Flat battery bike died

motorbikerx

XS650 Addict
Messages
434
Reaction score
517
Points
93
Location
Gold Coast, Australia.
Ok done a search for last half hour waiting for my alarm to go off so I can take my battery off charge and get a mate to drive me over the border to retrieve my broken down bike!
Searching the ekectrical thread as my brain tells me fro past XS650 experience that its common the aternator brushes will be worn out.
Im gonna refit the hopefully fully charged battery and ride home on total loss....unless theres a way of dodging it up on the roadside that is.
Gonna post this and come back to try to maybe make a long story short if someone chimes in with some gems of info or points me in the right direction ....
 
Alternator brushes - a common difficulty and the symptoms you describe does point in that direction.
 
Ok ...I never checked the brushes out before riding off into the wide blue yonder ....shouldve I guess from past experience...
Bike started surging. . clutch slip?
Twist throttle hard...naaaaaa
Fuel?....had full tank leaving home..naaa
Battery dieing???? Quick! Turn headlight off! ....try to coax more out of it.....hit the horn and bike jerks....oh shit!.....long hill to the top to the border gate then can maybe roll down the other side??,,
No such luck bike dies!!!
Manage to turn in a very dangerous spot and try to clutch start but engine not turning....slow panic....
Pull into a farm driveway and turn phone on and txt missus get her on her way with a 10mm or shifter...
I check fuel...plenty.
Headlight dead horn dead..
A life of XS650 tells me alt brushes worn out without looking.
Now Ive brought one tool i case carbs pop off. A double end screwdriver..
Ten mill bolts have phillips too and a screwdriver cracks em ...
Ok first I walk down the dirt driveway.
No first I make sure the missus knows where Im broke down...quick pic ...we ride this road often...quick description .address number and Im trudging the road of happy destiny to ask if I can leave my wounded horse on thier farm.
Yep ! ...my mind had conjured savage dogs and other atrocities while trudging towards the house....Im arriving unannnounced ...to be met by????
A shotgun weilding housewife???
A banjo playing pig hunter????
Nope! A nice lady just got outta the shower...just put my bike under cover of the verandah..
Thank you thank you thanks...
My bikes safe...

I trudge back to where Ive left my helmet on a wheelie bin and my leather jacket on a gatepost and my previously removed battery next to it...
Phone rings shes at 700 its 700 on other side of border but so fresh info and shes on her way..
I doodle on my phone to kill time and shortly shes here as Im checking emails and such...
Just as well..mozzies starting to eat me alive!
Ok in the Festiva and we go to turn.
Headlights and roars...we wait while half a dozen bad boys on hogs growl up the hill....its a popular bike road this..
Ok safe to turn...we turn.
Coupla minute later another bad boy comes up behind..missus pulls to side a bit to let him pass easier...he roars past!...."no acnowlegement" the missus says.....
Hes a bad boy on a Harley says I
Say no more.....
Not that I got nuthin gainst Harleys mind ya...love old flatties pans shovels and knucks...evos too.
Just the new breed of psuedo bad boys on the newer stuff can be a bit remote....kool aid they call it evidently.
Another story I aint getting into...
Been broke down a coupla times in last few years and ridden straight past by thier likes....anyway back to the XS
Hopes I can source some brushes local...
 
see if you can find a Li Ion 12v battery booster and run it off that or even the battery of a 12v drill connected with a bit of wire. If you don't switch anything on that should get you home.
I used to carry a tiny gel battery to connect up if my main battery went flat
 
10 miles, would think you'd get farther with a good, fully, charged battery, headlight off. You should have that battery checked while checking brushes, rotor and stator.

How much farther to get it home?

Scott
 
Don't assume that the problem is worn brushes. Unplug your alternator. If you only rode 10 miles before the battery went dead, a partially shorted rotor may be draining current. The condition could get bad enough to blow the main fuse, and that can happen fast.
 
Got me home ok.
Battery just didnt have a full charge before....with a good charge the bike ran sweet.
Put a voltmeter on it at home and its not charging.
Why do forums seem to jump to worst possible conclusions.
Gotta take my daughter to an appointment then back later to remove the alternator brushes.
None available from Yamaha here.
Seem to remember years ago bodgying some brushes out of something else....anyone got a line on alternator brushes.
Ill leave the worst case scenarios till I get to that bridge.
 
I don't think anyone jumped to any conclusions. When a bike doesn't charge, there are tests to do, all of the tests, all of the components. We know how many of these bikes are parked for years because the owners can't or will not perform these simple tests, and the money wasted on batteries, rotors and other parts without testing and verifying the real source of the problem. And then some of these people go PMA, sounds like a disease or syndrome, don't it?

Scott
 
X, I wasn't "jumping to worst conclusions," I was sharing experience. Here's how fast the alternator rotor can go down. A few years back I rescued an abused XS650D, refurbed it for sale, and took it to a 650 Society rally. Before leaving, I checked resistance on the rotor. It was right on the spec 5 ohms, and output was perfect. 30 miles into the rally ride, the main fuse blew. Pulled the meter out of a saddlebag and checked the rotor. In 30 miles it had developed a dead short. Another rider with a good alternator swapped batteries with me and I unplugged the alternator and limped in running total loss. Age, heat, and vibration are not kind to the insulation on the rotor windings. I was (still am) tech advisor for the group; many laughs and one very red face when they announced the Hard Luck Award for the event!

Anyway, glad you made it back with no further hassles.
 
Ok just got back home to my workshop and pulled the brushes out, see pic.
Still not to the wear index mark so these are ok hey?
Where do I go next?
Im no electrical guru so Im at your mercy.
Suppose first thing I gotta do is buy a multimeter of some description and learn how to use it.
And is it worthwhile and easy now to switch brushes around?
Pass me another slice of that humble pie please mum..
20180111_163431.jpg
 
Like Griz said, your rotor's probably shorted. Buy the meter, look in the Tech section and ohm it out. Should see about 5ohms ring to ring and lots (open) of resistance to gnd. Everything you need to do is well documented in Tech.
 
Back
Top