Went to leave for a long ride this afternoon and after my first stop the bike wouldn't start.

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Went to leave for a long ride this afternoon and after my first stop the bike wouldn't start. Was able to push it going and get it home where I grabbed the multimeter and started testing. Battery was low, but I'd just charged it having ran across this same problem a few days ago and had just assumed I left the lights on or something.

Battery was low but nothing too low: 12.40 volts.

Turned the electrics on and the battery dropped to 9.5-ish.

Tried to turn it over but no bueno.

I was showing a friend - who was acting as my extra set of hands - where to check the stator when I saw this (see below):

Argh!

Not only does it look burnt up, but the plastic connector melted.

As far as I know, you can't buy those connectors separately.

This sucks.

Comments

Laura England (LA) said…
Are you sure you can't get the connector separate? Anyhow, hope you get it going.... I second the BALLS motion!
July 31, 2015 at 2:25 PM
Jason ON said…
Last time I tried to buy the connector separate I was told by Fay Myers Motorcycle World (http://www.faymyers.com/) that it couldn't be bought separately. I tried Radio Shack and Grainger as well. 

I just sent this same picture to TFOG Racing (TFOGracing.com) to see what he has to say.
July 31, 2015 at 2:31 PM
Umbra Opus said…
Ouch...sounds like my luck honestly.
July 31, 2015 at 4:35 PM
Jim Nichols said…
Jason are there female spade connectors in that terminal block? I am betting that they are ....snip the wires at the block crimp on some insulated female spade connectors with a good set of crimpers and badabomm no more connection worries I will look into getting a connector I have seen them some where.
July 31, 2015 at 4:36 PM
Pablo H. said…
Why would it burn like that? Did the engine got too hot during your ride? Was it caused by your previous charging?
July 31, 2015 at 4:39 PM
Jim Nichols said…
Oh stop freaking out it was a shitty connection maybe it had corrosion in it. Sometimes you just fix shit and ride on..... But hey I am an idiot I have only been rewiring locomotives and troubleshooting them for 12 years.
July 31, 2015 at 5:15 PM
Jason ON said…
Oh, I have no doubt it was a shitty connection, Jim Nichols. It's just, the two plastic terminals are sort of melted together now. Not sure I can get them apart without breaking one or both of them. I'm not a mechanical person. ;)

And yes, they're the "shovel"/"spade" connections. And, if memory serves, they're the females.
July 31, 2015 at 6:57 PM
Nolan L said…
More than likely you'll be able to break up the white connector as you pull it out. (use some heat maybe?) I would trouble shoot your charger and double check your fuses. Maybe one is not the right amperage? After that...... I dunno
July 31, 2015 at 9:22 PM
Jason ON said…
I'm wondering if the stator I replaced last year is too big?
July 31, 2015 at 10:17 PM
Umbra Opus said…
Jason ON did you test its output yet? Electrical issues always drive me crazy due to the fact that it could be several other things as well. Those multimeters help in the troubleshooting phase a lot my friend.
July 31, 2015 at 10:22 PM
Jason ON said…
Test the output...?
August 1, 2015 at 12:18 AM
Dan Dearman said…
Moisture gets into plugs causes a bit of corrosion which really drives up the resistance across the connection, resistance =heat which melts the connection. Pull all of your existing plugs apart give them a good cleaning and a bit of electrolytic gease before you reassemble.
Now what bike is this, there actually are places like wiremybike.com, oregon motorcycle parts and ricks electronic that can help you with the plugs
August 1, 2015 at 6:21 AM
Jason ON said…
Just heard back from TFOG, they have them in stock. Yay!
August 1, 2015 at 9:27 AM
Laura England (LA) said…
Jason, was your stator stock or an upgrade... I ask only because if you put in a custom after market that had more out put...to be honest and forth right, you need to up grade the rest... As you will get burn out eventually, which in my very humble opinion, is what happened here. My two cents worth...
August 2, 2015 at 2:01 PM
Jason ON said…
I'm fairly certain that's exactly what happened here, Laura England​​. It is an aftermarket, supposedly OEM, but I have to wonder if it wasn't.
August 2, 2015 at 4:07 PM
Helena Ramirez said…
Could of just cut out the burnt mess and sauterrd all. The wires individually it dosnt matter which one goes to which one just that they don't cross if you do be sure to use at LEAST three layers of elected tape or you could have the same thing happen later it happen to allot of kawis with stock stators its a common defect didn't read all your comments but hope u didn't melt the windun in the stator messun it up too but that's easy to check if you don't know how message me and I'll tell u tah tah
August 3, 2015 at 2:13 AM
Laura England (LA) said…
Don't just cut it out...it doesn't solve the problem that it's pulling too much power for the job...you need your outputs the same...the guy that sold you the aftermarket should have informed you that upgrading of the rest of it is what you needed todo... The guy behind the counter didn't do his due diligence and I'm sorry for that, as now it's costly, either go back to your normal stock stator, or upgrade the rest! Gee...when I was behind the counter...I let every customer know when upgrading your stator output, can and should on,y be done when upgrading everything in its course...
August 3, 2015 at 4:30 AM
Kenneth Thompson said…
Jason ON There are a couple of on-line places that deals in some very specialized moto-specific connectors.  Don't have the details in front of me at the moment, but don't completely give up hope on a repair...even if it's been replaced with new.
August 9, 2015 at 8:48 AM
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