So this past fall, I did a 300 mile trip to Wyoming/Idaho. It has been the first long distance trip with my bike since installing the lights from 1 Off Motorsports. I was running my Hi and Low beam HIDs, heated grips, heated vest and my GPS - Garmin 60CSX. The trip was from SLC - Driggs, ID. About 297 miles into the 300 mile trip, the ABS light turned on. I found this odd, but I was so close to my destination that I kept on riding. At mile 299.75 my dash lights cut out at the last stop sign before the end stop. I made the mistake of turning off the bike and it wouldnt restart. I ended up pushing the bike the last quarter mile up a hill(which really sucked). I got the bike on a charger the next day and it sounded weak, but ran. I turned off all the accessories and ran just the low-beam and kept RPMs in the 4000+ range. The bike died later that day in Yellowstone and I had to get it jumped. I ran the trip back without turning off the bike and got it home. I have since installed a voltmeter, but didnt have much time to watch it as winter rolled in. Thinking ahead to spring now, does it sound like the lights + accessories are drawing too much juice? Is the battery just toast? Its the stock battery that will be turning 3 soon. I did 2 months on the road and had no issues a year prior. The only thing I changed are the lights. I dont want the bike to die on me again as it was extremely inconvenient. Also, with the voltmeter installed, what good/bad numbers should I be looking out for? I tried searching, but without success. Any help would be great. Oh and one last question, is it possible to bump start an 800gs? Thanks, Jon
Last first... Yes bump start it, with a car, but make sure the engine is off on the car, so as of not to get too much juice into the gs system. Your 1off will not kill your bike. Sounds like its time to trouble shoot. You need to trouble shoot your charging system. Look at the following thread. Go through it step by step, as it will tell you if your stator, and subsequent r/r is functioning correct;y. It is known that the stators fail on these bikes after a while. http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=809879 In case you need it..... http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=781564 Let us know what you find, but I can asure you the 1off had nothing to do with it, unless you wired it as a short to chassis ground.....
3 years could be a good year to change it if you're always running with accessories. Mine will have 3 years this year but since I don't have any of these eating up gadgets it's still running fine. What kind of HID are you running? What the guy from Touratech told me is that if you're in a "stop and go traffic" you should shut off your HID because they'll eat up your battery since they need a minimum of RPM before "running on their own"
How many miles on the alternator? They usually start to go at 30,000 and usually die by 50,000. miles. I got the One Off system on my bike for 2 years now. no issues at all.
while it certainly could be a failing stator, I would not jump to that very expensive fix first. 1, you could be right, the HID balast could be malfuncitioning and drawing too much current. Looking at your loads listed, it should be ok if there is no malfunction. 1a.....some other device could be drawing more current than normal...check those out too. 2, your battery could be dying...check that out. 3 your regulator could be male functioning too. 4....yep could be the failing stator good luck bob
Your resting battery should show a minimum of 12.5 volts. Habitual readings below that and the battery is toast. When cranking the engine, if you get readings 10v or below also indicates a battery problem. At idle the stator is putting out about 13.8 volts(that is less than the normal 14.2-14.4v of most stators/regulators). Less than that is a stator problem and needs further checking. If you get the same reading as the resting battery, it is completely dead. Readings at 15v and above indicates a bad regulator. If you pass all those test, I would add up wattage your accessories are using and see if it exceeds stator output. 400 watts total which is approximate at X rpms. If you meant bump start, you are a better man than me. It depends on how low the battery has gotten. Low enough for the engine to die, than probably not. You can jump start from any 12v source. A good idea to turn the engine of the donor car off, but not required if the car alternator/ regulator is not damaged.
I do not know what bulbs are OE in your headlamps but they are likely 55 watt, maybe higher. Depending on the HID kits installed, max HID load after the HID lamp is at full pressure is 51, maybe 52 watts per lamp so, unless you have a bad ballast, I would not suspect that you HIDs are causing your low voltage problem. As appropriately suggested, total your load with those accessories mentioned and you will likely see that you are exceeding threshold of the output of your electrical system and using more current than the alternator is furnishing.
Somewhere in Parallel Universe, Joel Wiseman itemized how much wattage it took to run the bike, with lights, handgrips, etc, included. I cannot find it, but my memory seems like it was around 150 watts. The 400 watt stator output may be possible on a good day at ideal RPM. In other words, available wattage is probably less than you think.
Well most moto HID systems are 35watt and that's less draw than stock. The battery is most likely dyeing because of your other accessories and an old battery. Those heated jackets hog up almost as much or more than the high and low beams. Start with a replacement battery would be my choice. Then alternate the jacket and heated grips to insure the alternator has enough power to actually charge the battery and not just run the aftermarket gadgets. Just my .02$
I had the link saved, but it is busted: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10368118&postcount=60 Here's a (not well formatted) re-print: http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17098581&postcount=61 Given the issues with OEM batteries and stator failures, I think every owner should have some form of voltage monitor on their bike...
At least I didn't have to rebuild my bike to make room for my voltage monitor :huh (nice build though!) (some kind of voltage monitor is indeed a good idea... together with a decent regulator.... but I think we have covered that quite thoroughly in another thread)
