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My new baby let me down today - battery or alternator?

B

Boxerboy55

Joined Sep 2011
7 Posts | 0+
Collected the 2007 15k miles, one careful owner RSV Factory last Sunday. First run today was fine for 100+ miles including 3 restarts. Then suddenly it started spluttering just like a fuel shortage. Over a mile or maybe two it got slower and slower, the dreaded red warning triangle appeared showing EFI problem, then it stopped completely.

I let it cool for a few minutes then the dash lit up as normal but no way was it gonna start. A very feeble solenoid click. Call insurance rescue. One hour later RAC man shows up and jump starts bike ok. (after we found battery). Then he disconnects bike battery and starts bike off his van. Starts and runs ok but he reckons alternator is not charging and has thus let the battery run down.

RAC man clears off and one hour later a van appears to carry me and bike 85 miles home. (made me late for my evening appointment)

What's the collective experience on here regarding the probability of this being "just" the battery vs. the (probably very expensive) alternator being kaput?

Answers on a postcard please.

ps - where is cheapest place for a high power battery?
pps - where is cheapest place for an alternator?
ppps - bike is on charger overnight and I'm pretty sure it will start in morning but I won't be riding it anywhere till I get to the bottom of this problem
 
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mmm im not 100% but i think there is a really easy way to check its charging right.. with the engine running keep hitting the + on the dash until it gives you the volts reading
it should get higher/lower with the revs, sure i read somewhere that it should be at a certain voltage at a certain rev range but it would at least show you that its charging (off the top of my head my volts reading was something between 13.6 and 14 at about 2000rpm)

brokedown the other week with similar symptoms and also thought it was fuel running out (i was right by a petrol station, lucky i thought..) turned out (hours of rummaging around pulling bits off and checking later) the battery terminals had somehow vibrated the screws loose enough that they were not attached very well. i use a spanner and torque the crap out of the things now

my battery died over winter, just ran out of enough juice to start the bike.. replaced it with a yuasa ytx14-bs which irritatingly is larger than stock, so the bracket to hold it down doesnt fit.. and now i have trouble with mounting the tip sensor where it doesnt keep cutting my engine lol got it off ebay for a much lower price than i expected ;)

dont just replace the alternator because there are plenty of ways to test for sure its where the problem originates, batteries are pretty temperamental things and can give up and die for seemingly no reason, think the RAC man was just scaremongering you somewhat.
 
Ok. Fitted one of those Varta batteries and a starter solenoid just for fun. But - it does look like it's not charging. Dash only showing 11.8 when revving it. Won't tick over. Have found the regulator tucked away under the RH fairing, but now want to be 100% sure whether it is the alternator OR the regulator OR both. Any tips welcome.

I saw one forum mod that swapped out the standard regulator for one from some other bike, but the mod seemed to include a fair amount of rewiring - which I would love to avoid.

I also happened to pick up a pair of Akra cans along the way too and would love to know what must be adjusted, if anything, to avoid future problems. Only heard them for a couple of minutes , but they sound awesome.

All the above means this little baby is a non-runner and it ain't gonna make the track session that is booked at Knockhill tomorrow.
 
ensure all the earths are good as well ...bad boy had this problem and blew 3 stators before a dodgy earth was found
 
if its charging you should have 14 + volts at the battery terminals.. ...if not.. ..check the brown connector near the rectifier.. under right hand fairing panel.. ..if that's ok it most likely will be your stator.. ..unplug brown connector.. ..start bike and measure the volts across each pin.. .all 3 should be 50+ volts ish .....if one reading is lower.. ..ya stator is burnt out and you'll need a new one or get the old rewound.. ..easy to change but you will need a new gasket
 
Last edited:
Baby's on the road again

So, last September, only 6 fekkin days into the "Aprilia Ownership Experience" the bastid RSV let me down on the road by Loch Awe half through a run with my lad. I'd ridden a total of 320 miles since collecting it from Aberdeen and setting off for a run via Oban.

Lunch stop at Arrochar
82bd39bf.jpg


Dead electrics. So I was parked up for a couple of hours, the RAC man paid a visit then buggered off after suggesting the charging system was goosed (it was).
Dead bike by Loch Awe
2598ae26.jpg


And a man in a van took me home.
4d097144.jpg


Cooked stator
44242b87.jpg



It sulked in the garage all winter till I ordered up a new stator and Big Boy spannered it all back together again this week and took it for a shake down today.
1a244b77.jpg


I'm out of town right now so look forward to a spin and and a Knockhill session later.
 
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