from the rectifier (three yellow wires ) and test for ohms between the leads (three tests ) there should be slight resistance , I think about 1or2 ohms)if you find the ohms needle doesn't drop at all you have a bad winding ,and the alternator is not charging the battery,and your bike can't even run off the alternator .Once your battery drops below 10 volts your spark dies ,and there 's no juice to restart.If you can recharge the battery and run the bike you can test for AC voltage across the same 3 wires ,It should be about 100 AC volts at 5000 rpm.

Title: Re: Broke down on the freeway
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/03/17 at 07:54:22

If you've recently had the tank off, start there. If you've worked on it, revisit the things you've touched.

Title: Re: Broke down on the freeway
Post by savagegreenhorn7 on 05/03/17 at 16:04:12

The battery is fully charged, suppose I'll check the alternator and then I'll look for the battery ground.

Title: Re: Broke down on the freeway
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/03/17 at 16:07:33

The connectors under the tank have a slight history of vibrating loose. That's what it does when they do.
A corroded battery or ground will fail to carry sufficient current to start long before it stops carrying enough to run.

Title: Re: Broke down on the freeway
Post by Dave on 05/04/17 at 07:59:19

If the bike is running and suddenly stops - it likely has nothing to do with the alternator. If the battery is not being charged as you ride....the lights will slowly grow dim, and the bike will begin to misfire before it suddenly stops. Same for the battery.....if the bike is already running and the battery fails.....the alternator will keep the bike running until you shut if off - then it won't restart if the battery is dead.

You should listen to us old guys....check the connections to the battery and the ground at the engine....and check the wiring connectors under the tank before you do anything else. (Provided you have proven your fuses are good).

Title: Re: Broke down on the freeway
Post by Tocsik on 05/06/17 at 05:38:39

Any recent work on the bike before this happened?