6a. wobble

[Dan Bittner]

Hello Richard, If your battery is actually measuring 11.2 amps with no load it's pretty much done for. It probably has at least one dead cell and is potentially shorted out internally, which is what your charging voltage is indicating also. With the short or dead cells the charging voltage is slowly bled to ground and could be the reason why your measured charging voltage is so low, your may be just fine with yet ANOTHER new battery ( yes batteries are a pain ). If this is the case, DO NOT jump it with your car battery ! Your car battery will be more than willing to pump 60 or more amps into your bad motorcycle battery with potentially catastrophic results. I usually don't critique someone else's advice but I'd hate to see anyone blinded by flying battery acid. It can and does happen so if you do it at least wear some good eye protection. Good luck with it, Dan Bittner Sacramento, Ca.

----- Original Message ----- From: Richard Bessey To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 7:47 PM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Battery problems Hello Everyone, First time poster to the group, I was hopeful to get everyone thoughts on my problem. I have a 1989 KLR 650 with 30,000 miles on her. She runs like a top with only one problem I have started to notice. I have had trouble getting the bike started due to the starter not cranking fast enough, last year I had the same problem and I put a new battery in it since I figured the old battery was end of life. Now I have a ... 6 month old battery and had it on a battery maintainer on it during the entire winter. Today I was having trouble with it again, so I got my multimeter out and did some testing. Here are my findings. My bike is currently sitting in the garage, with no load (key turned off, etc...) the battery reads about 11.2 volts with no load. Starting the bike, the voltage does not change, if I rev the bike up to about 4,500 RPM, I get about 11.9 volts at the battery. I then hooked up my amp meter, and noticed with the bike at an idle, the bike pulls about 1 amp out of the battery to run the headlight and ignition. If I rev the motor over 2500 RPM, the bike starts putting amps into the battery. At about 4,000 RPM's the bike puts ... 1-3 amps into the battery. I am starting to think that my problem my be due to my riding style, I often run the bike at low RPM's while thumping around town, normally about 2,500 RPM around town. On the highway I get it up to 4,000 to 5,000 RPM's, but I don't ride the highway much. So, are my readings normal? I read up and find, I should be getting 12+ volts, so I am worried my alternator and/or voltage reg is dying on me or getting weak. Any thoughts/concerns/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Richard Bessey [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Greg May]

Hi Richard, probably by now you've got all the information you need, but just to add my 2 cents worth, before you have any real hope of troubleshooting your charging system you have to have a fully charged battey which means at 11.2 volts you have to charge it after you make sure the fluid level is topped off. If it won't charge to 12.6 volts as measured right at the battery terminals the battery is less then good, not saying that it won't turn you bike over but it is on the road to failing. After you charge it let it sit for a 1/2 hour or so to see if the voltage has dropped, with no load it should stay at the voltage it charged to. A no load reading of 11.2 volts as you said you were seeing seems awful for the bike to even be able to reliably crank over and start when cold so is there some voltage drop between where you are taking your reading and the actual battery voltage if you are not taking your reading right at the battery terminals leading to a slightly low reading. Once you have your battery fully charged and installed start your bike with a volmeter conected to the battery terminals and with it reved to about 2500 rpm you should see something just over 14 volts. If you have determined that you have a good battery but you are seeing a lower voltage make sure that your battery and ground connections are all clean and tight and that you don't have any voltage drop across any of them. If you still are having problems rather then me reinventing the wheel check out the link below, these guys have as good a troubleshooting flow chart as you are likely to find....Good luck and have a great evening....Greg http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/pdf/fault-finding-diagram.pdf Richard Bessey wrote: Hello Everyone, First time poster to the group, I was hopeful to get everyone thoughts on my problem. I have a 1989 KLR 650 with 30,000 miles on her. She runs like a top with only one problem I have started to notice. I have had trouble getting the bike started due to the starter not cranking fast enough, last year I had the same problem and I put a new battery in it since I figured the old battery was end of life. Now I have a ... 6 month old battery and had it on a battery maintainer on it during the entire winter. Today I was having trouble with it again, so I got my multimeter out and did some testing. Here are my findings. My bike is currently sitting in the garage, with no load (key turned off, etc...) the battery reads about 11.2 volts with no load. Starting the bike, the voltage does not change, if I rev the bike up to about 4,500 RPM, I get about 11.9 volts at the battery. I then hooked up my amp meter, and noticed with the bike at an idle, the bike pulls about 1 amp out of the battery to run the headlight and ignition. If I rev the motor over 2500 RPM, the bike starts putting amps into the battery. At about 4,000 RPM's the bike puts ... 1-3 amps into the battery. I am starting to think that my problem my be due to my riding style, I often run the bike at low RPM's while thumping around town, normally about 2,500 RPM around town. On the highway I get it up to 4,000 to 5,000 RPM's, but I don't ride the highway much. So, are my readings normal? I read up and find, I should be getting 12+ volts, so I am worried my alternator and/or voltage reg is dying on me or getting weak. Any thoughts/concerns/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Richard Bessey between 0000-00-00 and 9999-99-99 Looking for the perfect gift?http://www.flickr.com/gift/">[b] Give the gift of Flickr![/b] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Bob Monahan]

List Members, All this talk about battery problems and the fact that I live in "sunny Florida" (read hot in the summer and hard on batteries) got me to googling around. I ordered a maintenance free GMT battery here... http://www.batterymart.com/p-Big-Crank-ETX15L-Battery.html While I was at it I ordered a Battery Tender Plus... http://www.batterymart.com/p-del-021-0128.html ... and a nice case for it here.... http://www.batterymart.com/p-del-021-0128.html They only charged me $11.56 for shipping and the people are very pleasant to talk to. I am hoping that this will end my battery worries for several years. There is NOTHING worse than being stranded with a bad battery in a motorcycle that is almost impossible to start without the battery. It only happened to me once several years ago but the memories of that day don't seem to fade... $bob$ If your battery is actually measuring 11.2 amps with no load it's pretty much done for. It probably has at least one dead cell and is potentially shorted out internally, which is what your charging voltage is indicating also. With the short or dead cells the charging voltage is slowly bled to ground and could be the reason why your measured charging voltage is so low, your may be just fine with yet ANOTHER new battery ( yes batteries are a pain ). If this is the case, DO NOT jump it with your car battery ! Your car battery will be more than willing to pump 60 or more amps into your bad motorcycle battery with potentially catastrophic results. I usually don't critique someone else's advice but I'd hate to see anyone blinded by flying battery acid. It can and does happen so if you do it at least wear some good eye protection. Good luck with it, Dan Bittner Sacramento, Ca.

----- Original Message ----- From: Richard Bessey To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogro ups.com Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 7:47 PM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Battery problems Hello Everyone, First time poster to the group, I was hopeful to get everyone thoughts on my problem. I have a 1989 KLR 650 with 30,000 miles on her. She runs like a top with only one problem I have started to notice. I have had trouble getting the bike started due to the starter not cranking fast enough, last year I had the same problem and I put a new battery in it since I figured the old battery was end of life. Now I have a ... 6 month old battery and had it on a battery maintainer on it during the entire winter. Today I was having trouble with it again, so I got my multimeter out and did some testing. Here are my findings. My bike is currently sitting in the garage, with no load (key turned off, etc...) the battery reads about 11.2 volts with no load. Starting the bike, the voltage does not change, if I rev the bike up to about 4,500 RPM, I get about 11.9 volts at the battery. I then hooked up my amp meter, and noticed with the bike at an idle, the bike pulls about 1 amp out of the battery to run the headlight and ignition. If I rev the motor over 2500 RPM, the bike starts putting amps into the battery. At about 4,000 RPM's the bike puts ... 1-3 amps into the battery. I am starting to think that my problem my be due to my riding style, I often run the bike at low RPM's while thumping around town, normally about 2,500 RPM around town. On the highway I get it up to 4,000 to 5,000 RPM's, but I don't ride the highway much. So, are my readings normal? I read up and find, I should be getting 12+ volts, so I am worried my alternator and/or voltage reg is dying on me or getting weak. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Richard Bessey]

All, I wanted to update anyone that has this same problem as me with my low voltage battery. Long story short, my fluid levels were low in the battery, I topped them off using distilled water and left it on my 1 amp battery charger overnight. The next day voltage was good, and the starter sounded strong. My battery is still running strong with no problems, but I did not while running up a mountain road acid dripping out of my overflow tube on my battery. It seems the roads I am riding, are simply to bumpy for my battery to keep its acid (Granted I was riding 40+ MPH on a rough road!) Anyway, after my observation, I can understand why a sealed lead acid battery would work so much better for off road riders. Thank you for everyones help and comments. Regards, Richard Bessey Greg May wrote:

> > Hi Richard, probably by now you've got all the information you need, > but just to add my 2 cents worth, before you have any real hope of > troubleshooting your charging system you have to have a fully charged > battey which means at 11.2 volts you have to charge it after you make > sure the fluid level is topped off. If it won't charge to 12.6 volts > as measured right at the battery terminals the battery is less then > good, not saying that it won't turn you bike over but it is on the > road to failing. After you charge it let it sit for a 1/2 hour or so > to see if the voltage has dropped, with no load it should stay at the > voltage it charged to. A no load reading of 11.2 volts as you said you > were seeing seems awful for the bike to even be able to reliably crank > over and start when cold so is there some voltage drop between where > you are taking your reading and the actual battery voltage if you are > not taking your reading right at the battery terminals leading to a > slightly low > reading. > > Once you have your battery fully charged and installed start your bike > with a volmeter conected to the battery terminals and with it reved to > about 2500 rpm you should see something just over 14 volts. If you > have determined that you have a good battery but you are seeing a > lower voltage make sure that your battery and ground connections are > all clean and tight and that you don't have any voltage drop across > any of them. If you still are having problems rather then me > reinventing the wheel check out the link below, these guys have as > good a troubleshooting flow chart as you are likely to find....Good > luck and have a great evening....Greg > > http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/pdf/fault-finding-diagram.pdf > http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/pdf/fault-finding-diagram.pdf> > > > > Richard Bessey > wrote: > Hello Everyone, > First time poster to the group, I was hopeful to get everyone thoughts > on my problem. > > I have a 1989 KLR 650 with 30,000 miles on her. She runs like a top with > only one problem I have started to notice. I have had trouble getting > the bike started due to the starter not cranking fast enough, last year > I had the same problem and I put a new battery in it since I figured the > old battery was end of life. Now I have a ... 6 month old battery and > had it on a battery maintainer on it during the entire winter. > Today I was having trouble with it again, so I got my multimeter out and > did some testing. Here are my findings. > > My bike is currently sitting in the garage, with no load (key turned > off, etc...) the battery reads about 11.2 volts with no load. > Starting the bike, the voltage does not change, if I rev the bike up to > about 4,500 RPM, I get about 11.9 volts at the battery. > I then hooked up my amp meter, and noticed with the bike at an idle, the > bike pulls about 1 amp out of the battery to run the headlight and > ignition. If I rev the motor over 2500 RPM, the bike starts putting amps > into the battery. At about 4,000 RPM's the bike puts ... 1-3 amps into > the battery. > > I am starting to think that my problem my be due to my riding style, I > often run the bike at low RPM's while thumping around town, normally > about 2,500 RPM around town. On the highway I get it up to 4,000 to > 5,000 RPM's, but I don't ride the highway much. > > So, are my readings normal? I read up and find, I should be getting 12+ > volts, so I am worried my alternator and/or voltage reg is dying on me > or getting weak. > > Any thoughts/concerns/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. > > Regards, > > Richard Bessey > > between 0000-00-00 and 9999-99-99 Looking for the perfect > gift?http://www.flickr.com/gift/ > http://www.flickr.com/gift/>">[b] Give the gift of Flickr![/b] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > >

[Jud Jones]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Richard Bessey wrote:

> > All, > I wanted to update anyone that has this same problem as me with my low > voltage battery. > > Long story short, my fluid levels were low in the battery, I topped them > off using distilled water and left it on my 1 amp battery charger overnight. > The next day voltage was good, and the starter sounded strong. > > My battery is still running strong with no problems, but I did not while > running up a mountain road acid dripping out of my overflow tube on my > battery. It seems the roads I am riding, are simply to bumpy for my > battery to keep its acid (Granted I was riding 40+ MPH on a rough road!) > > Anyway, after my observation, I can understand why a sealed lead acid > battery would work so much better for off road riders. > > Thank you for everyones help and comments. >

It is not likely that splashing is the reason for your electrolyte loss. Unless the bike spends a lot of time on its side, the most likely causes are hot weather and neglect; an overactive charging system may be contributing. How were you able to detect fluid dripping from your overflow tube at 40mph?

[Arden Kysely]

I'd say you have an overactive charging system if you lost a lot of electrolyte in a short time. There would be a lot more complaints in the KLR community if running down rough roads at 40 mph caused battery overflow problems. Have you tried topping it up with distilled water and going for a similar ride, but on smooth pavement to see if it overflows? Others have posted some charging system tests you can do with a multimeter, you might be able to find them in the archives or perhaps an electrical expert will chime in here. If you do replace your battery, go with the AGM and you won't have to worry about this or about battery leakage when your bike tips over. __Arden

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Jud Jones" wrote: > > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Richard Bessey wrote: > > > > All, > > I wanted to update anyone that has this same problem as me with my low > > voltage battery. > > > > Long story short, my fluid levels were low in the battery, I topped them > > off using distilled water and left it on my 1 amp battery charger overnight. > > The next day voltage was good, and the starter sounded strong. > > > > My battery is still running strong with no problems, but I did not while > > running up a mountain road acid dripping out of my overflow tube on my > > battery. It seems the roads I am riding, are simply to bumpy for my > > battery to keep its acid (Granted I was riding 40+ MPH on a rough road!) > > > > Anyway, after my observation, I can understand why a sealed lead acid > > battery would work so much better for off road riders. > > > > Thank you for everyones help and comments. > > > > > It is not likely that splashing is the reason for your electrolyte loss. Unless the bike spends > a lot of time on its side, the most likely causes are hot weather and neglect; an overactive > charging system may be contributing. How were you able to detect fluid dripping from > your overflow tube at 40mph? >

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Basics first- check tire air pressure and tread for wear, also old tired get hard & firm sidewalls of dry rot, crack and weaken. All will effect front end handling Next check steering head free play. If you don't know how bring it to someone who does. Pretty much every bike I run into at our motrcycle tune workshops have problems here- from too tight to too loose to worn out or "notchey" head bearings. As mentioned, altering steering geometry will effect handling but how much did you raise/ lower? For more info on rake, trail, wheel base, COG & suspension set up check out MCN (Motorcycle Consumer News magazine) archives for some excellent articles on the subject. Suspension both rear and front can be of issue too. Check front end for too much sag. If you are running stock springs do yourself a favor and beef them up with something real like progressive springs. Set up the tear shock for your weight and gear. Again consult the shop manual or get a professional tuner to help. MCN had a great two part suspension set up article a couple of years ago. Good luck! Chad ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

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Hmm perhaps you put too much distiller water in? There are high low level marks on the side of the battery. Put too much in and when chemical reaction occurs (ie: charging or current draw) pressure builds up as gas vapors increase inside thus the acid has no where else to go but out. I wouldn't continue to add more water to see if it dies it again. Check the levels. As for testing. dc volt meter set to 12 volt range. Make access to both terminals on battery -(remove seat, etc) and read voltage between both terminals with engine off, with engine at idle and engine at 3-4000 rpm. Obviously in neutral! The first two should be 12-13v. The next should be about 14. That test if your charging circuit is putting out. If its lower at higher revs then buy it some flowers or chocolates or fancy underwear cause you've got electrical gremlins that'll need tending to- it will not fix itself! ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ