Battery charging

[pcaligari68]

My bike came with no owners manuals so no idea if there's an idiot light to tell me if there is a charging problem.

I might have a duff battery... or city driving just doesn't allow the thing to charge what with the fan, lights, brake lights and indicators all drawing current.

Or do I have an issue with the charging circuit.... any one got any tips on testing everything and if there are indeed any idiot lights that might give me a clue.

She's an early bike on an 07 plate.

[Lonewolf]

Somebody should have an owners manual they can email you, I may even have one myself. I'll check on the computer tomorrow for you.

[pcaligari68]

That would be appreciated.

Going to leave the battery sitting in thee dining room over night to see if it looses any charge, them pop it back in and measure voltage across the terminals when the engine is running to make sure charging current is getting to the battery... hopefully everything will be fine. 🤞

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[jonathan]

They are available online at the Kawasaki website

[Lonewolf]

They are available online at the Kawasaki website

I've emailed him a copy.

[pcaligari68]

It's really appreciated too.  Got all the info on how to check each part of the charging circuit so I can have a happy weekend of testing... provided I can get from London the the Isle of Wight without it discharging...

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[Boomer]

Just switch the display to battery voltage. If it's below 14v at 3000rpm, then you have a problem.

[Burchy]

Not sure you can on Gen1 (might be wrong, though, been a while since I had a Gen1)

[pcaligari68]

Tried that.... very random results.... at 4000rpm it will give 13.7... at 3900 rpm 12.7... and many other voltages.

If it stops raining for 10 minutes I'll check the measurements at the regulator

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[pcaligari68]

Still not stopped raining.... going to have to do this under in waterproofs... don't fancy measuring output from alternator in the wet mind... get quite a jolt if that goes wrong.

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[pcaligari68]

So... it finally stopped raining.

Trying to disconnect the grey connector for the reg/rect... how the heck dies it come off?  I've found a tab that I've pushed in while pulling in the body of the connector but not a sign of movement.

I am assuming there is a trick.  Not a lot of space to work in down there... anyone got any bright idea?

I don't want to fork out for a dealer to do what should be an easy check... plus there is no Kawasaki dealer in the Isle if Wight.



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[pcaligari68]

Not sure you can on Gen1 (might be wrong, though, been a while since I had a Gen1)

Gen 1 lets you monitor battery voltage on the display... it's what I have been watching very carefully.

With the fluctuations in lighting and some research on symptoms I'm fairly sure its the reg/rect that's gone... just can't get the thing apart to do the measurements so it's booked in to be looked at by the professionals.....

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[pcaligari68]

Ok... so fitted a new battery as the old one wouldn't take a charge on the bench.

Still wasn't charging on the bike properly so took it to the dealers.

As expected the regulator/recitifier is dead.

Waiting on having a new one fitred .. expensive but going to be worth it I think.

Next job sort out the cosmetics.  Poor things had a terrible paint job applied and that just has to be fixed!!

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[Lonewolf]

Thats good, at least you can put that behind you now and consider it a problem solved.

[pcaligari68]

All working properly now.

Just a quick question though... I had a genuine reg/rect fitted and it was £280.  I have seen "brand new" on fleabay for £40.  I am doubting a 40 quid unit would last as long and may be a false economy.  Anyone had any experience of these cheap units?

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