XS650 keeps dying on me

[Jakethesnake1994]

Hi Guys,

I'm a new biker and I Recently purchased a 1974 Yamaha XS650. I absolutely love the bike but I'm having issues with it and this is what's happening:

The electric start doesn't work very well so I always just kick start it and everything works well for about an hour or so but then the bike dies and I can't kick start it again. I have to take out the battery, re charge it, put it back in and it works for about another hour but then it dies again and the battery is drained. And I have to do the whole process of taking it out and re charging it.

Could it be the alternator? If yes, does anybody know where I could possibly buy one online?

Any help is much appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[Jim]

Could it be the alternator? If yes, does anybody know where I could possibly buy one online?

Yes, most likely is the alternator... but this bike doesn't have an alternator in the classic automotive sense. It's not a one piece replacement part. You'll need to troubleshoot to isolate the problem down to a specific component. Have a read here.

 

[Jakethesnake1994]

Thank you for your reply! Really helped out a lot. Much appreciated.