Street Triple conked out

On my way back from a Morris session tonight. Only three or four miles
from home. I'd been riding it slowly in high gears - six points on my
licence, and 10pm on a Friday night is prime nicking time - and I
noticed the instrument illumination getting dimmer. And then it died.

I can only assume that with the twin headlights and the FI, it wasn't
going fast enough to charge properlly. The Doctor came out with jump
lads, it started, and I nailed it the last few miles home.

I flattened the battery before by leaving the parking lights on, and
I've been told those little gel batteries don't like it, so I guess it's
new battery time.

 

99 R1 going strong

Nightmare tho matey, get a new battery anyhow, keep the old one just in
case.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

which, as was posted in another thread, is bollocks. AGM/gel batteries are
used in deep discharge systems such as remote control vehicles &
wheelchairs. You do need a particular type of charger to recover them from
very low volts. An Optimate (unless a mk4) won't have enough oomph to
recover a deep discharged gel or AGM battery. These are recognised as the
best for the job: http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/ which can be had for under
£30

 

I'll be replacing my Optimate 3SP with one of these because it is much
better at reviving dead batteries. My optimate refused to even give a
very dead battery a chance, but a C-Tek has brought it back to life
again and it's holding a charge nicely.

 

Check your charging circuit, it should be able to cope with this.

A dud battery is always possible but I would be more inclined to suspect
a charging problem. There are normally 3 windings going to a diode
block, if one diode is stuffed it would account for your problem.
Also check for corroded or loose connectors.

 

Check that there aren't any Italian parts on the bike.

 

Actually, crn might[1] be right on this one. It's still in warranty
right? I'd get the dealer to check it.

[1] hedges bets

 

Yes, I did wonder. It's certainly charging, because when I got home,
three-four miles, there was enough charge now in the battery to fire it
up on the starter.

I'm going to stick a multimeter on it now and take a few readings.

 

Hm. I left it on the charger last night, and stuck the meter on it.
13.4-13.5v, which is about right. Turned on the ignition and the reading
fell to 12.4v, which as the headlights are always on and the FI engaged,
again sounds about right.

Fired it up and according to the multimeter it's charging at 17-18v,
which strikes me as too bloody *high*.

Time to give Rosner's a ring, I think.

 

And, alleluia, I select channel islands shipping (£7.49) and the vat
drops to zero. If only all online shopping carts were like this...

I'm choosing components for a computer upgrade on the basis of what
Amazon themselves sell as nine times out of ten if I buy from one of
their 'partners' they either won't deliver here or charge vat.

Thanks for the heads-up.

 

All of your symptoms are consistent with a faulty reg/rec or corroded
connections. The high voltage could have ALSO damaged the battery.

 

Yeah, Rosner's says the charge rate is too high (as if I didn't know).
Reg/rec looks the culprit, indeed. Booked in for warranty work. No
corrosion anywhere, btw.

 

A new battery as well as the rr I hope.

 

Good point.

 

Excuse me while I try to drag myself up off the floor after a vein
bursting laughter fit.

 

I've just had to change the regulator on the ZZR. What fooled me at first
was the normal charging voltage but of course I hadn't checked it with the
lights on. With lights the voltage never got above 12.4 volts. Got one off
ebay for only £20.


--
Malc

Rusted and ropy.
Dog-eared old copy.
Vintage and classic,
or just plain Jurassic:
all words to describe me.

 

You might need to be prepared for an argument on that, if they start
trying to wriggle by pointing towards the warranty on the battery. 6
months, IIRC.

 

I think your bike has just become self aware. Were you riding with
visible hankerchiefs?

 

Pah, pikey rosbif bike manufacturers. Voxan replaced the battery
(actually branded 'Voxan') on the 'tart' nearly two years after I bought
it. In fact, theoretically the battery could have been 6 years old by
then because my bike was actually a 2000 model. TBF, it has needed
another two batteries since then, so I think they rather admit that its
location down by the oil tank and rear pipe isn't conducive to
longevity. The Varta in it now is OK after 12 months, so fingers
crossed.


--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

All you needed there was a <guffaw> and you could have been an
Israe^HHHHH Sco^HHH Padd^HHHH sad bastard.

Care to elucidate?