Bike is eating batteries

[thedaydreamer]

Hi all
This 1400 has eaten 3 batteries in the last 2 weeks and 2 batteries in the last day,,,,the bike will just stall and have no power at key turn,,,push it home, put a new battery in bike works for a few days then same thing,,,,funny thing is MM reads 12.9V but if you put it in any other bike it wont power on either,,,,
What should I troubleshoot from here in what order?
Stator, regulator, rectifier?
TY all

[Herb]

Are you saying the batteries won't take a charge after going dead???

[thedaydreamer]

IM saying after the bike stalls, then has no pwer upon key turn,,,,MM reads 12.9 volts but in that bike or any other bike it wont power the bike on, if I put a new battery in it solves the problem for a few days then it happens again,,,,IM suspecting stator, regulator or rectifier,,,any ideas?

[thedaydreamer]

One other thing Id like to add this bikes OEm battery is the Yuasa YTX16-BS I have been using all this time the YTX14-BS,,,do you think using this ytx 14 could be the issue?

[sgtcall]

I would try the Regulator Rectifier first. It is easy to change out and if I remember correctly there is a test to see if it is working properly. Someone smarter than me would have to tell you how to test it.

[sgtcall]

One other thing, the 14 battery has 200 CCA and the 16 has 230 CCA. These bikes need all the CCA they can get to start properly as the battery ages, but I don't think the battery is your issue because a new 200 CCA battery should be enough for now.

[thedaydreamer]

Its funny the headlights have been flickering as well which is usually an indication of reg/rec issue,,,you that that first rather than stator?

[sgtcall]

I am not one of the resident experts but the I would go with the RR first simple because it is easy to change out. I always go with the simple fix first then work my way up. Also have you checked that the neutral wire is clean an tight at both ends? Do you have star washers on the battery terminals?

[thedaydreamer]

WHat neutral wire are you referring to?

[hillsy v2]

I think he meant negative wire / lead from battery to ground.

OK first of all you have a multimeter so with a charged battery....start the bike and check the voltage at the battery at idle. You should get between 13 and 14 vdc. Then rev the bike and check the voltage whilst revving. It should increase to 14 - 15 vdc.

If you get no change or it goes down then its (obviously) not charging. Check all the wires are connected.

Next easiest to check is the stator. It has 3 wires coming off it and puts out AC voltage. Disconnect the wires, start the bike and check the voltage across each of the 3 wires. You should get 80vac or more on each leg at 5k rpm.

If that checks out then check the RR. There's a resistance test in the manual for that.

[thedaydreamer]

I think he meant negative wire / lead from battery to ground.

OK first of all you have a multimeter so with a charged battery....start the bike and check the voltage at the battery at idle. You should get between 13 and 14 vdc. Then rev the bike and check the voltage whilst revving. It should increase to 14 - 15 vdc.

If you get no change or it goes down then its (obviously) not charging. Check all the wires are connected.

Next easiest to check is the stator. It has 3 wires coming off it and puts out AC voltage. Disconnect the wires, start the bike and check the voltage across each of the 3 wires. You should get 80vac or more on each leg at 5k rpm.

If that checks out then check the RR. There's a resistance test in the manual for that.

Good info,Thanks! I know the regulator is near the battery, where is the stator wire exactly that I can unhook from to test?

[hillsy v2]

I think he meant negative wire / lead from battery to ground.

OK first of all you have a multimeter so with a charged battery....start the bike and check the voltage at the battery at idle. You should get between 13 and 14 vdc. Then rev the bike and check the voltage whilst revving. It should increase to 14 - 15 vdc.

If you get no change or it goes down then its (obviously) not charging. Check all the wires are connected.

Next easiest to check is the stator. It has 3 wires coming off it and puts out AC voltage. Disconnect the wires, start the bike and check the voltage across each of the 3 wires. You should get 80vac or more on each leg at 5k rpm.

If that checks out then check the RR. There's a resistance test in the manual for that.

Good info,Thanks! I know the regulator is near the battery, where is the stator wire exactly that I can unhook from to test?

The stator is inside the LHS front engine case. The leads will come out the back underneath the cover behind that. I am not 100% sure where the connectors are - but they will be grouped in a bunch of three - there are also 2 other wires for the ignition pickup.

[sky02]

Hi all
This 1400 has eaten 3 batteries in the last 2 weeks and 2 batteries in the last day,,,,the bike will just stall and have no power at key turn,,,push it home, put a new battery in bike works for a few days then same thing,,,,funny thing is MM reads 12.9V but if you put it in any other bike it wont power on either,,,,

The batteries are dead or you can still charge them at home?

[thedaydreamer]

Hi all
This 1400 has eaten 3 batteries in the last 2 weeks and 2 batteries in the last day,,,,the bike will just stall and have no power at key turn,,,push it home, put a new battery in bike works for a few days then same thing,,,,funny thing is MM reads 12.9V but if you put it in any other bike it wont power on either,,,,

The batteries are dead or you can still charge them at home?

The battery that came out of the intruder after it stalled and had no power on key turn,read 13v on MM, I took it out, put it in another bike and no power at all, I took the same battery and put it on a charger and put it back in the other bike and it started and ran no issues, today im taking that same battery that started the other bike that was orginal in the 1400 back in and my guess is it will start, then Ill start some testing to see where the issue lies

[sky02]

Ok I was worried that she was burning batteries. I had that once in C50, my battery died 200km from home. There was some short circuit and the battery was wasted.

You have charging circuit issue then. Check all the connection especially ground its often poor on this bikes.I have for example stripped a bit of B/W wire from the CDI and added extra ground to the frame there.

Do you have service manual? https://www.manualslib.com/manual/12152 ... 176#manual
Here you have diagram of charging circuit and detailed inspection if its not a faulty connection but component. Check for the connector with 3 yellow wires. My was half baked but still working. Some oxidation there and higher resistance will generate lots of heat.

[thedaydreamer]

Yes I have the maual, Im gona test the battery under idle and 5k load, inspect wiring to regulator, perhaps even test it with MM,,,, Im gona start with that and see what it leads to

[Herb]

Both of my 1400's have cooked the connector from the stator where it is under the seat. Which also caused a failure of the stator.

BTW, I think I just lost another stator or cooked the connector from the stator. Had the bike out just before the last storm and had to keep turning off the head light or battery voltage would start dropping off. With everything going on I haven't had time to work on it...

[thedaydreamer]

I may be getting somewhere

So I came out today to troubleshoot the issues with the bike turning off, I decided to check the the fuses and the 25a was shorted, I replaced it, key turned on, got lights,,, got bike together, turned key and no power, again 25a fuse burnt,,,,when I went to put another 25 in the moment I put the fuse it it got zaped and burnt,,,,I noticed today when I chenged the battery I was getting a little sparks when I connected the terminal which I have never seen,,,so where should I trouble shoot from here? is there a ground issue or short somewhere? not sure what to do next,,,the only thing I did recently was take the bottom 8 bolt housing and let it drop down where the brake and clutch is so I could put in the new exhaust,,,any ideas what I should od next? Could the rectifer be bad and blowing fuses? should I try to disconnect it and put the fuse it and see if it blows? TY

[Herb]

I would check the wiring on the sidestand switch and the brake light switch.

The first time I changed a clutch on my 87 I knocked the side stand switch wires loose and they got against the header pipe, melted and shorted out. I hadn't even been on that side of the bike except to drop the footpeg brace.

[thedaydreamer]

Its acting real strange, if i replace the fuse lights go on,plug under seat ignition in, blows fuse
Put new fuse in, plug back in, start bike, went about 50ft, bike turned off