So .


So ... I left home on the bike, stopped somewhere for a couple of hours, left there and grabbed a a bite to eat, then headed to a movie screening. While sitting in traffic the bike died. Just died. No symptoms, no nothing.

I walk it to a nearby parking lot and check the battery. Everything seems kosher. No loose wires or anything. Next, I check the wiring to the stator. They all seem a-okay.

A guy stops, says he used to have a SV650. We chat and I ask if he has jumper cables. He does. So I push the SV over to his Honda CR-V and we hook the cables up. The bike tries to turn over.

Okay, so definitely a power issue. He turns on his car and the bike turns over immediately. Cool.

I leave it running while I put the plastics back on and everything is good. I pull my jacket and backpack on, the helmet and then the gloves. As soon as I throw a leg over the bike it dies. Not a losing power/sputtering kind of died, it just dies.

It makes no sense.

So, now I'm roughly 40 miles from home with a bike I can't guarantee will get me back.

Dude said if I'm still here when he leaves he'll help again, but this sucks.

[Image of where I jumped the bike from]

Comments

Sounds like the battery isn't taking a charge.
Or that the alternator isn't sending power out.
A new battery will probably get you home, but you need to sort out that charging issue.
Jason ON said…
If it's not, that's brand new. But yes, I'll have to sort it out once I get home.
Jason ON said…
Still sitting here. Lady pulled into the spot where my helmet and jacket are and gave me dirty looks like my being here is inconvenient.

And the "good Samaritan" left. Said he had other plans. Well buddy, so did I.
Curtis McMahan said…
That does suck! Stator. Had one go bad on a SuperGlide. Just died. Let us know what it is. Good luck!
If you get it jump started again, run the bike at a higher RPM, as most smaller bikes won't charge at idle.

Luck to ya!
Jason ON said…
Kenneth Thompson was hoping to do that when the good Samaritan came back out, but he left.
Jason ON said…
Michael o'donnell yeah, but they were all closed at that time. Heck, Vickery Motorcycles was just a couple short miles away.

What ended up happening, I posted on FB, where I have more "local" friends, and someone who lived only a couple miles away came to rescue me.

Before that, though, I flagged down a guy and asked for a jump. He brought his truck over and we jumped it, but within a few minutes (getting the seat back on) it died. We tried push-starting it with no luck. Finally, we jumped it, he kept his hand on the throttle for me, keeping the RPMs up, while I put everything back on and I was able to ride it to my friend's house. From there, she lent me her car to drive home. I have the battery on the trickle charger and will go back tomorrow and ride it home, assuming the battery takes a charge.
vickerymotorsports.com - Come visit Vickery Motorsports in Denver, Colorado.
If it's the battery that came with the bike there's a good chance it will take just enough to get you going.
Really sounds like a dead battery.
Olaf Fichtner said…
Argh, I had this once: bike died while riding, didn't move the least bit. Back then it had been a fuse that got blown due to a cable short.

I don't think your battery is dead, this sounds like a contact issue. Intermittent too, so not easy to find...
Jim Nichols said…
Jason ON Well did you get to see the movie screening?
Jim Nichols said…
I love reading the comments.... nothing beats keyboard mechanics..... it could be your Illudium PU38 explosive space modulator. .... or the Flux capacitor
T. Starks said…
Man, that sucks. I feel for you.
Ricky Graham said…
If it were a 1400 Concours, I would check the negative battery cable tightness, as thats an issue with them. Invest in an 800 motorcycle towing service. Might already be included with your insurance, or you can get it cheap or free from the AMA
Tim Strobel said…
sucks to get stuck like that. For future...attach a battery tender pigtail to your battery. They have a jumper cable attachment for that, makes charging or jumping way easier, and the cables are small compared to standard ones. easier to pack
Jason ON said…
Tim Strobel I have those ... somewhere. In fact, the battery-tender plugin connectors are attached, just not the ones used for jumping.
Jason ON said…
John Sandoval SV1000s and no. ;)
Jason ON said…
Jim Nichols I did not make it to the movie screening.
Jason ON said…
Well, after having the battery on the hcarger all night I finally went to retrieve the bike.

I put the battery in the bike at 12.27 volts.
Started the bike and it's sitting at 11.93v.
Rev'd the RPMs to about 3,000 and the bike gets up to 12.11v
Rode it home, keeping the RPMs above 3,000 the whole way (about an hour) and checked it again. It sits at 12.27.

At no point did it get up to 14ish-volts.

I think my stator's going ... again.
Jim Nichols said…
Good to see you diagnose the problem!
Jason ON said…
Jim Nichols

Thanks for looking that up, but ...
https://plus.google.com/photos/...
Jim Nichols said…
Jason ON i just DL the pdf from that url.... and you are correct it is no longer functional....
Jason ON said…
Jim Nichols again, thanks for looking, but I have a second generation SV1000s. Not the SV650.
Jim Nichols said…
Jason ON in the first post.... you said .... someone stopped to help and they had a sv650... so I assumed your bike was the same..... sorry to actually read your post and care enough to try to help...... lol peace out man... and tell me how the movie was (when you see it finially), hopefully I got that part right ....
Jason ON said…
Jim Nichols I didn't get to see the movie. It was a documentary that probably won't make it to the theaters.

But now worries, I appreciate you looking things up and while there are many similarities between the SV650s and the 1000s, the two also have their differences.
I had this happen with a snowmobile last winter. And I know, very different machines, but it was a separated winding in the stator making intermittent contact.. So it'd work for a while, or until it heated up or got shaken JUST right, then die damn near instantly. Wouldn't charge the battery reliably either. boost from another sled or my truck and it'd start, but die again. Trickle charge overnight and it'd run for a little bit then same damn thing.

Sounds familiar. Just potentially less cold and frozen while trying to fix it...

Popular posts from this blog

I'm shutting down Google+ for the night and quite possibly for the weekend.