electrical or battery problem...

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#1 Unread post by **bok** » Tue May 09, 2006 5:25 pm

i am so totally not a mechanic, so i figured i would ask those more in the know than myself.

my bike (2001 shadow spirit 750 12,000 kms) died on me tonight moments after i flicked on the highbeams. attempts to restart were futile so i had to improvise with a trickle charger to jump the bike (probably not wise)

after i got the bike started and on my way home when i flicked on my high beam again, my rear lights all died (fiancee following in the car trailed me home)

when i got the bike home, i checked all the fuses and none were blown.

any clues on what could be happening?

i'm not sure if the battery is holding a charge properly for one because flipping on the high beam shouldn't have drained so much juice that i couldn't restart, but like i say, i am not a mechanic at all (but willing to learn/try)

thanks in advance

TechTMW · #2 Unread post by **TechTMW** » Tue May 09, 2006 6:12 pm

My first guess would be a loose ground somehwere. Hope you have an electrical schematic ... Time to start looking!!

#3 Unread post by **bok** » Wed May 10, 2006 2:17 am

Thanks Tech

guess it's time to track down a shop manual and a mechanically inclined friend to help me try and make sense of wires and such.

edit: any mechanical folks in Calgary willing to help a brother out?

#4 Unread post by **bok** » Wed May 17, 2006 12:16 pm

hey Tech, i noticed in another post you were asking about the condition of the bulb when it blew.

What's the condition of the light bulb after it's burned out? (Blown filament, silver glass, black glass, cracked ... etc)

when the bulb blew out last year it was kind of a blue black colour.
replaced it with an LED and it worked decently but seems some of the diodes blew out.

replaced the bulb again, but this time the filaments seemed to just break on one side so it almost looks like they are still attached.

talked to a service tech here who said it might be something as simple as the taillight getting jarred and not having enough shock absorption...does any of this make sense?

TechTMW · #5 Unread post by **TechTMW** » Wed May 17, 2006 6:01 pm

Yeah, vibration makes perfect sense. if it's even eating LED's though, you might have a REAL problem

It's odd that this problem should just show up all of a sudden.

#6 Unread post by **bok** » Thu May 18, 2006 2:00 am

thanks. i'll see if i can track down someone that can come out and help diagnose this with/for me. If nothing else i'll learn a bit more than i knew to start with heh

#7 Unread post by **bok** » Tue May 30, 2006 3:37 am

the mystery is "mostly" solved. bad battery was a major culprit here. had an electrician buddy look at it and that sucker was barely holding a charge at all, and when the key turned it went from 12 to 8 and just kept on dropping. replaced it with a new battery and it's all good so far. going to hook up the LED again and see if the diodes were toast or just not getting enough juice to shine much.