Electrical question

[tommymac]

Well my futura shit the bed on me and stranded me at the hospital.

LMK what you guys think it could be. Was riding to work alst night. Was in the high 40's low 50's and no precip. I rode about 25 miles and all was fine. I was comming up to a light and it turned yellow so I gunned it ot make the light. Dont think I hit the limiter or anything. I then notice my dash lights are dim/flickering (apparently the futuras have dashboard problems bout I had been fine up to now) so I make it the last few blocks to work and alls fine.

At 4am I go outside and turn the key and the dash lights up fine so I figure cool alls well. I leave work to head to the other job and the damn thing wont turn over. I have a freind jump staret it and it fires up so I figure alls good again. I make it 3 blocks and see the dash acting up again, I figure ok whatever I will deal with it tonight. Well so much for that I go 2 more blocks and the bike sputters and dies.

So now I dont know whats going on, since the dash lights up I know that works and it mus tbe something going to the dash thats the problem. So far I checked the fuses and they were fine. I cant start pulling anything else apart untill tonight or tomorrow when I ge tthe bike home.

I am a moron with electronics so if anyone has any insight please let me know.

Tom

[Trip]

Sounds like a battery, get it checked/replaced

[askmrjesus]

Originally Posted by Trip

Sounds like a battery, get it checked/replaced

That would be the obvious place to start.

Step 1. Put a meter on the battery. Anything less than 12V, put it on a charger and proceed to step two.

Step 2. Check the voltage drop at startup. Put the meter on the batt, and hit the start button. If it drops more than 2-3 Volts, batt is probably fubar.

Step 3. Check output from stator. Jump the bike to get it running. Put the meter back on the batt, and measure the output while reving the motor. Should be 13.5 or higher. If not, bike is not charging the batt.

Step 4. Report back, and we'll talk about voltage regulators, (if need be).

JC

[tommymac]

Originally Posted by askmrjesus

That would be the obvious place to start.

Step 1. Put a meter on the battery. Anything less than 12V, put it on a charger and proceed to step two.

Step 2. Check the voltage drop at startup. Put the meter on the batt, and hit the start button. If it drops more than 2-3 Volts, batt is probably fubar.

Step 3. Check output from stator. Jump the bike to get it running. Put the meter back on the batt, and measure the output while reving the motor. Should be 13.5 or higher. If not, bike is not charging the batt.

Step 4. Report back, and we'll talk about voltage regulators, (if need be).

JC

Anything but the voltage regulator, that is the major problem child on the futuras. I have gone through a few on this bike and finally bought an aftermarket one from a guy on the af1 site that everyone uses and all had been prety good.

Theres a problem with it melting the connectors which finally caught up to me so a freind helped me eliminate the connectors and soldered the wites together directly and the bike has been fine for quite a while with this set up.

Now pardon the ignorance but why the battery? something with a sudden surge from me whacking the throttle wide open?

[Trip]

Originally Posted by tommymac

Anything but the voltage regulator, that is the major problem child on the futuras. I have gone through a few on this bike and finally bought an aftermarket one from a guy on the af1 site that everyone uses and all had been prety good.

Theres a problem with it melting the connectors which finally caught up to me so a freind helped me eliminate the connectors and soldered the wites together directly and the bike has been fine for quite a while with this set up.

Now pardon the ignorance but why the battery? something with a sudden surge from me whacking the throttle wide open?

Interesting little tid bit to leave out there. Sounds like this bike is a big ball of fun in the electrical world.

The problems you describe, just fit a dying battery issue, hence why AMJ said it was obvious place to start. They don't last forever and need replacing.

[Rider]

Sounds like something in your dash is shorting out since it is intermittent. Check all wiring for worn wire insulation and make sure the wires aren't rubbing the frame.

All this of course AFTER you verify that the battery/stator are in good condition.

[marko138]

Originally Posted by Trip

Interesting little tid bit to leave out there. Sounds like this bike is a big ball of fun in the electrical world.

The problems you describe, just fit a dying battery issue, hence why AMJ said it was obvious place to start. They don't last forever and need replacing.

According to Tigger they do.

[askmrjesus]

Originally Posted by tommymac

Now pardon the ignorance but why the battery? something with a sudden surge from me whacking the throttle wide open?

Let me break this down in ER terms for you.

Guy comes in with chest pains. Do you send him to surgery for a triple bypass, or take his vitals first?

You have to make sure the "patient" has blood pressure (battery) and a pulse (charging) before you start tearing into shit.

Rider could be right, but it could also be that you have a bad ground, as this can often manifest itself as "flickering lights", or other strange gremlins.

Could also be that you have a bad ground in the dash. That's what I would look for next. Get a wiring diagram, and track down all the grounds.

Do the simple shit first. You can always fuck it up completely later on.

JC

[tommymac]

Originally Posted by askmrjesus

Let me break this down in ER terms for you.

Guy comes in with chest pains. Do you send him to surgery for a triple bypass, or take his vitals first?

You have to make sure the "patient" has blood pressure (battery) and a pulse (charging) before you start tearing into shit.

Rider could be right, but it could also be that you have a bad ground, as this can often manifest itself as "flickering lights", or other strange gremlins.

Could also be that you have a bad ground in the dash. That's what I would look for next. Get a wiring diagram, and track down all the grounds.

Do the simple shit first. You can always fuck it up completely later on.

JC

Makes sense, guys on the aprilia site have said start with the simple shit first and were usualy right whereas I am thinking its some sort of exotic problem. I always figure its some bizzare obscure thing because it happens to me

Tom

[tommymac]

Originally Posted by askmrjesus

That would be the obvious place to start.

Step 1. Put a meter on the battery. Anything less than 12V, put it on a charger and proceed to step two.

Step 2. Check the voltage drop at startup. Put the meter on the batt, and hit the start button. If it drops more than 2-3 Volts, batt is probably fubar.

Step 3. Check output from stator. Jump the bike to get it running. Put the meter back on the batt, and measure the output while reving the motor. Should be 13.5 or higher. If not, bike is not charging the batt.

Step 4. Report back, and we'll talk about voltage regulators, (if need be).

JC

Step 3 it is. Charged up the battery overnight and the bike fired right up. it was between12.25 and 13 with the bike off. Went to 12.33 at idle and prety much stayed there, reved it up to 4k and didnt budge, it should be up around 14 something I believe so tom will be ordering yet another voltage regulator today. Turn around is about a week with the guy I deal with so that may be that for the year which mean I will at least get to put more miles on the buell.