Charging system/battery issue?

Anybody had trouble with their battery or charging system? My '04 (still under the 1 year warranty) stopped today as I was riding it and wouldn't restart. Didn't have enough juice. Got it to the dealer and they said these bikes don't have a heavy enough charging system to recharge a drained battery. They indicated that I shouldn't ride with the brights on during the day and the Motolights the previous owner installed. Said that if I took short rides it would drain the battery as well. Sounds like crap to me. As much as I've complained about Harleys, they will recharge the battery and I'm assuming Honda thought this out as well.

 

I haven't had any problems with the charging system on my 93. It seems to do well even on short rides, though I don't have aux lighting either. Are they going to check the charging system or just charge the battery? If it were me, since it is still under warranty as you have said, I would make them check it instead of just charging the battery. The r/r could be intermittently charging the battery. I had one on an 86 Radian that did that. After 2 batteries got a little volt gauge so I could see if it was charging correctly and I could tell it was not. Even following the troubleshooting steps in the manual backed that info up. So I replaced the r/r and that solved my problem.

That's not to say yours is faulty, but I would have them check it all out. Warranties are good for stuff like that.

 

That is a load of crap!!!
These bikes will charge the battery and run accessory lights and a heated vest to boot if they are working properly!

My 98 just did the same thing two weeks ago and just quit in the middle of a ride. It was fine for short rides but when I rode over an hour it would drop dead. I could trickle charge the batter for a while and away she went again. In the end it turned out to be the battery that was the culprit. It seemed to be fine cold but after an hour in the heat it just acted like a dead short and drew down the system voltage till the EFI quit.

Symptoms

Before
Charged at 12.5 volts idling (low)
Charged at 13.5 volts above 2000 rpm

After
Charged at 14 volts at idle (great)
Charged at 13.9 above 2000 rpm

I changed the battery and that was all it needed. I have ridden several hundred miles since with no problems.

Do you think your dealer will honor the warranty after it has expired since the issue has started before expiry? If not, I would give them a full court press to get a new battery or at least a proper system diagnostic before you get locked out in the cold (so to speak).

Have faith, no motorcycle should do this, Harley or Honda!

Welcome to our addiction!

 

Thanks for the input. They say that they are going to check the charging system as well as the battery but if the battery will take a charge then Honda prohibits them from putting a new battery in under warranty. Since this has happened during the time of the warranty, if it continues to happen even after the warranty runs out I'll have a good case for them fixing it. If nothing else, I'm persistent. By the way, what's the r/r? Regulator?

 

By the way, what's the r/r? Regulator?

Regulator rectifier unit actually.

My battery would take a charge on the bench or during short jaunts but when pressed into longer service it tuned on me. I don't know if I have ever experienced anything quite like it before.

This will be a good litmus test for your relationship with your dealer at the very least.:wink:

 

Just heard from the dealer. They say the charging system is good and the battery takes a charge. They say the charging system is not super strong on these and that the Motolights running, high beams running, led lights in the back (stop lights only) are draining the battery. I can't believe that everybody is able to use their heated grips, extra lights, heated vests, etc. without killing their batteries and mine craps out. I'll see if the battery goes down again. If that happens then they'll have it back to figure out the problem. Until then, I'll not run the extra lights and see if that makes a difference.

 

I find it hard to believe the chargins systems are not strong. It may be possible that running all taht at teh same time might pull more amps than teh system can put out, but how often do you run all those at the same time?

 

Hmmm something fishy here, as I've seen a many VFR's loaded with elc. gear with out a wimper of trouble.. get another opinon I say, from another dealer or tech.

 

Got it back from the dealer. They said it charged up fine and they tested the charging system. At driving speeds (rpms) it's fine. At idle, it charges fine with just the low beams on. When they turned the motolights and high beams on it doesn't put out enough to charge at idle. Just thought Honda would do better than that but I guess they didn't design it to be a full blown tourer with lots of extra crap. Makes me wonder how people can run the heated grips, vests, etc.

 

Did they say how many amps it was pulling? A charging system can putout enough to charge, but if you pull out more amps than is it capable then you get a drain. It's similar to putting a huge stereo system in your car. People install capacitors (I think thats what they call them) to store energy so there is not a huge drain on the battery when the vehicle is off or at idle. I have seen systems where the amps being drawn a great enough to make the headlights dim when a vehicle is at idle. Granted, it's not a full tourer, but check the amps its pulling and look check the specs of the other accessories to see what amps they pull, add it up and compare to your bikes system. I am by no means an electrician, but it would seem that if you are not pulling more amps than your charging system can handle then they are not the problem. My Radian, at idle, showed about 11.5 volts, at 3K on up it was about 14.5 volts. I went thru two batteries before I replaced the r/r. the old r/r would not charge above 12 volts and the battery would hold a charge on the bench (off the bike if thats more clear).

<ramble off>

 

Pretty much what they told me was that it would put out enough to charge the battery at idle only if I didn't have the Motolights, high beam or brake lights (it has extra LED lights and a license plate cover with brake light/turn signal combo) on. Turn any of those on and it won't charge at idle. But they said that's normal and okay with Honda. I thought that sounded stupid but then again maybe just a weak charging system. I plan to take the lighted tag bracket off anyway (the previous owner put it on) because it's a pain getting the tag on it. I won't run the Motolights except at night on backroads. Maybe that'll make the difference.

 

Widder vest and gloves

It never got cold enough (Alabama) to wear my widder vest and gloves on my 95 last year. Has anyone ran vest and gloves with a 94-97?

 

How hot was the bike getting on extended rides. The R/R will malfunction at hi temps, but on the bench or at cooler temp (short rides) it won't show a fault. My R/R would fail at engine temps over 200 degrees F. It would them drain the battery and cause the engine to stall. Then couldn't start up till R/R was cold or battery recharged/ jumped. If you in fact need more amps due to accessories, you can get your stator(alternator) re-wound to make more amps. Check out www.electrosport.com for aftermarket electrical items.
Good luck!